SHAVU'OT ("Weeks"). Second of the three PILGRIM FESTIVALS, known in English as the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost, and Festival of the Giving of the Law; observed in the Diaspora, for two days (6- 7 Sivan) and in Israel and by Reform Jews everywhere for one day (6 Sivan).   

The name "Weeks" derives from the biblical instruction to count seven weeks from the time of the Passover harvest festival, at the end of which a second harvest festival was to be observed (Ex. 34:22; Lev. 23:15ff.; Deut. 16:9-10). The three days preceding the festival are known as sheloshet yeme ha-hagbalah ("Three Days of Preparation" Ex. 19: 11-12) during which the mourning regulations of the OMER period are suspended. Pentecost is the Greek term for "fiftieth," i.e., the festival celebrated on the 50th day; it was the name adopted by Greek-speaking Jews of the first century. Shavu'ot is also called Hag ha- Katsir (the Harvest Festival; Ex. 23:16) and Yom ha- Bikkurim (the Day of the First Ripe Fruits; Num. 28:26), when the Israelites were to bring a special thank- offering to the Temple. In talmudic literature the festival is frequently referred to as Atseret (Shev. 1.1, RH 1.2), usually translated as "a Solemn Assembly." The term is used in the Bible, where it is also applied to other festivals (Lev. 23:26; Num. 29:35; Deut. 16:8), but in post-biblical sources it is nearly always restricted to Shavu'ot. For the rabbis, Atseret meant "the concluding day of the festival," reflecting their view of Shavu'ot as Atseret shel Pesah, the conclusion of Passover. Shavu'ot not only marks the end of the grain harvest commencing at Passover time, but also signifies the culmination of the process of freedom started with the Exodus at Passover, and concluded with the proclamation of the Law at Sinai, traditionally on Shavu'ot. Liturgically, the festival is called Zeman Mattan Toratenu, the Season of the Giving of our Torah, which, as the rabbis derived from Exodus 19:1-16, occurred on 6 Sivan. This name relates to the events described in Exodus 19-20 and recalls the central historical event which post-biblical Judaism ascribes to this day. Shavu'ot is the only festival for which no specific date is given in the Bible. Instead, the people are instructed to count seven weeks "from the morrow of the day of rest [the Sabbath], from the day on which you brought the offering of the sheaf [omer] of the waving" (Lev. 23:15). The cutting of the omer of the new barley marked the beginning of the counting period; on the 50th day, the new-harvest festival was observed. For the rabbis, "the Sabbath" referred to the first day of Passover, and the 50th day was therefore always 6 Sivan. The SADDUCEES and later the Karaites understood the term "Sabbath" in its literal sense, so that the counting began on the Sunday of Passover week; thus the date was variable but the holiday would always fall on a Sunday. (This is also the tradition among the SAMARITANS.) It is possible that the controversy centred around the rabbinic view linking Shavu'ot to the great historical event of the Divine Revelation at Mount Sinai, for which there had to be a fixed date. The Sadducees, however, saw no warrant in the Scriptures for such an association and therefore for them Shavu'ot remained a purely agricultural celebration for which a movable date was entirely appropriate. Ethiopian Jews regarded the "morrow" of the day of rest as meaning the day after the Passover festival and thus observe Shavu'ot on 12 Sivan.  

In the Temple period, Shavu'ot was the time when the individual farmer would set out with his neighbours in joyous procession to Jerusalem in order to offer a selection of his first ripe fruits (bikkurim) as a thank- offering. The Mishnah contains a vivid account of the farmer's preparation for this offering and the ceremonies connected with it.