Th e Festival of Shavuot has many names. It is also known as the Festival of Weeks, the Festival of First Fruits, the Festival of the Harvest and the Festival of the Giving of the Torah. Yet this is a holiday without a set date, measured only by a count from the second day of Pesach, and a holiday with few Jewish laws to govern its practice.

The counting of the Omer, for 49 days beginning on the second day of Pesach, reminds us of the link between the two holidays, one marking freedom from the bondage of slavery and the other freedom from a spiritual bondage.