Chag Shavuot

Festival of Weeks

The Hebrew word shavuot means “weeks” in English. Chag Shavuot is a festival of revelation, which occurs 7 weeks and 1 day (50 days) after Pesach. It falls between May 15 and June 14 on the Gregorian calendar.
The 7 days of weeks (49 days) count starts on the 2nd day of the Festival of Matzot, the day after Pesach, and ends the day before the Festival of Shavuot, the 50th day.
It is the moment where the Hebrew people met Yahweh face to face on Mount Sinai to receive the 10 Commandments and the Laws of Mosheh. The Festival of Shavuot is one of the 3 scripturally ordained Pilgrimage Festivals.
It marks the time of the wheat harvest in Yisrael and is sometimes referred to as the Festival of Harvest or the Day of the First Fruits.

The festival commemorates the anniversary of Mosheh receiving the Laws from Yahweh at Mount Sinai. It recounts the seven weeks the Hebrew people where lead by Yahweh himself, appearing by day as a cloud and at midnight as fire, after they left Mistrayim and before receiving the Laws of Mosheh, on the 50th day, at Mount Sinai. The counting of days and weeks is understood to represent spiritual preparation, anticipation and desire of the children of Yisrael to receive the Laws of Mosheh so they could again know how to serve Yahweh.
The “Book of Ruth” is traditionally read on the morning of the Festival of Shavuot because the story takes place during the harvest season, and because of the symbolism associated with Ruth as the great-grandmother of King Dawid (King David), who was born and died on Shavuot.

Refer to the “Counting the Weeks Table” below for additional information pertaining to The Festival of Shavuot.

Counting the Weeks of Shavuot – Hebrew Names

Counting the Weeks of Shavuot – English Translation

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