Shavuot is a special time of gratitude for the gift of Torah, for the harvest, for the gift of the Spirit, and for the building of community.  Gratitude is the foundation of happiness.  Shavuot is a time for the community to gather together in gratitude to God.

Dennis Prager speaks extensively about happiness in his popular book, Happiness is a Serious Problem.  He reminds us there that “we are morally obligated to be as happy as we can be .”¹ It is not selfish to want to be happy.  It’s our obligation to the people we love and live with to be as bearable as we can be. Happiness, Prager says, is altruistic!  He believes, furthermore, that goodness flows from personal happiness, and that happy people are far more likely to be good people.  And, just as he sees happiness to be the foundation of goodness, so he sees gratitude as the foundation of happiness.

There are only two ways to respond to the coming of Shavuot: with awareness, action, and gratitude or with inaction, ingratitude, and lack of awareness.