Top Ten Reasons to Celebrate Shavuot: Reason #2

As we continue our list, here is Reason #2 for why we should celebrate the festival of Shavuot:

Reason #2: Shavuot by any other name…

How many festivals have THIS MANY names?!?!

Chag HaShavuot ~ The "Festival of Weeks" (Exodus 34:22)

Chag Matan Torateinu ~ The Festival of the Giving of our Torah

Chag HaKatzir ~ The Festival of the Harvest (Exodus 23:16)

Yom HaBikkurim ~ The Day of First Fruits (Numbers 28:26)

Atzeret ~ Solemn Conclusion, the name given to the holiday by the Mishnah and the Talmud, due to its being the conclusion of the weeks after Pesach.

Pentecost – Because the holiday falls 50 days after Pesach, Hellenistic Greeks gave it this name, meaning Fiftieth Day.