A Popular Dictionary of Judaism
(Hebrew. ‘Weeks’) The *festival of Pentecost. Shavuot is celebrated on Sivan 6, fifty days after the first day of *Passover. Originally it was an agricultural celebration, marking the end of the barley and the beginning of the wheat harvest.
Subsequently it became the anniversary of the giving of the *Torah to *Moses. In the *synagogue the Book of *Ruth is read as well as the *Ten Commandments. Traditionally small children begin Hebrew School at Shavuot and in *Progressive congregations it is the time for *Confirmation. The synagogue is decorated with green plants and dairy foods are normally eaten because, according to the *Song of Songs, the Torah is compared to milk. In the *Diaspora the festival is celebrated for two days. (See *ROSH HODESH).
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