SHAVUOT:

On our almost-completed journey from liberation (Pesach) to revelation (Shavuot), we stop to enjoy the flowers.

On our almost-completed journey from liberation (Pesach) to revelation (Shavuot), we stop to enjoy the flowers -- literally. Passover was the early spring harvest festival as well as the celebration of the Exodus, and Shavuot celebrates the late spring harvest along with the giving of the Torah. During the seven weeks between them, with the barley already harvested, the wheat is popping up. Each day of this period, called the "Omer" (sheaf), is counted along with the emerging sheaves of wheat. That's why the biblical story of Ruth, which reaches its dramatic climax on Boaz's threshing floor during harvest season, is read and discussed every Shavuot. We hope you also celebrate outdoors for Lag B'Omer -- the break we take from the anxiety of this period -- on the 33rd day of counting. But the real bash is at the end. Shavuot, traditionally celebrated with late-night Torah study and with dairy (lacto-ovo-vegetarian, lower-on-the-food-chain, and less resource-intensive) foods like blintzes, is ripe for environmental thought. The midrash teaches that the Torah was given on Shavuot in 70 languages. Our most meaningful teachings -- ecology among them -- transcend national or ethnic or religious borders. As we study Torah this Shavuot, let us highlight those universal teachings of responsibility and hope which point the way to a sustainable future for all. Hag sameach!