QUESTION: This year Shavuos falls out on Monday and Tuesday. May I cook and set the table for the Monday night meal on Monday afternoon?

ANSWER:�The second day of�Yom Tov�is not Biblically ordained; on a Biblical level�Shavuos�lasts for one day. The second day of�Yom Tov�is a Rabbinic enactment. Just as it is forbidden to prepare on�Yom Tov�for a weekday, so too is it forbidden to prepare for the second day of�Yom Tov�on the first day, because on the first day the second day of�Yom Tov�is regarded as a weekday. The Gemara refers to this as�hachanah�(preparing). This category includes both�melachos, such as slaughtering an animal or cooking, as well as actions which involve�tircha, extra work, such as washing dishes (Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah Berurah 503:1), setting a table (Rama 667:1) and preparing a�Sefer Torah�for the next day�s reading (M.B. 667:5).