The Jewish year is punctuated by three pilgrimage festivals: Passover or Pesach (the spring freedom festival and barley harvest), Shavuot (first fruits, covenant, and the giving of the Torah), and Sukkot (the final harvest festival). Each one of these lends its character to the seasons. Arthur Waskow, for example, notes that Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot are a kind of national life cycle in which Passover represents birth, Shavuot represents marriage and commitment, and