Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage festivals. In the Bible, it marked the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel. Rabbinic tradition teaches that the date also marks the revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai. It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer. It is traditionally celebrated in Israel for one day, in the Diaspora for two days. The Bible’s book of Ruth is read in the synagogue on that day; an illustration of a moment from that book is shown here, “Ruth in Boaz’s Field,” an 1828 painting by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld.
