JEWS CELEBRATE THE GIFT OF TORAH TEMPLES PREPARING FOR SHAVUOT.

Byline: Holly Andres Staff Writer

AGOURA HILLS - Reliving the awesome experience of God giving the Torah to the ancient Israelites is the aim of ``We Were There Too: A Contemporary Celebration of Shavuot,'' at Temple Beth Haverim in Agoura Hills on Tuesday.

The observance of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, sometimes known as the Festival of Weeks, will begin at sundown Tuesday and end at sunset Thursday.

``We celebrate the giving of the Torah and the Ten Commandments on Shavuot. It is one of the three pilgrimage festivals. In the ancient world our people would march to Jerusalem for these festivals - Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot,'' said Rabbi Gershon Johnson of Temple Beth Haverim. ``It comes 50 days after Passover and it is the culmination of Passover.''

While Passover represents freedom from physical bondage in ancient Egypt, Shavuot represents spiritual freedom through the study and practice of God's commandments in the ``tree of life,'' the Torah.

``The Torah is a moral guide to how we live our lives,'' Johnson said. ``The study of Torah is a vast endeavor and we can never get enough of it. It's our obligation to study Torah and have an appreciation of this gift from God on Shavuot.''

Johnson, Rabbi Lynne Kern and Cantor Kenny Ellis will give three points of view on the messages of Shavuot using a round-robin style of teaching.

The idea behind studying the Torah on Shavuot - all night long in some Jewish congregations - is to create a sleep-deprived state to relive the Revelation of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai.

Rabbi Lynne Kern said Shavuot is an important holiday for Jews to consider what it means to be Jewish.

``I've been working a lot lately with the power of words. I think people take words for granted. When you study Torah you can find gems that are little mirrors that you can see yourself in,'' Kern said. ``When we study the holiest words in our tradition we can find the tools by which we can live our lives. Every word is a gem.''

Kern will teach from the Book of Ruth, the traditional study text for Shavuot. Ruth, a convert to Judaism, can be used as a model of how to live according to the Torah, Kern said.

The ritual reading of the Ten Commandments during a morning service on Shavuot is customary in synagogues. Johnson's mini-lesson will focus on what's in and what's not in the Ten Commandments.

``The Ten Commandments are not the essence of Judaism. They are not the sum total of all the commandments, which number 613, in the Torah,'' Johnson said. ``For example, tzedakah, a prominent commandment to give to the poor or to do righteous deeds to those in need, is not in the Ten Commandments. I'll be focusing on 20 commandments that aren't but deserve our full attention.''

Cantor Kenny Ellis will present ``The Revelation of the Akdamut,'' a 90-verse liturgical poem written in Aramaic by Rabbi Meir in the 11th century. Rabbi Meir wrote the poem as a personal response to the deaths of his wife and son during the First Crusade.

``There are many 'tiyyut' or liturgical poems in the prayer book. This one is the most famous of all of them,'' said Ellis, who will describe and sing various verses of the three-part poem. ``It has a melody all its own that is very dramatic. The melody goes through people's souls.''

The Akdamut, or ``introduction,'' is sung before the reading of the Torah and only on Shavuot. It was written, Ellis said, to strengthen Jewish faith during time of trouble.

A Shavuot study session will be held from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Temple Beth Haverim, 29900 Ladyface Court, Agoura Hills. A dairy meal will be held at 6:30 p.m. Reservations for the $15 dinner are required. Call [phone].

Holly Andres, [phone]

holly.andres(at)dailynews.com

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Cantor Kenny Ellis, Rabbi Lynne Kern and Rabbi Gershon Johnson, from left, of Temple Beth Haverim in Agoura Hills will lead study sessions on Shavuot, which begins Tuesday.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer