Shavuot 2013 - Day 2

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NOTE: the day labelled is the second full day of the holiday - the holiday actually starts in the evening, two days before the listed date. Please check with your local synagogue for the actual start time of the holiday.

Shavuot occurs on the sixth day of Sivan, 50 days after the second day of Passover. The holiday commemorates the anniversary of the giving of the Torah to the Israelite nation. Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage festivals (Shalosh HaRegalim - Passover and Sukkot being the others) where Jews from all over Israel and abroad made their way to the Temple in Jerusalem.

"Shavuot" is know as the Festival of Weeks, and is also known as the Festival of Reaping and the Day of the First Fruits.

Shavuot is unlike other major Jewish holidays in that there are no prescribed commandments, other than traditional holiday observances such as abstaining from work, saying holiday prayers and partaking in holidays meals.

Although there aren't commandments, there are traditions:
- eating dairy products
- reading the Book of Ruth (Megillat Ruth)
- decoration of the home and synagogue with greenery
- studying Torah all night