Shavuot
Jewish holiday / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Shavuot (listenⓘ), or Shvues (listenⓘ) in some Ashkenazi usage (Hebrew: שָׁבוּעוֹת, romanized: Šāvūʿōṯ, lit. 'Weeks'), commonly known in English as the Feast of Weeks, is one of the biblically-ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may fall between May 15 and June 14 on the Gregorian calendar.[1]
Shavuоt | |
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Official name | Hebrew: שבועות or חג השבועות (Ḥag HaShavuot or Shavuos) |
Also called | English: "Feast of Weeks" |
Observed by | Jews and Samaritans |
Type | Jewish and Samaritan |
Significance | One of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. Celebrates the revelation of the Five Books of the Torah by God to Moses and to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, 49 days (seven weeks) after the Exodus from ancient Egypt. Commemorates the wheat harvesting in the Land of Israel. Culmination of the 49 days of the Counting of the Omer. |
Celebrations | Festive meals. All-night Torah study. Recital of Akdamut liturgical poem in Ashkenazic synagogues. Reading of the Book of Ruth. Eating of dairy products. Decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery (Orach Chayim, 494). |
Begins | 6th day of Sivan (or the Sunday following the 6th day of Sivan in Karaite Judaism) |
Ends | 7th (in Israel: 6th) day of Sivan |
Date | 6 Sivan |
2023 date | Sunset, 25 May – nightfall, 27 May |
2024 date | Sunset, 11 June – nightfall, 13 June |
2025 date | Sunset, 1 June – nightfall, 3 June |
2026 date | Sunset, 21 May – nightfall, 23 May |
Related to | Passover, which precedes Shavuot |
In the Bible, Shavuot marked the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel.[2] In addition, rabbinic tradition teaches that the date also marks the revelation of the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai, which, according to the tradition of Orthodox Judaism, occurred at this date in 1312 BCE.[3]
The word Shavuot means "weeks", and it marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer. Its date is directly linked to that of Passover; the Torah mandates the seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover, to be immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation and desire for the giving of the Torah. On Passover, the people of Israel were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot, they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God.[4]
While Shavuot is sometimes referred to as Pentecost (in Koinē Greek: Πεντηκοστή) due to its timing after Passover, "pentecost" meaning "fifty" in Greek and Shavuot occurring fifty days after the first day of Pesach/Passover, it is not the same celebration as the Christian Pentecost, which comes fifty days after Pascha/Easter.[5][Note 1][6] That said, the two festivals are related, as the first Day of Pentecost, as per Acts of the Apostles, is said to have happened on Shavuot.
Shavuot is traditionally celebrated in Israel for one day, where it is a public holiday, and for two days in the diaspora.[7][8][9]