Shavuot

Shavuot is one of our three major pilgrimage festivals, along with Passover and Sukkot.  Coming just seven weeks after Passover, Shavuot is often the forgotten festival.  Unlike Passover, with Seder, or Sukkot, with the building of the Sukkah or waving of the lulav and etrog, there are few rituals, either synagogue-based or home-centered associated with Shavuot.  There isn’t even a long tradition of special foods associated with Shavuot, though there is a tradition of eating dairy products.

Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.  We link Passover to Shavuot with the counting of each day (called Siphrat Ha’omer), as tradition teaches us the Exodus from Egypt was not just a physical liberation, but also a spiritual liberation, enabling us to be free to follow the ways of Torah and tradition.