Shavuot

Shavuot [shä vo͞o′ōt, shə vo͞o′ōs]

n.

〚< Heb (chag-ha) shavuot, (the Feast of) Weeks < shavua, week < sheva, seven; akin to IE * septṃ, seven〛

a Jewish holiday, the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, originally celebrating the spring harvest, now chiefly commemorating the revelation of the Law at Mount Sinai: celebrated on the 6th & 7th days of Sivan

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Sha·vu·ot also Sha·bu·oth (shə-vo͞oʹōt', -əs, shä'vo͞o-ôtʹ) n. Judaism

A feast held on the sixth and seventh days of Sivan in commemoration of the revelation of the Law on Mount Sinai and the celebration of the wheat festival in ancient times. Also called Pentecost.

  [Hebrew šābû‘ôt, pl. of šābû‘a, week, from šeba‘, seven. See šbʿ in Semitic Roots.]

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▪ Judaism

also called  Pentecost , in full  Ḥag Shavuot 

      (“Festival of the Weeks”), second of the three Pilgrim Festivals of the Jewish religious calendar. It was originally an agricultural festival, marking the beginning of the wheat harvest. During the Temple period, the first fruits of the harvest were brought to the Temple, and two loaves of bread made from the new wheat were offered. This aspect of the holiday is reflected in the custom of decorating the synagogue with fruits and flowers and in the names Yom ha-Bikkurim (“Day of the First Fruits”) and Ḥag ha-Qazir (“Harvest Feast”).

      During rabbinic times the festival became associated with the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai, which is recounted in the Torah readings for the holiday. It became customary during Shavuot to study the Torah and to read the Book of Ruth.

      Celebration of Shavuot occurs on the 50th day, or seven weeks, after the sheaf offering of the harvest celebrated during Passover. The holiday is therefore also called Pentecost from the Greek pentēkostē (“50th”). It falls on Sivan 6 (and Sivan 7 outside Israel).

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