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For seven
weeks after leaving Egypt the Jews wandered in the desert.
They were heading to Israel, where they would have their own
country. But before they could get there, they had to have
their own laws. Even free people shouldn’t go out and lie
and steal or forget their past. So, seven weeks after the Jews
left Egypt, they gathered around Mount Sinai to receive the
Torah, the book of laws that would tell them how to live.
After seven weeks (the word Shavuot means “weeks”) the
Jewish people stood around Mount Sinai and God spoke to them:
“You shall not worship idols. Remember the Sabbath. Honor
your parents. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not
become jealous of your neighbors.” When they heard these
commandments, the Jews promised to obey them. For seven weeks
the Jews had been a free people. Now they had a constitution
to prove it. |
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