Shavuot is translated as “weeks” in English, and it refers to the holiday Jews celebrate to commemorate the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. It can be regarded as a continuation of the holiday of Pesach, or Passover, which celebrates G-d’s deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Seven weeks later, after a long journey through the desert, the Jews arrived at Mount Sinai where the Ten Commandments and the rest of the laws were given to the Jewish People.
Most people are familiar of the image of Moses descending from the mountain with two tablets (contrary to Mel Brooks; humorous version, there were always two; a third one did not break along the way.) These tablets were considered to be the holiest objects in the world since they contained Hashem’s writing and were stored in a golden case called the ark in the First Holy Temple (to bring in another movie reference, those of you who recall Raiders of the Lost Ark are familiar with this ark and the tablets.) However, the law was not just given in writing, but the Jewish People heard the Ten Commandments.
Actually, according to tradition, the Jews heard only two commandments, because with every utterance they heard directly from G-d, their souls left their bodies. Therefore, they were only able to hear the first two commandments, but these two summarize the other eight: “I am the L-rd your G-d who took you out of Egypt…” and “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” These two express what it means to love and to fear G-d. A person needs both the capacity to appreciate blessings and to have respect for G-d’s laws. Fear and love are like two wings of a bird; if one is lacking, the bird cannot fly.
Why wasn’t the Torah given immediately after the Jews left Egypt? What was the point of waiting seven weeks? The seven week period between Pesach and Shavuos is known as sefirat ha Omer, which included a special offering of grain in the Temple. It was also a period of cleansing seven major character traits with their seven divisions. Once the Jewish People underwent a refinement of their character traits, they were ready to receive the Torah. For us today, the time period between Pesach and Shavuos is a time of spiritual preparation to receive the Torah once again.