Everyone has a favorite holiday. It could be because of the food, the season or the rituals. Holiday decorations can add visual depth, and the aromas of special victuals tantalize the often dry text, “On that day, do this.”
In our pantheon of holidays, Shavuot ranks at the top for me. The making of blintzes and cheesecake, eating ice-cream for dessert, staying up all night to study Torah made Shavuot an “upside-down” Yom Tov observance. The lite fare, the warm weather and the long days heralded the end of school and the beginning of summer vacation. It was as if the giving of the Torah marked the emancipation from the academic year. The frenetic Passover season is over, and the march toward the fall festivals is still way beyond the horizon.
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