The Not-So-Easy Shavuot Quiz

Your Name:

1. We learn from Megillat Ruth about the origin of ___________?

David
Shavuot
Samuel
Gleaning

2. For how many days do traditional Jews celebrate Shavuot?

Two days in Israel, one in the Diaspora
One day in Israel, two in the Diaspora
Eight days in Israel, seven in the Diaspora
Seven days in Israel, eight in the Diaspora

3. The holiday of Shavuot is also known as "Chag Ha-Bikurim." What does that mean?

The holiday of freedom
The holiday of the law-giving
The holiday of the harvest
The holiday of first fruits

4. What is the connection between Shavuot and the number seven?

We count seven weeks from Passover to Shavuot
The seven-branched menorah is a Shavuot symbol
Seven represents the number of days in a week and Shavuot means "weeks"
There is no connection

5. In the days of the Temple what did people do on Shavuot?

They gave a half shekel to the Temple priests
They harvested their barley crops
They brought the first fruits of the harvest to the Temple
They brought the best sacrifice they could afford to the Temple

6. How long did Moses remain on Mount Sinai to receive God's instruction and receive the Torah?

Seven days and seven nights
Forty days and forty nights
Eighty days and eighty nights
100 days

7. Which is the true statement about Shavuot?

On Shavuot Jews read the Ten Commandments.
During Temple times Shavuot commemorated the barley harvest.
In the Book of Exodus we learn the date for the celebration of Shavuot.
The holiday begins at sundown on the fiftieth day after Pesach ends.

8. The Yovel (Jubilee) Year is to years what Shavuot is to what?

seasons
months
weeks
days

9. Why is it customary to decorate the home and the synagogue with flowers and green plants on Shavuot?

To commemorate the harvest of the first fruits
To celebrate the season of spring
To beautify the places of living and worship in honor of the holiday
Mount Sinai was covered with greenery during matan Torah

10. Another name for Shavuot is which?

Festival of Ingathering
Atzeret
Mattan haBikkurim
Chag Aviv

11. Which of the following is the reason for the custom of staying up all night on Shavuot night to study Torah?

To show gratitude for the Torah by studying with fervor.
To commemorate the all-night vigil of the Israelites as they waited for God at Mount Sinai.
It recalls that most Israelites stayed awake all night in anticipation of the next morning.
It atones for some of the people who slept in on the historic morning of the giving of the Torah.

12. The words, "Your people are my people and your God, my God," are famous. They were said by whom to whom?

by Naomi to Ruth
by Ruth to Naomi
by Ruth to Boaz
by Boaz to Naomi

13. Which of the following is not a true statement about Shavuot?

The Torah refers to Shavuot as the commemoration of the giving of the Law
Traditionally, Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah to Israel at Mount Sinai
Shavuot celebrates the harvest of the first fruits which included the wheat crop
The holiday is celebrated fifty-one days after the beginning of Pesach

14. Which one of these explains the origin of the custom of eating dairy food on Shavuot?

Moses forbade the Israelites from eating meat just before the Giving of the Law.
The Israelites only had manna to eat while in the wilderness.
All the Israelites were close to the mountain, too close to build cooking fires.
Because there was a technical kashrut problem.

15. What did the people of Israel answer when God asked if they were willing to receive the Torah?

We are willing.
We will do and we will listen.
All that Moses has spoken we will do.
You speak with us and we will hear.