Every synagogue has its comedian. The comedian in our shul in Brooklyn was a young lawyer who would sit silently most of the time, but suddenly become animated when he had a zinger. He wore his black yarmulke sideways on his head sometimes, pretending to fall asleep, and then, when we thought he was “out of action” he would pounce in with yet another joke that would usually (intentionally) elicit groans from the audience. Most of his jokes were unique, but sometimes, his humor depended on repetition.
On Shavuos night, when it is a tradition to stay up late at night at shul and learn Torah (and also, to eat, of course), he would stand up in the middle of the meal and announce: “I want to say a word about the meaning of Shavous….Weeks!” and then he would sit down again (he did this also on other occasions. On Purim he’d say “Lots!” and on Succos, he’s day “Booths!).
Of course, Shavuos does mean “Weeks”, but its significance transcends this single word. From the Second night of Passover, we count the days and weeks by counting the Omer, which commemorates the sacrifice of barley brought at the Holy Temple. According to Kabbala, since barley is animal food, the entire time period of the Omer is dedicated to refining the animal soul (which is the seat of our desires) and bringing these desires closer to holiness. When the Jewish People were in the desert, they counted the days until the giving of the Torah, in the same way that children count the days until summer vacation.
Shavuos is the holiday that commemorates the giving of the Ten Commandments, and all of the other commandments of the Torah, on Mount Sinai. There are many customs associated with Shavuos, including staying up all night to learn (women, who are usually tired from all of the holiday preparations, are not required to do this, but many still opt to learn in groups at night, anyway. If I didn’t have my Shavuos group, I’d be asleep by 10!). The reason for this custom is that the Jewish People fell asleep before the Torah was given, and had to be awakened, and we want to correct this error by making sure we are alert before we receive the Torah (Kabbala explains that the sleep was not a sign of indifference-rather, the Jews were trying to accept the Torah on a higher level of consciousness, which is the reason they went to sleep). It is a custom also to eat a dairy meal in the morning of Shavuos. We read the book of Ruth on the Second Day of Shavuos, which is the anniversary of the passing of King David (Ruth’s grandson) and the Baal Shem Tov.