What is Shavuot?

Shavuot marks the anniversary of the day when we received the Torah at Mount Sinai. It is the second of the three major festivals (Passover being the first, and Sukkot the third), occuring exactly fifty days after the second day of Passover.

This is a biblical holiday complete with special prayers, holiday candle lighting and kiddush. During the course of the holiday we don't go to work, drive, write or switch on or off electric devices. We are permitted to cook and to carry outdoors.

The word "Shavuot" means "weeks"; it marks the completion of the seven-week counting period between Passover and Shavuot. During these seven weeks, the Jewish people cleansed themselves of the scars of Egyptian slavery and became a holy nation, ready to enter into an eternal covenant with G‑d with the giving of the Torah.

On this day, we received a gift from Above which we could not have achieved with our own limited faculties. We received the ability to reach and touch the Divine; not only to be cultivated human beings, but Divine human beings who are capable of rising above and beyond the limitations of nature.

Before the giving of the Torah, we were a family and a community. The experience of Sinai bonded us into a new entity: the Jewish people, the Chosen Nation. This holiday is likened to our wedding day -- beneath the wedding canopy of Mount Sinai, G‑d betrothed us to Him. G‑d swore eternal devotion to us, and we in turn pledged everlasting loyalty to Him.

Every year on the holiday of Shavuot, we reenact this historic moment. G‑d re-gives the Torah, and we lovingly reaccept, and reaffirm our fidelity to Him alone.