Shavout and Pentecost are not the same holiday.
Shavout commemorates the giving of the Mosiac law. Pentecost celebrates the decent of the Holy Spirit on the founders of the Christian Church, ten days after Christ ascended. We don’t celebrate Shavout, because Christ broke the Mosaic law, making it all but irrelevant to Christianity aside from basic legal guidance. See Pauls Letter to the Romans, New Testament of the Bible. Or Google. Whichever floats your boat.
WRONG. THE ENGLISH NAME FOR SHAVUOT IS PENTECOST. IT IS NOT THE SAME AS THE CHRISTIAN “PENTECOST.”
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL

E.M. on June 3, 2006 at 10:46 pm

Actually, Shavuot has many aspects and as a consequence is called by several names both in English and Hebrew. In the Torah it is called the Feast of Weeks (Hebrew: חג השבועות, Hag ha-Shavuot, Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10) and this is the English name generally used for Shavuot. The terms Pentecost whilst clearly referring to the fact that Shavuot fell 50 days after Pesach, is a purely Christian terminology referring to Whitsun or Pentecostal Sunday which falls 50 days after Easter Sunday. Pentecost does infer a relationship with Shavuot, but it is not the “English” name for it. Feast of Weeks is the name.
ACTUALLY, PENTECOST IS THE ENGLISH NAME FOR SHAVUOT USED BY MANY RESPECTED AUTHORITIES. IT IS NOT THE ONLY ENGLISH NAME USED FOR IT, BUT IT IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON. THE ENGLISH NAMES USED FOR JEWISH HOLIDAYS DO NOT ALWAYS REFLECT THEIR LITERAL HEBREW TRANSLATIONS. FAR FEWER AUTHORITIES USE “FEAST OF WEEKS” FOR THIS HOLIDAY THAN USE “PENTECOST.”
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL

Jerusalem-Geoff on June 4, 2006 at 7:58 am

Which authorities? A quick glance at the Hertz “Pentateuch and Haftorahs” Soncino 2nd Edition 1972, one of the definitive authorities, uses the term Feast of Weeks in its index. Similarly, a glance at any calendar that I can find, printed and online, refers to Feast of Weeks for Shavuot and Pentecost for the Christian Holyday of Pentecost which fell on June 4th.
Similarly, due a web search using any engine of your choice and you will not find Pentecost listed as Shavuot but rather as the Christian similar but different, holiday.
Sorry, but whilst you are generally correct in what you write, here you are in error.
Best,
G
NOT IN ERROR AT ALL. SO ONE BOOK THAT WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE TRANSLATES THE WORD AND DOESN’T USE “PENTECOST”–AND THAT’S THE END ALL BE ALL?! WRONG. WHICH WEB SEARCH ENGINE WERE YOU USING . . . THE RESTRICTED GOOGLE IN CHINA? MY SEARCH USING THE REAL GOOGLE SHOWED, 75,500 ENTRIES:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22shavuot%22+and+%22pentecost%22
PLEASE STOP WASTING BOTH OF OUR TIME ARGUING ON SOMETHING SO TRIVIAL, ON WHICH YOU–NOT I–ARE IN ERROR.
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL

Jerusalem-Geoff on June 5, 2006 at 1:55 am

Actually, Pentecost is the name given to Shavuot,by the Helenized (ie those who had adopted Greek culture) Jews of Alexandria, Egypt. This was at about the year 100. Source; Encyclopedia Judaica; Entry Shavuot.

Tim on June 5, 2006 at 9:28 pm

The reason for the name Pentacost, that these Greek speaking Jews gave to Shavuot, is that Jews count exactly 50 days from the start of the barley harvest(the Omer), on the second day of Passover to establish the date of Shavuot holiday. Penta, as in pentagon refers to the number 5.

Tim on June 5, 2006 at 9:38 pm