Some members of our congregation will be leaving the country; you'll need to update your passports, make certain your vaccines are current (I have a dear friend who's traveling with a group to Uganda), purchase new clothing, and make sure your luggage isn't falling apart. Maybe you'll invest in a new camera.

My wife likes spending time reviewing travel guides prior to a trip. Laura will visit a local bookstore and pick up the latest Frommer's and/or Fodor's and find out what sites should be visited, which restaurants are great and which museums are a must-see.

Many of our synagogue's children are off to spend time at sleep-away camp. Parents will be taking children to visit the pediatrician and will be running around in the days prior to leaving for camp, dealing with last minute requests for camp items and supplies.

The first week of June is significant for the Jewish people, because these days precede what is arguably the most significant Jewish holiday of the year -- the holiday of Shavuot.

Shavuot, which literally means "weeks" (referring to the 7 weeks the holiday follows Pesah) recalls the historical event of Revelation, the day when the Jewish people received God's greatest gift: the gift of Torah.

Prior to Shavuot, the Jewish people are commanded to remember not only the day of Revelation, but also to remember the days preceding the Revelation, for it is during this time that our people prepared spiritually for this gift.

Rav Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik writes that, "...these were days of preparation to receive the Torah and it was during these days that the Jewish people demonstrated their intense yearning to receive the Torah and to hear the word of God directly.

It was during these days that they declared, "We will do and we will listen." Preparation for a big event, even in biblical times, was very significant.

I invite you to begin to prepare to join us on Sunday evening, June 12, at 6pm for a special Shavuot dinner, followed by Shavuot services at approximately 7:15pm, as we invite our 7th grade religious school graduates to help conduct holiday evening services.

Dinner reservations are required (see flyer) and services are open, as always, to our entire community.

Following the service, we'll have a celebratory ice-cream sundae bar, and at 9pm, our annual Tikkin Leil Shavuot, all-night study session, will begin. I hope to see you there.