Today is Shavuot aka Pentecost

Shavuot began on May 23 and ends on May 25. In Judaism it is known as the "Feast of Weeks" and in Christianity it is called “Pentecost.” In The Torah Shavuot is mentioned in connection with Passover and with bringing offerings from the harvest. “You shall count off seven weeks [from Passover]…then you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, offering your freewill contribution according to how Adonai your God has blessed you.” (Deut. 16:10). During the Temple Period, two additions were made to the observance of Shavuot. First, the priests would make a special offering of two loaves of bread on behalf of the nation. Bread was an unusual offering, since it is made by human hands. In general, offerings were animals or grain, raw materials coming directly from the earth to God. This offering of bread, representing a human-Divine partnership in giving food to the world, would soon become important in the rabbis’ radical re-interpretation of Shavuot. The second special feature of Shavuot during the Temple period was the bringing of first fruits of the harvest, fruits of any of the seven species, to the Temple. Each family travelled to Jerusalem, carrying their first fruits, to make a special offering at the Temple. Read the complete article at -- http://www.heschel.org/page.cfm?p=445

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Why did they lay their coats at Saul's feet?

The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to what he

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Rabbi Stephen S. Wise’s Sermon at Synagogue on Jewish Jesus Causes a Storm

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