Celebrating Shavuot: Web Resources

It's amazing what you can find out on the web, and so many really great tools and resources have been created to reach out to families across the US and world to help making Judaism and Jewish holidays interesting and accessible. Here are a few fun links to get your family excited and in the mood for Shavuot.

• Having trouble remembering just which Jewish holiday Shavuot is, anyway? Buff up your knowledge over at My Jewish Learning - their section on Shavuot has a whole array of various articles about this holiday, including Why Dairy on Shavuot?, The Book of Ruth, and Recommended Books about Shavuot.


• Also from My Jewish Learning - an entire article on making Shavuot fun for your kids, including an evening sleeping out under the stars, a recipe for making a cake using Biblical quotes for your list of ingredients, and more fun stuff.


• In what month does Shavuot fall? What does the Hebrew word shavuot mean? Create your own Shavuot trivia game and quiz your family on their knowledge of this spring holiday. Need help coming up with questions? Visit the folks over at www.jewish-trivia.com - they have ready made quizzes that can be taken on the computer as well as a database of trivia questions if your little scholars want to create their own game.


• Courtesy of my favorite new Jewish website, Elijah Rocks, test your knowledge of the Ten Commandments with this game - www.elijahrocks.net/Shavuot.html.


• Another Elijah Rocks offering - a Shavuot word puzzle: www.elijahrocks.net/pdf/ShavuotWordPuzzle.pdf


• It is traditional to eat dairy food during Shavuot, so plan some fun recipes to make together. Take a look at a simple Cheese Blintz recipe, courtesy of Behrman House. Want to attempt something a little fancier? Here is a recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Blintzes. Don't forget the cake - especially Joan Nathan's cheesecake - the picture alone will make your mouth water.


• Take a look at the Shavuot page from Babaganewz, my favorite online Jewish kids magazine. Lots of different options to explore here, including a mini-movie of the book of Ruth, a Shavuot edition of Jeopardy, and even an arts and crafts activity.

If you know of other fun web-based Shavuot activities, post the information in the commens section. Enjoy!