Shavuot (pronounced "sha-voo-OHT") is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the single most important event in Israel's history: the giving of the Torah (the first five books in the Hebrew Bible) to Moses at Mount Sinai. This year Shavuot starts tonight at sundown and finishes at sundown on May 16.
The seder feast takes place on the first two evenings of Passover (except in Israel, where it is held only on the first night) and is typically conducted in the home. It is here, in the family seder, that the essential elements of the holiday are celebrated, a time when Jews remember the miraculous story of the Exodus.
Tefillin are small black boxes that Jewish men strap to their body – one each to their head and their arm – each weekday during morning prayers.
The dreidel is a four-sided top used for the traditional game played by children – and sometimes adults – during Hanukkah.
There is also a spiritual significance to the dreidel. A Hebrew letter is shown on each side of the top – nun, gimel, hay, and shin. They form an acronym for the Hebrew words ness gadol haya sham, which means "a great miracle happened there."
The menorah is a seven-branched candelabrum similar to those used in Jerusalem’s two Temples. The shape of the menorah is derived from the moriah plant.
Menorahs are most often associated with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which starts at sundown this Saturday. Hanukkah celebrates a story that unfolded more than 2,000 years ago, when a small group of Jews called the Maccabees revolted against the powerful Greek and Syrian army that had occupied Israel and was forcing paganism on the Jewish people.