Happy Shavuot!!

Counting the Omer

100

When do we start Counting The Omer

Second night of Passover

200

For How many weeks do we count the Omer?

Seven

300

What Holiday Do we celebrate after we finish counting the Omer?

Shavuot 

400

What does Omer Mean?

Sheaf

A sheaf is a bunch of grain ( in the context of counting the omer... barley) bound together after reaping. 

500

What does Shavuot mean?

How is the name of this holiday connected to the counting of the omer?

Weeks

The holiday is called Shavuot because we count the seven weeks between the holiday of Passover and Shavuot

Passover

100

On Passover, instead of bread we eat...

Matza

200

The 14th step of the Passover Seder is Hallel (Praises)

The standard group of psalms that make up a full Hallel is recited at this point. A blessing is recited over the last cup of wine and it is drunk.

Q: In Which section of the Tanakh  are all the psalms found?

Ketuvim (Writings)

300

The ________ is half of the middle matzah that is broken in the fourth step of the seder, yachatz. It is customary to hide the ________, and the person who finds it gets a prize! The ________ is eaten last of all at the seder, during step 12, tzafun.

Afikoman

400

How many steps are there in the Passover Seder

Double point if you can name them all)

15 steps

1. Kadeish: Sanctification
   A blessing is recited over wine in honor of the holiday. When the seder falls on a Friday night, this version of the Kiddush is recited for Passover and Shabbat. When the seder falls on a Saturday night, we continue with a special version of Havdalah. The wine is then drunk. A second cup is then poured (but not yet drunk).
    
2. Ur'chatz: Washing
   Participants wash their hands without a blessing in preparation for eating the Karpas.
    
3. Karpas: Vegetable
   A vegetable (usually parsley) is dipped in salt water and eaten. The vegetable symbolizes the lowly origins of the Jewish people; the salt water symbolizes the tears shed as a result of our slavery. Parsley is a good vegetable to use for this purpose, because when you shake off the salt water, it looks like tears.
    
4. Yachatz: Breaking
   The middle of the three matzot on the table is broken into two pieces. The smaller part is returned to the pile, the larger one is set aside for the afikoman (see below).
    
5. Magid: The Story
   A retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the first Pesach. This begins with the youngest person asking The Four Questions, a set of questions about the proceedings designed to encourage participation in the seder. The Magid is designed to satisfy the needs of four different types of people: the wise ones, who want to know the technical details; the wicked ones, who exclude themselves (and learn the penalty for doing so); the simple ones, who need to know the basics; and the ones who are unable to ask, who don't even know enough to know what they need to know. At the end of the Magid, a blessing is recited over the second cup of wine and it is drunk.
    
6. Rachtzah: Washing
   Participants wash their hands again, this time with a blessing, in preparation for eating the matzah.
    
7. Motzi: Blessing over Grain Products
   HaMotzi, the blessing for bread or grain products used as a meal, is recited over the matzah.
    
8. Matzah: Blessing over Matzah
   A blessing specific to matzah is recited, and a bit of matzah is eaten.
    
9. Maror: Bitter Herbs
   A blessing is recited over a bitter vegetable (usually raw horseradish; sometimes romaine lettuce), and it is eaten. This gesture symbolizes the bitterness of slavery. The maror is dipped in charoset, which symbolizes the mortar used by the Jews in building during their slavery. Note that there are two bitter herbs on the seder plate: one labeled maror and one labeled chazeret. The one labeled maror should be used for maror and the one labeled chazeret should be used in the Koreich, below.
    
10. Koreich: The Sandwich
    Rabbi Hillel was of the opinion that the maror should be eaten together with matzah and the paschal offering in a sandwich. In his honor, we eat some maror on a piece of matzah, with some charoset. (Because we no longer sacrifice animals, so there is no paschal offering to eat).
     
11. Shulchan Oreich: Dinner
    A festive meal is eaten. There is no particular requirement regarding what to eat at this meal (except, of course, that chametz cannot be eaten). Among Ashkenazi Jews, gefilte fish and matzah ball soup are often eaten at the beginning of the meal. Roast chicken or turkey are common as traditional main courses, as is beef brisket. Jews with far-ranging palates can put their own unique, contemporary stamp on this meal.
     
12. Tzafun: The Afikoman
    The piece of matzah set aside earlier is eaten as “dessert,” the last food of the meal. Different families have different traditions relating to the afikoman. Some have the children hide it, while the parents have to either find it or ransom it back. Others have the parents hide it, with a small prize given to the finder. The idea is to keep the children awake and attentive throughout the pre-meal proceedings, in anticipation of this part of the seder.
     
13. Barech: Grace after Meals
    The third cup of wine is poured, and Birkat HaMazon is recited. This is similar to the grace that would be recited on any Shabbat, but with the special insertion for Passover. At the end, a blessing is said over the third cup of wine and it is drunk. The fourth cup is poured, including a cup set aside for the prophet Elijah, who is supposed to herald the Messiah, and is supposed to come on Pesach to do so. The door is then opened to invite Elijah into our homes.
     
14. Hallel: Praises
    The standard group of psalms that make up a full Hallel is recited at this point. A blessing is recited over the last cup of wine and it is drunk.
     
15. Nirtzah: Closing
    A simple statement that the seder has been completed, with a wish that next year, we may celebrate Pesach in Jerusalem (i.e., that the Messiah will come within the next year). The closing may be followed by various traditional songs, hymns and stories.

500

Name Five of the symbolic items that might be found on a Passover Seder Plate.

• Shankbone, zeroa, symbolizes the lamb that was sacrificed in ancient days
• Roasted egg, beitzah, represents the Passover offering of ancient days, as well as the wholeness and continuing cycle of life
• Bitter herbs, maror, a reminder of the bitter lives of the Hebrew slaves
• Charoset, the mixture of apples, nuts, sweet wine, cinnamon and sugar in the Ashkenazic fashion or dates, nuts and sweet wine in the Sephardic tradition, reminds us of the bricks and mortar made by the Hebrew slaves
• Greens, karpas, symbolizes spring, the time of year when Passover takes place

Holiday Rituals(name the Holiday)

100

Karpas: Vegetable
A vegetable (usually parsley) is dipped in salt water and eaten. The vegetable symbolizes the lowly origins of the Jewish people; the salt water symbolizes the tears shed as a result of our slavery. Parsley is a good vegetable to use for this purpose, because when you shake off the salt water, it looks like tears. 

(Double points if you know which step of the Seder this is)

Passover

Step 3

 

200

Mishloach Manot

(Double points if you can describe the ritual)

What is Purim

Mishloach manot (משלוח מנות)‎  literally, "sending of portions", are gifts of food or drink that are sent to family, friends and others on Purim day. The mitzvah of giving mishloach manot derives from the Book of Esther. It is meant to ensure that everyone has enough food for the Purim feast held later in the day, and to increase love and friendship among Jews and their neighbors.

300

"you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. " - Leviticus 23:40

What is Sukkot

400

On _______ some people stay up all night, or very late, studying Torah. This custom evolved from a story that says that when the Israelites were at Sinai, they overslept and had to be awakened by Moses. So, to make amends and prove that we won’t fall asleep while waiting, like our ancestors did, many modern Jews stay up all night, or go late into the evening, to study and celebrate receiving the Torah.

Shavuot

On Shavuot some people stay up all night, or very late, studying Torah. This custom evolved from a story that says that when the Israelites were at Sinai, they overslept and had to be awakened by Moses. So, to make amends and prove that we won’t fall asleep while waiting, like our ancestors did, many modern Jews stay up all night, or go late into the evening, to study and celebrate receiving the Torah. These events, known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot, which literally means “Rectification for Shavuot Night,” are understood as the custom of studying with a community to once again experience standing at Mount Sinai, where the Jewish people received the Torah. The Tikkun Leil Shavuot was developed by 16th-century mystics in Safed, who believed that by studying on Shavuot, they were symbolically preparing Israel to enter into a sacred relationship with God. Modern interpretations and versions of this practice include study on a wide range of topics.

500

Reading the Book of Ruth during this holiday's services.

Shavuot

Customarily, the Book of Ruth, part of the section of the Bible known as Writings, is read during services on Shavuot. Ruth was a young Moabite woman who married an Israelite man. When her husband died, she followed her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Israel and adopted the Jewish faith and people as her own. To feed herself and Naomi, she gleaned in the field of Boaz, a rich man. Boaz is taken with her, and eventually they marry. Among their descendants is the famed King David.

The theme of Ruth’s conversion to Judaism is central to this story.

Shavuot!

100

עוּגַת גְּבִינָה

Cheesecake

200

חַג הַבִּכּוּרִים

The Festival of the First Fruits, another name for Shavuot as an agricultural festival.

300

זְמַן מַתַּן תּוֹרָתֵנוּ

Time of the Giving of our Torah, a later designation for Shavuot added in Talmudic times.

400

חַג הַקָּצִיר

The Festival of the Harvest, another agricultural name for Shavuot, referring to the wheat harvest.

500

שָׁלוֹשׁ רַגְלַיִם

The three pilgrimage festivals, which are Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.

???

100

How many months are there in a Jewish Leap year?

13 months 

(A non leap year has 12 months)

200

שָׁבוּעַ

Week

300

שָׁבוּעוֹת

Weeks

400

 שָׁבוּעַ טוֹב

"Have a good week"

500

How many days has it been since the start of Passover?

How many Nights are there left till the start of Shavuot? 

We have counted 49 days since the start of Passover, starting on the second night. 

Tonight is Shavout!