June 7, 2011, - 6:08 pm
In Observance of the Jewish Holiday of Shavuot (Pentecost)
To my friends and readers, tonight at sundown, the Jewish holiday of Shavuot [“Shah-Voo-Oat”] (also called, Shavuos–in Yiddish), or the “Festival of Weeks,” begins. It is also referred to as “Pentecost,” not to be confused with the Christian “Pentecost.” It is one of the three Jewish harvest festivals, and it is the holiday on which we read the Book of Ruth, about the woman who is probably the most famous convert to Judaism.
Though I’ll be away, I’ve prepared some very current newsworthy stuff in advance, which will be posted in my absence. (The holiday ends at nightfall, Thursday Night.) So, I’ll still be here in spirit and print, and, as usual, you will see new things here (even in my absence) that you won’t read elsewhere.
To my Jewish friends and readers, Chag Shavuot Sameach [a Happy Shavuot Holiday]. To everyone else, the holiday is basically, a celebration of G-d giving the Torah and the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people. On the holiday, men traditionally stay up all night, the first night, in Bible (Torah) study, and we eat dairy foods. As I’ve noted previously, women can also stay up all night, and some liberal Jewish women do. But since we’re not obligated and I’m not a feminist, I take (and enjoy) my non-obligations very seriously. It pays not to be a feminist.
To learn more about the holiday, go here and here.
Stay tuned and keep yourselves posted. Again, you won’t notice I’m gone, as tomorrow, new, unique stuff will be up right here on this site. And I still have one or two more things before I steal away.
Tags: Book of Ruth, Jewish Festival of Weeks, Jewish Holidays, Megillat Root, Megillat Rut, Pentecost, Shavuos, Shavuot, up all night
Does this mean you aren’t picking me up at DTW whilst wearing something tight?
A1 on June 7, 2011 at 6:16 pm