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Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, is a Biblical festival that occurs on 6 and 7 Sivan-seven weeks after Pesach (in May or June).  Shavuot is the second of the three major festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Passover and Sukkot). Agriculturally, it commemorates the time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple, and is known as Chag ha-Bikkurim (the Festival of the First Fruits). In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness (Jeremiah 5:24; Deuteronomy 16:9-11; Isaiah 9:2). It began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Sukkot (Tabernacles) was the concluding festival of the fruit harvest. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest was made on Shavuot.[1] Historically, it celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and is also known as Hag Matan Torateinu (the Festival of the Giving of Our Torah).

It is customary to stay up the entire first night of Shavuot and study Torah (Tikkun Leil Shavuot), then pray as early as possible in the morning. According to a story in the Midrash, the night before the Torah was given, the Israelites retired early to be well-rested for the momentous day ahead, but they overslept and Moses had to wake them up because God was already waiting on the mountaintop. To rectify this flaw in the national character, religious Jews stay up all night to learn Torah.[2] It is customary to eat a dairy meal at least once during Shavuot. Dairy foods such as cheesecake and blintzes with cheese and other fillings are traditionally served on Shavuot. [3]One explanation for the consumption of dairy foods on this holiday is that the Israelites had not yet received the Torah, with its laws of ritual slaughtering of animals. As the food they had prepared beforehand was not in accordance with these laws, they opted to eat simple dairy meals to honor the holiday. Some say it harks back to King Solomon's portrayal of the Torah as "honey and milk are under your tongue" (Song of Songs 4:11).[4] It is a reminder of the promise regarding the land of Israel, a land flowing with milk and honey. According to the Midrash, Mount Sinai suddenly blossomed with flowers in anticipation of the giving of the Torah on its summit. The Megillah (Book of Ruth) is read at this time as an honor to King David (Ruth was his ancestor) who was born on this day and also died on this day.

Greenery also figures in the story of the baby Moses being found among the bulrushes in a watertight cradle (Exodus 2:3) when he was three months old (Moses was born on 7 Adar and placed in the Nile River on 6 Sivan, the same day he later brought the Jewish nation to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah). For these reasons, Jewish families traditionally decorate their homes and synagogues with plants, flowers and leafy branches in honor of Shavuot. Some synagogues decorate the bimah with a canopy of flowers and plants so that it resembles a chuppah, as Shavuot is mystically referred to as the day the matchmaker (Moses) brought the bride (the Jewish people) to the chuppah (Mount Sinai) to marry the bridegroom (God); the ketubbah (marriage contract) was the Torah. Some Eastern Sephardi communities actually read out a ketubbah between God and Israel as part of the service.[1]

Eichah - Hebrew The sixth book of the Ketuvim (Lamentations)

Ima - Hebrew Mother

Maachalos Assuros - Hebrew Forbidden foods

Qorbanot - Hebrew Sacrifices and offerings in the Beit HaMikdash

Uktzin - Hebrew 1. Fruits and plants susceptible to uncleanness; 2. A tractate of Tohorot

Zavim - Hebrew 1. Secretions which render a person unclean; 2. A tractate of Tohorot