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Shavuot has a number of names in the Torah and rabbinic writings, each carrying a special meaning:
- The Festival of Weeks (Ĥag Ha-Shavuot)
- The Harvest Festival (Ĥag Ha-katzir)
- Festival of the First Fruits (Ĥag Ha-bikurim)
- The Gathering (Atzeret)
The Festival of Weeks (Ĥag Ha-Shavuot):
This name is a reference to the seven weeks we count before the holiday (32:1-2 above). The counting expresses our longing for and excitement about receiving the Torah.
The Harvest Festival (Ĥag Ha-katzir):
Shavuot occurs at the height of the wheat harvest. Just as farmers harvest the fruits of their labor, from a spiritual perspective Shavuot is when the Jewish people harvested the fruits of their ancestors’ labor, and thus merited receiving the Torah.
Festival of the First Fruits (Ĥag Ha-bikurim):
On Shavuot in the Temple, the priests offered the “two loaves.” This offering was referred to as bikurim (first fruits), because it was the first minĥa offering baked with wheat from the new crop. From then on, people were allowed to use produce from the new harvest for the minĥa offerings. Shavuot also began the period during which farmers brought their first fruits to the Temple. (This period continued until Ĥanuka; see 19:11 above.)
The Gathering (Atzeret):
The Sages refer to Shavuot as Atzeret (not to be confused with Shmini Atzeret at the end of Sukkot). This means a day on which people stop working and hold a festive gathering instead, where they can absorb and internalize the holiday messages. The largest and most important such gathering ever convened was the one we commemorate on Shavuot – the revelation on Mount Sinai.
There, the Jews gathered together in complete unity to receive the Torah. In the verse, “Israel encamped there in front of the mountain” (Exodus 19:2), the Hebrew word for “encamped” is in the singular. Our Sages explain: “like one person with one heart.” In any community, there are always disagreements and feuds. Only at Sinai, facing the mountain with the shared intention of accepting the Torah, did unity reign. All gathered at Mount Sinai, purified themselves, and accepted the Torah. However, it was not just the Jews of that generation who stood at Sinai. The souls of all future Jewish generations, as well as the soul-roots of all future converts to Judaism, were there too.
