Shavuot, one of the three major Festivals of the Jewish Calendar (together with Pesach and Sukkot), begins the evening of Tuesday, May 22, and concludes the evening of Thursday, May 24. Like the other two festivals, Shavuot commemorates an important event in Jewish history, but also has an agricultural connection. Shavuot concludes the Counting of the Omer, which was the period of the barley harvest in ancient Israel, and is also the time of bringing the first fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem.

More significantly in our lives, Shavuot is z’man matan toratenu, the celebration of God’s gift of Torah. On the first day of the holiday, our Torah reading recalls that most awesome event at Mount Sinai. Shavuot is a Yom Tov, whose observance is similar to that of Pesach, Sukkot, and also Rosh Hashanah. By that I mean that all Shabbat prohibitions apply to these days, with the exceptions of permissibility to cook and carry in public. Each of the two nights of Shavuot is ushered in with candlelighting, and the meals, which should be festive, are preceded by a kiddush over wine or grape juice.

The synagogue services of Shavuot are similar to those of Shabbat. Because it is Yom Tov, we add the Hallel (verses of praise from the Psalms) and include a special Musaf Amidah. The second and concluding day of Shavuot includes Yizkor at the morning service.

Unique to Shavuot, among the festivals, is the chanting of Akdamut, an Aramaic poem which introduces the awe inspiring reading of the giving of the Torah at Sinai, and the chanting of the Book of Ruth, the beautiful story of one young woman’s sincere desire to become a member of the Jewish people. Ruth is the great grandmother of King David, who died on Shavuot.

Because of the emphasis on God’s gift of Torah, it is traditional to devote time on the first night of Shavuot to learning traditional Jewish text. To participate in this sacred task, we will celebrate the onset of Shavuot on Tuesday, May 22, with a 6 p.m. service, followed by dinner and study sessions.

It is customary to eat dairy dishes on the first day of Shavuot. Among the explanations for this practice are:

1. The Song of Songs refers to Torah as "honey and milk."

2. Just as there are two food items (shankbone and egg) on the Seder Plate to represent the two offerings of Pesach, there should also be a representation of the two Shavuot offerings, dairy and meat.

3. Prior to Sinai, our ancestors were not yet educated in the laws of Kashrut. Since the preparation of meat involves many more laws, they ate dairy upon first receiving the Torah until they had enough time to properly prepare a meat meal.

4. The numerical equivalent of the Hebrew word for milk, chalav, is 40, helping us to remember the years in the desert which we commemorate with this holiday.

5. Eating meat is seen in rabbinic texts as a pleasurable act, and therefore eating dairy is an act of self control, something we need to display in order to truly live a live in accordance with the Torah.