Soon, our Jewish colleagues, patients, their families, and friends will be celebrating Shavuot.

The Jewish observance of Shavuot is celebrated this year from sundown Sunday, June 8, through sundown Tuesday, June 10, 2008. Shavuot is the word for "weeks" and the plural of the word "seven." The holy observance of Shavuot marks the conclusion of the seven week period following Passover. The festival was originally observed to celebrate the harvest, and the farmers would bring the very first part of their harvests as an offering. As they would come, they would say these words: My ancestors were strangers when they went down to Egypt but there they became a great and strong nation. Then the Egyptians enslaved us. So God brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and glorious miracles to the land flowing with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the land which God has given me. Today, Shavuot has become more focused as the day that commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Israelites. Here is the story of that time.

Moses was sent to Egypt to bring the Hebrews out of slavery there, as the Hebrew people had been oppressed for many years. These freed people traveled for many years in the desert and soon became influenced by local cultures. Moses went up on Mount Sinai to pray, and God gave Moses a set of laws, 613 all together. The most important and well-known of these are the Ten Commandments. The emphasis on this significant event is that it was at this time that a group of ex-slaves was changed into a nation. The laws that Moses received at Mount Sinai are the whole basis of Judaism.

Traditionally, those Jews who observe this celebration stay up on the night of the Shavuot and read the Torah. As they read, they also drink coffee and eat dairy products and sweet cakes in order to stay awake. The sweetness of the cakes reminds those observing Shavuot that the Torah is a spiritual sweetness. In addition to reading the Torah, those observing Shavuot also read the book of Ruth. This beautiful love story tells about Ruth, a young woman who converted to the Jewish faith after her marriage to a Jew. Her husband dies, and she elects to stay with her mother in law. During a famine, they find food by gathering grain left over from the harvest. Ruth finds favor in the eyes of Boaz, the owner of the field, and she marries him. It is a story of love, redemption, and generosity.

Shavuot is also known as the "festival of first fruits." On this holy day in Israel, many farmers bring baskets of the first ripe fruits, known as "bikkurim," to a central area. In bringing these "first fruits," they recall the way God frees the oppressed, and they express their joy and pride in the fruitfulness of the land that God gave the Israelites centuries ago.