Pentecost/Shavu'ot

[sheep wrecked]

(05-24-2009 11:19 PM)LindaR Wrote:  From Way of Life Encyclopedia:


Historically and symbolically related to the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot or the day, fifty days after the Exodus, on which God gave the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, Pentecost now also commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus as described in the Book of Acts, Chapter 2 in the New Testament.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost

I've never heard that Pentecost/Shavu'ot had anything to do with the giving of Torah.

Scripture never says anything about it, so someone added it somewhere. I suspect it comes from the Talmud because it's a huge deal in Judaism. There is no evidence in Pentetuch that Shavu'ot was the giving of the Torah. Shavu'ot required a sin sacrifice and its main theme was the giving of one's first fruits.

Wiki is a catholic publication, so you can see that the concept has crossed over into protestantism/christianity.

This is what I found at Judaism 101:

Quote: “Shavu’ot, the Festival of Weeks, is the second of the three major festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Passover and Sukkot). Agriculturally, it commemorates the time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple, and is known as Hag ha-Bikkurim (the Festival of the First Fruits). Historically, it celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and is also known as Hag Matan Torateinu (the Festival of the Giving of Our Torah).

The period from Passover to Shavu’ot is a time of great anticipation. We count each of the days from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavu’ot, 49 days or 7 full weeks, hence the name of the festival. See The Counting of the Omer. The counting reminds us of the important connection between Passover and Shavu’ot: Passover freed us physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavu’ot redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry and immorality. Shavu’ot is also known as Pentecost, because it falls on the 50th day; however, Shavu’ot has no particular similarity to the Christian holiday of Pentecost, which occurs 50 days after their Spring holiday.

It is noteworthy that the holiday is called the time of the giving of the Torah, rather than the time of the receiving of the Torah. The sages point out that we are constantly in the process of receiving the Torah, that we receive it every day, but it was first given at this time. Thus it is the giving, not the receiving, that makes this holiday significant.”

http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayc.htm