Shavuot has several names: Chag HaShavuot (the Festival of Weeks); Chag HaKatzir (the Festival of the Harvest); Yom HaBikurim (the Day of First Fruits); and Chag Mattan Torah (the Holiday of the Giving of the Torah).
Originally an agricultural festival in the month of Sivan, Shavuot was celebrated by pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem, where Jews offered the first fruits of their harvest. There was also a tradition that the Torah was received on Shavuot. As it was queried in the Talmud: Why is the sixth day singled out among the days of creation? For the sixth day has a special article preceding it, noting it as "the day." It is to teach that the creation made a deal with the Holy One: "If Israel accepts the Torah, all will be well. If not I'll return the world back to chaos." (Talmud Shabbat 88a) Rashi comments that "the day" is the Sixth of Sivan, the Festival of Shavuot.
One custom on Shavuot is to hold a Tikkun Leil Shavuot - literally, a Shavuot night repair, or an all-night study session. Also, many people prepare dairy meals, a practice some connect to the description of Israel as "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8). Others say it is because the Song of Songs contains the verse "honey and milk are under your tongue" (4:11), and the tongue could be understood as God's Torah.
Special readings for Shavuot include the Book of Ruth and the Akdamot, an Aramaic poem written in the eleventh century by Rabbi Meir Ben Yitzhak of Worms, Germany.
Understanding Shavuot:
Here, three Talmudic sources help you delve into the meaning of Shavuot. In the first one, Moses convinces the angels that the Torah should be given to humanity. The second text contains the famous image of an inverted Mount Sinai hovering over the children of Israel; in the third text, Moses travels to Rabbi Akiva's Beit Midrash.
Understanding Shavuot (PDF file 102Kb)
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Shavuot and the Lecha Dodi Connection:
Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, the author of Lecha Dodi, also helped invent the practice of Tikkun Leil Shavuot, the all-night study session on Shavuot. This learning piece helps you explore the connections between the Sabbath Bride and Shavuot, while also providing a window onto the relationship between God and the Jewish people.
Shavuot Lecha Dodi (PDF file 80Kb)
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Resources:
D'var Torah: Shavuot, Ruth, and Reaping Loving-Kindness
D'var Torah: It's Time to Receive the Torah ... Again
Visit MyJewishLearning.com for more about Shavuot