Shavuot - The Harvest Festival

KKL-JNF will be holding special events throughout the country in honor of Shavuot. Find out more and come celebrate with KKL-JNF!

Shavuot, meaning 'weeks', refers to the counting of the seven weeks, begining from Passover, until the time the Israelites received the Torah, which fell on the 6th of Sivan.

 

Bringing Bikkurim. Photo: Natalie Kadosh, KKL-JNF Photo Archive

Shavuot also falls at the time of harvest, hence another name for the festival is Chag HaKatzir - the Harvest Festival. During the era of the first and second Temples, Jewish farmers would go out into their fields and mark the fruits that began to bud first with a string. They would then place these fruits in special baskets, to take up to the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering. Shavuot marked the first day that farmers were to begin bringing their first fruits, therefore, the day is also known as Yom HaBikkurim - First Fruits Day.

 

Shavuot is a celebration of life, a time when we reaffirm our peoplehood and celebrate our abundance. It is customary to eat dairy products on Shavuot, and to decorate our homes and synagogues with flowers and greenery.

 

Come and celebrate Shavuot with KKL-JNF at various sites all over the country, where we can connect with our land, our tradition, and rejoice in what the land gives to us, year after year.