The day after tomorrow at sundown Am Israel, we at Galilee Silks and Jews around the world celebrate Chag Shavuot the last of the tree main holidays on the Jewish calendar.
On the 50th day after the Israelites left Egypt and were in the wilderness around Mount Sinai, God presented Moses with the Torah, or Ten Commandments. In accepting these, the Israelites became a nation committed to serving God and Shavuot marks the anniversary of this event.
Besides its significance as the day on which the Torah was revealed by God to the Jewish nation at Mount Sinai (which includes the Ten Commandments), Shavuot is also connected to the season of the grain harvest in Israel. In ancient times, the grain harvest lasted seven weeks and was a season of gladness (Jer. 5:24; Deut. 16:9-11; Isa. 9:2). It began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot. Shavuot was thus the concluding festival of the grain harvest, just as the eighth day of Sukkot (Tabernacles) was the concluding festival of the fruit harvest. During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, an offering of two loaves of bread from the wheat harvest was made on Shavuot.
Symbols
An important symbol of Shavuot is the Bikkurim, or first fruits. This was a basket of gold or silver that contained the first harvest of the Seven Species crops and was carried to the Temple in Jerusalem in a procession accompanied by music. These crops are: barley; dates; figs; grapes; olives; pomegranates; and wheat. Modern versions of the Bikkurim may include other crops now grown in Israel or other Jewish communities around the world. Images of the Ten Commandments inscribed on stones or scrolls representing the Torah are also symbolic of Shavuot.
On the websites of Galilee Silks you'll find many garments and items adorned whith these very same Shavuot symbols - which are naturally wearable all year round.
Have a look in our Fashion store for the T-shirt in the picture which can be obtained with a matching silk vest
