On Shavuot, it is customary to eat dairy foods. Several reasons have been suggested for this:

(1) When the Torah was given to the children of Israel and the laws concerning what one may eat came into effect, they had no kosher meat, as preparing kosher meat requires the use of special slaughtering knives, and likewise it is necessary to soak the meat in water and to salt it, all of which takes time. Therefore, they ate dairy foods on that day.

(2) The Torah is compared to milk, as it is stated: “Honey and milk are under your tongue” (Song of Songs 4:11). Just as milk has many nutritional qualities, so too, the Torah provides spiritual nourishment to the soul of a Jew. As the Torah is also likened to honey in the above verse, some likewise eat foods with honey on Shavuot.

(3) Mount Sinai is called “a mountain of ridges [gavnunim]” (Psalms 16:16). Thus, the Hebrew word for cheese, gevina, is seen as a verbal allusion to Mount Sinai.

That said, it is a mitzva to eat meat on festivals. This requires special attention and planning, so that the consumption of dairy and meat is done in a permissible manner.

Further reading: See the chapter dealing with the laws of kosher food, p. 545.

There are various customs regarding the manner of eating the dairy foods. Some serve them immediately after Kiddush, as a separate meal, and only later serve a meat meal. Others partake of the dairy foods as an afternoon meal. Yet others start the daytime meal as a dairy meal, and when they have finished eating the dairy foods, they clear the table, change the tablecloth and the bread, rinse out their mouths, and then eat the rest of the meal with meat.

In the afternoon, the festival afternoon prayer service is recited.

Further reading: Why doesn’t the Torah explicitly identify Shavuot as the festival of the giving of the Torah? See A Concise Guide to Mahshava, p. 102. What else is the Torah compared to? See A Concise Guide to the Sages, p. 449.

As with all the Torah’s holy days except Yom Kippur, Shavuot is celebrated outside of Israel for two days.

It is customary to read the book of Ruth on the second day of Shavuot, as its story occurred during the wheat and barley harvests, which are connected to the period of the counting of the omer. Furthermore, the book of Ruth also mentions the birth and lineage of King David who, according to tradition, passed away on Shavuot. In Israel, where only one day of Shavuot is observed, the book of Ruth is read on that day.

The main Torah reading for the second day is a section from Deuteronomy (15:19–16:17), which mentions the three pilgrimage festivals and the counting of the omer. Five men are called up for this reading. If it is a Shabbat, seven men are called up and the reading is expanded by beginning from Deuteronomy 14:22. The maftir is the same as on the first day, and the haftara is from Habakkuk (2:20–3:19), a prayer by Habakkuk that includes a depiction of the Divine Chariot, linking this haftara to that of the previous day, which describes the revelation of Ezekiel. After the first verse of the haftara, the reading is interrupted for the recitation of the Aramaic liturgical poem Yetziv Pitgam, which praises God, who gave us the Torah and created the universe.

According to the Ashkenazic custom, the Yizkor prayer, in memory of the deceased, is recited before Musaf. In Israel, this is recited on the previous day.

One who travels to Israel for Shavuot, or a resident of Israel who is abroad, should consult a rabbi regarding how to conduct himself on this second day.

Upon the conclusion of the festival, Havdala is recited over a full cup of wine. The wording of this Havdala is identical to the Havdala of Shabbat, but without the blessings over the candle and the spices. Likewise, the introductory verses before Havdala are not recited. One recites the blessing over the wine: “who creates the fruit of the vine,” followed by the blessing of: “who separates between the sacred and the mundane.”