Around Town:Field Trip to the Far Side

It was a weeknight. My husband was at the Dodgers game. Jacqui's husband was at a meeting. Like the great pioneers before us — Annie Oakley, Belle Starr and Calamity Jane — we were headed on a great adventure. We were headed West.

The night was cloudy, but the freeway was clear. Strange for a weeknight in May. Usually it's the other way around. We talked the entire time. I can't remember what we said, but it was a wonderful conversation.

We were not in this for gold or glory. We had left the city limits to celebrate Shavuot, an old Jewish holiday, the precursor to the Christian Pentecost. There are a few differences between the two holidays, but some interesting parallels. Pentecost is celebrated

the 50th day after Easter Sunday. Shavuot begins on the 50th day after the start of Passover. Both holidays have their roots in ancient harvest festivals. But there is one big difference. Traditionally, Shavuot is a long night devoted to study. It is customary to study until the roosters crow.

We had planned this adventure for weeks. We knew that all over Los Angeles, synagogues open their doors for late-night Shavuot classes. Free food. Great teachers. Schnaps.

There were dozens of programs to choose from.

"Learn all night, sleep all day," said one flyer. Another advertised workshops, beginning at 8 p.m. and ending at 5:15 a.m., with a faculty of 18 rabbis, mostly professors, focusing on the War in Iraq.

We started by looking closer to home. Pasadena had yoga, music and meditation, but the refreshments were not specified. Another brochure offered the opportunity to "pray, chant, study and drum in the Mojave Desert." Jacqui liked that one. "Too far," I said.

Near Studio City there was a program on the Ten Commandments with "fast-paced break-out workshops." The speakers looked interesting, but the refreshments consisted of cheesecake. "Too fattening," said Jacqui.

We finally decided on a program called "The Voices of our Mothers," which would concentrate on the Biblical matriarchs. All of the speakers were women. The topics ranged from the Garden of Eden to the death of Sisera.

"Let's go to that one," I told Jacqui. "It's a really cool story. Sisera was killed by Yael, the wife of Heber, who stabbed him with a tent pin."