Shavuos – By Rabbi Smason

The major festival of Shavous begins on Saturday evening June 5 and concludes Monday evening June 6. You may remember Cecil B. DeMille’s film The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston. Good film; however, the book was better than the movie! On Sunday morning the Torah reading (Exodus 19:1 – 20:23) contains the narrative of the giving of the Torah and the Aseres HaDibros — “The Ten Statements”, often inaccurately translated as ‘The Ten Commandments.’ On the second day of Shavous, Monday, the Torah reading (Deut. 15:19 – 16:17) contains a brief description of the Shalosh Regalim – Passover, Shavous, and Succos. An argument can be made that Shavous is THE most important holiday of the Jewish year. After all, without the Torah, what is Judaism?