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Jewish Community Marks Shavuot Festival This Weekend
The two-day Shavuot festival concludes across Australia this weekend. The event commemorates the giving of the Torah and coincides with the harvest season.
May 23, 3:30 PM·1m read1 source
The Sydney Morning HeraldAudio version
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The two-day Shavuot festival concludes across Australia this weekend. The event commemorates the giving of the Torah and coincides with the harvest season. Shavuot takes place seven weeks after Passover. It marks both the harvest and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Jewish tradition holds that the people ate dairy meals before receiving the Torah because they had not yet learned the laws of kosher slaughter.
Kosher bakeries prepare cheesecakes, blintzes, lasagnes and other dairy items for the festival. Synagogues remain open overnight for Torah study sessions that continue until dawn. An early-morning service follows, and the Ten Commandments are read on the first day.
Many communities hold ice-cream gatherings for children after the reading. Panels address topics including multiculturalism, professional life and contemporary social issues.
Ruth is read during Shavuot.
The text recounts the story of a woman who converted to Judaism. Synagogues invite converts to describe their experiences during the festival. Nomi Kaltmann is an Orthodox rabbi.
