Hundreds packed Chabad centres up and down the country to enjoy Shavuot last week.
The festival, which commemorates the bringing of the first fruit in Temple times and the giving of the Torah some 3,322 years ago at Mount Sinai, is marked in our today with late-night Torah learning, dairy feasts and reading the Ten Commandments.
In Manchester, the Shavuot celebrations at L'Chaim-Chabad Lubavitch focused on bringing the beauty and joy of the festival to as many Jewish people as possible. Over 45 volunteers spread across the city to participating synagogues where they ran Shavuot Ice-Cream Parties for children in whose merit, according to the tradition, the Torah was given to Jewish people.
"Children had the chance to hear the Ten Commandments and to learn about the significance of Shavuot and its connection to Jewish children," said Rabbi Yisroel Cohen, director of L’Chaim Outreach.
"Our dedicated volunteers made sure every child felt included and enjoyed the event."
In Central London, close to 200 students and young professionals attended events organised by Chabad of Bloomsbury. Over 60 people attend the first festive evening meal, with 25 staying on until the early hours for a special class and discussion. During the day, some 70 people attended a special late reading of the Ten Commandments followed by a lively dairy buffet at Western Marble Arch Synagogue.
Centres in Bournemouth, Liverpool, Buckhurst Hill and Radlett attracted community members with special services for the reading of the Ten Commandments as well as ice-cream parties and dairy buffets.
To attract people who may not have gone to synagogue in the morning, Chabad of Radlett held a special a special reading of the Ten Commandments at 5:30pm which attracted some 70 people. In Liverpool, Rabbi Avremi and Golda Kievman hosted over 70 children and their parents who came to hear the Ten Commandments and enjoy a delicious ice-cream kiddush.
Despite the pressure of exams, hundreds of students took part in events organised by Chabad on Campus centres around the country.
"During busy exam period we decided to focus on making shavuot quick and easy," says Rabbi Mendy Lent, who serves Jewish students in Nottingham. "We held a special reading of the Ten Commandments for 40 students on the first day."
At Chabad centres in Oxford, Bloomsbury and South Kensington, students stayed up until the early hours for all-night Torah learning sessions on subjects ranging from reincarnation to genetic engineering.
In Leeds, over 60 students enjoyed the hot weather with a Shavuot Garden Party and a special reading of the Ten Commandments in the Leeds Student Chabad House.