It’s still Jewish American Heritage Month, and today is also Shavuot, the holiday marking when the ancient Israelites, led by Moses from slavery in Egypt, received the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Check out Beliefnet’s celebration ideas, and here are some links to related news stories on the holiday, which began at sundown yesterday:

• Different reads on Shavuot (JTA)
• The burden and the gift (Jerusalem Post)
• Bay Area Jewish groups offer new twist on old holiday: Shavuot (San Jose Mercury News)

Also, Sholom Rubashkin’s state trial on child labor charges, related to the government’s raid on his family’s now-defunct kosher slaughterhouse Agriprocessors two years ago, has been postponed until Friday so that he can observe the holiday. The ultra-Orthodox Jew’s sentencing on the federal bank fraud charges is scheduled for next Thursday, May 27 – check back for updates. 

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