Since Shavuot is a minor holiday, many don’t know of its signficance especially those Jews living in the Diaspora. So here’s a bit about the holiday considering that it is known by three other names.
The holiday of Shavuot, or ‘weeks’ in English, arrives exactly 49 weeks after the Passover seder. These 49 weeks are the counting of the Omer, during which time the wheat and barley ripen and are ready to be harvested on Shavuot.
Jews in know Shavuot as ‘hag habikkurim’ or, the holiday of the first fruits. The holiday again, shows the intricate bond between the land of Israel and the Jewish people. The fruits brought are specified in the Torah. They are the 7 native species of Israel: olives, pomegranates, grapes, figs, wheat, barley and dates. The Book of Ruth, which is read on this holiday is set in the ripened wheat fields of Shavuot.
Alongside the agricultural aspect of the holiday is the spiritual/religious one. Hag Matan Torah, the holiday of the giving of the Torah, is the moment when the Jews who had fled Egypt finally became a nation! This is the day God gave the Jewish people the 10 commandments in stone and the Oral Torah.
Holiday traditions include wearing white clothing and eating milk products, as opposed to meat products, to stress our striving for purity of body and soul in preparation of receiving the Torah. Also baskets of these first fruits called Te’ennah are decorated and displayed.