What is Shavuot?

The names

The Torah calls it the Festival of Weeks, because it comes after counting seven weeks from Passover (Leviticus 23:15–16; Deuteronomy 16:9–10), and the Day of First Fruits, when the first wheat and fruits were brought to the Temple (Numbers 28:26). The Talmud calls it Atzeret. The sages calculated that the Torah was given on this day, and the prayers call it “the time of the giving of our Torah”.

The counting of the Omer

From the second night of Passover, 49 days are counted aloud with a blessing each evening. Shavuot is the fiftieth day – the Greek name Pentecost means “fiftieth”. The counting links freedom from Egypt with receiving the Torah.

Customs

Many stay up all night learning Torah (Tikkun Leil Shavuot), a custom based on the Zohar, and pray at sunrise. The Ten Commandments are read in the synagogue, with the congregation standing in many communities. The Book of Ruth is read, because it takes place at harvest time and tells of a convert who accepted the Torah, and because King David, Ruth’s descendant, was born and died on Shavuot by tradition. Synagogues are decorated with greenery and flowers. Dairy meals – cheesecake, blintzes – are customary; one explanation is that once the laws of kashrut were given, the people could not immediately prepare meat.

Work and festive meals

Like other festivals, work is forbidden except for cooking for the day. A meat meal is also customary, since festive joy is associated with meat. See our Shavuot guide.