Chag Sameach! Seven ways to celebrate a meaningful Shavuot

(JNS) — At sundown on Thursday, May 21, Jews around the world will start the two-day holiday (which lasts only one day in Israel) of Shavuot. Also known as the Festival of Weeks because it marks the completion of the counting of the Omer period — which is 49 days long, or seven weeks of seven days—Shavuot is one of the Jewish calendar’s shalosh regalim pilgrimage holidays.

Unlike the other two pilgrimage festivals — Passover, which is marked through the retelling of the Exodus story at the seder, and Sukkot, which is celebrated by building a hut or sukkah outside one’s home — there is no defin...