Shavuot – Pentecost

Person picking olives from an olive tree.

Shavuot (pronounced sha-voo-OHT), which Christians know better from the Greek, Pentecost, is one of three pilgrimage festivals in which Jewish men during biblical times were obligated to go to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Initially, it was a harvest festival, commemorating the ancient obligation to bring the harvest’s “firstfruits” to the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to God. With the destruction of the Temples, it evolved into an event of monumental significance to both Jews and Christians — the giving of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, on Mount Sinai.

You will discover a variety of resources from Bible studies to devotions to recipes to help you understand the importance and significance of this holy observance not only to Judaism, but to the Christian faith as well.