The joy of the Shavuot holiday is both spiritual and material. A true enjoyment of the holiday this year entails knowing how to go from Sabbath observance into yomtov, in addition to the laws of the yomtov itself.
There is a widespread custom to eat at least some milchig meals on Shavuos. A housewife asked me this question: since this year Shavuos follows on the heels of Shabbos, and she has no large pareve pots, is there a way for her to prepare side dishes or desserts that she may then serve with both her meat and her dairy meals?
There is an interesting parallel between the seven days of creation and each of Judaism's seven holidays. These similarities are discernible in both the Torah's language and in the subject matter of each day of creation and each holiday.
Shavuot, the festival of the giving of the Torah, is a festival of Judaism's oral tradition. It belongs to the Torah scholars in each age. In every generation the Torah is given anew, and this day has the power to allow a renewed acceptance of Torah.
We are supposed to learn Torah in such a manner that it is a continuation of that sacred encounter. Apparently, if too much explicit stress would be put on the one event, we might not see our involvement in the study as a continuation of the process that only began on Har Sinai.
National liberation, in its initial stages, awakens great excitement. After this, though, one begins to sense that freedom is not the solution to all problems. Only with the receiving of the Torah do the firstfruit Festivals draw to a close.
Naomi was certain that Boaz would not allow himself to participate in an act of prostitution. She knew that once he understood their motives and grasped his own responsibility as a redeemer, he would surely take Ruth for his wife.
On the Festival of Shavuot, we must remember this important point: Everything which we learn we learn because the Almighty commanded us to do so, and the true value of Torah study is that it gives vitality to all of creation.
