Nowhere in the Bible is there a reference to Shavuot as the commemoration of the giving of the Torah. How did Shavuot get to be the festival of Matan Torah, the Giving of the Torah? Shavuot is simply the culmination of the counting specified in the Bible: "Seven weeks shall you count . . . and you shall keep the Feast of Weeks. . . ." (Deuteronomy 16:9-10)

Seven weeks after Passover comes Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks. Yet in other places, it is clear that the day the Ten commandments were given was the 6th or 7th of Sivan -- that makes it the 50th day after the Exodus, after the counting of the seven weeks.

The sages give several reasons for this. Chief among these is that, since Torah is a guiding light and source of happiness for us every day, we should not think that we celebrate the Torah having been given to us on only ONE day of the year.

Shavuot customs reflect the fact that this was the day on which the Jewish people embraced the Torah. On Shavuot we read the Ten Commandments in synagogue and study Torah throughout the night, learning as much as possible.