The Festival of Shavuos celebrated on the 6th and 7th days of Sivan, begins this year on Sunday evening May 27, through Tuesday, May 29.

The Torah is not a mere collection of human knowledge that is subject to revision. The Torah represents Divine laws and immutable universal guidelines that have been tested by the Jewish people over several millennia in every country and culture throughout the world.

Torah provides a framework for daily living based upon the most authoritative moral code. The Torah is a most precise and eternal yardstick against which to measure our deeds and lifestyles.

The Ten Commandments combine two sets of relationships: duties between man and G-d, and our duties from person to person.

Even children and infants should be brought to the synagogue to hear the Ten Commandments. Although they may not yet understand the words, yet their souls hear the message. It also demonstrates that the children are our Torah Guarantors.

Before G-d consented to give the Torah to the Jewish people, He demanded guarantors, who would assure and guarantee the Torah's continuity over the ages.

Initially, the Jews suggested other possible guarantors, from the patriarchs to the prophets, but G-d was not satisfied, until the little children were offered as the guarantors.

Only Torah educated children serve as the true transmitters of Torah for all time.

To assure that the Torah would be well received and perpetuated, G-d told Moses to first address the women: "Say to the House of Jacob" (referring to the women) and then "Tell the sons of Israel" (Exodus 19:3) (referring to the men).

Torah knowledge is also obligatory for women, so they can learn to know how to fulfill the Mitzvot and live a full Jewish life.

The woman influences her home and environment. It is the mother who primarily instills values in her children, encourages her husband to observe and study Torah, and affects others through her hospitality, warmth and teaching.

Some communities read the Book of Ruth on the second day of Shavuos. Ruth was a righteous con vert to Judaism, who became the grandmother of David, King of Israel. Like Ruth, all of Israel underwent conversion when they received the Torah on Shavuos.

In the exceptional story of love, faith, dedication and devotion, Ruth says to her mother-in-law Naomi: "Where You go, I go...Your people are my people, Your G-d is my G-d" (Ruth 1:16).

Shavuos is the Yartzeit of King David, composer of the Book of Psalms. The line of descent from King David will ultimately lead to the righteous Moshiach who will redeem us from exile.

On Shavuos we also observe the Yartzeit of Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chasidic movement, who revealed the inner secrets of the Torah. His teachings draw us closer to achieving the unity with G-d initiated at Mount Sinai, which will culminate in the final and complete Redemption, soon in our days!

On the second day of Shavuos, as on the holidays of Passover and Sukkoth, it is customary to recite Yizkor, a prayer in memory of a departed relative.

Keeping alive the memory of a beloved is a hallowed Jewish tradition. It reminds the living to reflect on the meaning of life, particularly Jewish life. We unite with the soul and spirit of our heritage, and strive to come closer.

During Yizkor we pause to look back to the past, and ahead to the future. We are links in a historic chain going back to Sinai. A chain is as strong as its weakest link. Are we holding on?

Yizkor focuses our attention on beloved parents and grandparents, not to their death, but to what they lived for. We don't want Judaism to die with them. Yizkor brings back memories of home. We remember good times and hard times, pain and struggle, love and faith.

The light of the Yizkor candle is more than a 24-hour flame in a glass. Its flicker expresses a verse in Proverbs: "The soul of man is the candle of G-d." As the flame reaches upward, so does the soul rise higher. We want the warmth and spark of Judaism to remain alive in our hearts.

When saying Yizkor we pledge money to charity - Tzedaka, affirming our love and bond through a Mitzvah. All of physical life is temporary.

Only a Mitzvah is eternal and lives on forever.

It is a beautiful Shavuos tradition to adorn the synagogue, and the home, with greenery, fragrant flowers, leaves, boughs, and trees to mark the joy of the giving of the Torah.

Grass recalls the blooming of Sinai in the desert, when the Jewish were commanded, "the flocks should not graze at the foot of this mountain" (Exodus 34:3).

Trees and branches also recall that Shavuos is a Day of Judgment for fruit trees, and that we should remember them in our prayers.

During the ceremonial observance of bringing the "Bikkurim" First Fruit to the Temple in Jerusalem on Shavuos, the horns of the leading ox were wreathed with luxuriant olive leaves, and the baskets of first fruits borne by the pilgrims to Jerusalem were also ornamented.

The practice also recalls that Moses was saved when his mother hid him to escape Pharaoh's decree to drown newborn male Hebrew chil dren. She put him in a wicker basket and placed it among the reeds by the edge of the Nile (Exodus 2:1-3). This occurred on the second of Shavuos, for Moses was born on the seventh day of Adar and three months later is the seventh of Sivan.

Roses are Shavuos favorites. The verse "The decree was proclaimed in Shushan (Esther 8:14) is interpreted 'the Law was given with a rose (shoshan).

A medieval book of customs states, "It is customary to scatter spices and roses on the synagogue floor for the enjoyment of the festival."

Beautiful paper flower cutouts called 'shevuoslekh' (after the festival's name), 'reizelekh' or' shoshanta' (small roses) were pasted on windowpanes facing the streets. Among the intricate designs of these folk art creations were motifs and patterns relating to Shavuos and the Torah.

Certain Shavuos dairy culinary customs have evolved over the generations, and various reasons have been advanced for this tradition.

It is customary to eat dairy foods, such as blintzes and cheesecake (why not some Kosher Pizza?) on Shavuos. Full dairy courses can be served as the main holiday meal, or as a light snack followed by a traditional meat holiday dinner.

One explanation for eating dairy is that when the Jews received the Torah on Shavuos, they were not ready with utensils for kosher meat preparation, so they ate dairy instead, because it is relatively easy to prepare.

The Torah is compared to milk and honey. The verse "honey and milk shall be under your tongue" (Song of Songs 4:11) implies that the words of the Torah shall be as dulcet to your heart and ear as milk and honey are sweet to your tongue. David, King of Israel, declares "G-d's precepts Lord are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb" (Psalms 19.9-11).

Another explanation relates the law of the First Fruits being mentioned in the Torah in juxtaposition to the law concerning the separation of milk from meat (Exodus 23:19).

The custom of indulging in dairy fare on Shavuos is also derived from this biblical verse: Minhah hadashah la-Hashem be-Shavuosekhem (your Feast of Weeks, when you bring an offering of new grain to the Lord; Numbers 28.26).

The initials of the four Hebrew words spell me-halav (from milk), implying that dairy foods are recommended on Shavuos.

The Kabbala mystics note that the numerical equivalent of halav (milk) is forty-the number of days Moses spent on Mount Sinai. Also in Psalm 68, read on Shavuos, Mount Sinai is called 'Har Gavnunim,' a word related to 'gevinah,' the Hebrew for cheese.

Most delectable of Shavuos foods are blintzes, rolled pancakes filled with cheese. Among other tempting tidbits are cheese knishes, butter cakes and cheesecakes and cheese kreplakh. Kreplakh are three-cornered, based on the talmudic statement: "Blessed be G-d who gave the threefold Law [Torah, Prophets, Writings] to a people comprising three classes [Kohen, Levi, Israel], through a thirdborn [Moses, the third childof his parents], in the third month [Sivan].