Shavuot. “What’s that?” I am asked. Whether it’s an American Jew or non-Jew asking, “Never heard of that!” is the reply I get when I explain.

Growing up, I attended public school. My mother, who was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home, did not allow me to go to school on any Jewish holiday. In spite of the fact that my father went to work on many holidays, I was not even allowed to go on a field trip that fell on this holiday while I was in the fifth grade.

For my family, Jewish holidays meant a nice lunch at my Uncle Meyer and Auntie Pearl’s home, with some of the cousins who also weren’t allowed to go to school. Mother did give me a choice of which synagogue to attend. So, I, along with Orthodox Jews and Israelis, know what Shavuot is.

I am miffed that so many Jews are unfamiliar with Shavuot. This holiday is the celebration of us becoming the Jewish people. We were not a nation before accepting G-d’s Ten Commandments. So why don’t people know about this very special holiday? Furthermore, why isn’t Shavuot, the beginning of Judaism, our Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year)? Why was a different........

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