Goodbye Omer, Hello Shavuot

[gnomi]

Last night (or this morning if one forgot on the previous evening), we counted the 49th and final day of the Omer. That means that tonight is the first night of Shavuot, the holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Shavuot is also a harvest festival, celebrating the bringing of the first fruits.

This year is odd, due to scheduling. Except for Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish holidays are celebrated for two days outside of Israel and one day inside of Israel. However, since Shavuot this year falls on Friday, people in Israel end up celebrating two days because Shavuot ends as Shabbat starts.

Chag sameach for all those celebrating, and have a good weekend to everyone else. I will likely be back sometime on Sunday, but I will be waaay behind, unlikely to catch up.

Comments

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Chag sameach!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

And to you as well, ma'am!

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

And, my favorite feature of this schedule, the Diaspora is a week behind Israel on Torah readings for the whole summer. This happened in 1982, as I discovered to my chagrin and embarrassment when I arrived ready to lein at the Kotel for my "second bar mitzvah," and had prepared the wrong parsha.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

We go back on track with Mattot/Massei, yes? They do it as a double and we do them individually?

[autotruezone.livejournal.com]

According to two different calendar programs I consulted, we get back in sync with Chukat/Balak, on July 4 (which is just Balak in Israel). We will be celebrating this re-unification with our Israeli brethren by shooting fireworks that night after Shabbat.

[zsero.livejournal.com]

Chukat and Balak are always separate in Israel; in the rest of the world they are only ever joined when, as this year, the second day of Shavuot was on a Shabbat.

[eireangus.livejournal.com]

Chag Sameach!!! :)