Shavuot - translated as "The Feast of Weeks" and known in Christian circles as Pentecost, is one of my favorite holidays. Shavuot, which occurs this year on May 23rd and 24th (starting at night on the 22nd), is the holiday when we celebrate the receiving of the Torah. The day to celebrate the holiday is not specifically mentioned in the Torah, rather it says that we count seven weeks - forty nine days (the omer) from the second day of Passover. The fiftieth day - the culmination of the counting - is Shavuot, hence the name.

A great thing to do with your family before a holiday is study about it's meanings and customs. Many people have the tradition of having different members of their family tell something they learned about the holiday during a festive meal. This is a great way to keep your older children involved, interested and learning.

Traditionally, we believe that all Jewish souls - past, present and future - were standing at Mount Sinai. This is especially meaningful for adopted children and adult converts - it's an affirmation that they were meant to be part of the Jewish faith. Anna came home from school today with a "little Har Sinai" puppet (little Mount Sinai) and was all excited about telling us the story of how G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people. I personally think all stories are very exciting when told by a four year old.

Additionally, we read the story of Ruth on the second day of Shavuot. For those of you who are not familiar with the story, it is an easy and short read and can be studied alone or with the whole family.

Resources for the Book of Ruth can be found here:

Aish.com

Jewish Encyclopedia

Full Hebrew/ English text of the Book of Ruth can be found here