To understand the dramatic 50-day period between Passover and the Feast of Weeks in Israel, it’s not imperative that you grew up on a farm—but it helps. When you visit Israel at Pentecost as local farmers are bringing in their sheaves, you’ll understand why everyone who lived during the time of Jesus looked forward to the Feast of Weeks.

In southern Jerusalem, overlooking Bethlehem and Shepherds Fields, you’ll see fields of ripe grain, also known as the “fields of Boaz.” They remind us of the story of Ruth, great-grandmother of David and therefore in the lineage of Jesus. This landscape on the edge of the Judean wilderness will impress you as to how crucial the 50 days were between Passover and Pentecost, each day a step toward rejoicing over the harvest being brought in.

Then, as you walk through Jerusalem, you’ll be with people from all over the world who have come to fulfill a thrice-yearly biblical injunction to ascend to the Holy City. The Upper Room on Mount Zion marks the place where followers of Jesus traditionally held their first Pentecost after the resurrection when “all were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). You can climb the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount (where some imagine that Pentecost gatherings took place), as Jesus and the disciples must have done. The experience evokes the Songs of Ascent, such as Psalm 122:1-2: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.”

Exodus 19 hints that Pentecost was the day when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. In traditional areas of Jerusalem or Tiberias by the Sea of Galilee, you’ll enjoy this aspect of the holiday as you see children wave festive pennants and wear crowns they made in school. You can also share in a Pentecost tradition by stopping at a synagogue for the holiday Bible reading of the Book of Ruth, and witness the most exciting moment in the service—when the whole congregation stands for the reading of the Ten Commandments.