Shavuot

SHAVUOS GLEANINGS

1. SHAVUOS - ITS NAMES

[1.1] "Chag Shavuos, Feast of Weeks, the name given to this holiday in the Torah, points to its occurrence at the end of the seven week period which begins with the second day of Passover. Centuries ago, Greek speaking Jews called the holiday Pentecost (in Greek, Pentecost means fiftieth), accenting its occurrence on the fiftieth day after the offering of the Omer on Passover. Because this festival climaxes the year's first harvest, the Torah also calls it Chag hakatzir, the Harvest Festival. Since it marks the offering of the first fruit of the crops with which Eretz Yisroel is blessed, the name Yom Habikkurim, Day of the First Fruits, is also applied to it by the Torah.

[1.2] "Our sages refer to it as Atzeres, the closing festival. This name not only implies that Shavuos completed the harvest begun at Pesach, but suggests too, that the Torah, the symbol of human liberty which was revealed on this day, completes the physical liberation celebrated during Pesach.

[1.3] "In the holiday's Machzor, Shavuos is described as Z'man Mattan Torasaynu, the season of the giving of our Torah. For it was on this day that Moses received the Torah from the Al-mighty on Mount Sinai. In the poetic words of the Zohar, the seven weeks of Israel's (the bridegroom) courting the Torah (his bride) which commenced with the Passover liberation (betrothal) have now concluded with the giving of the Torah on Shavuos (the marriage)

"Following this thought, Maimonides suggests that the reason for counting the Omer (Sefirah) between Pesach and Shavuos, the anniversary of the revelation, is to point up the latter's consummation of the exodus from Egypt. Thus, in expectation of the precious goal, we count the intervening days as one who awaits a beloved friend counts each day until he arrives.

"The Torah emphasizes that this festival is an occasion for joy. "And you shall rejoice before L-rd your G-d, you and your son, and your daughter, and you man-servant and your maid-servant, the Levite that is within your gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow..."

(Quoted from "Shavuos", UOJCA)

2. DATES OF THIS YOM TOV

"Shavuos is the only Yom Tov for which there is no date recorded in the Torah. It simply states that the festival is to be celebrated on the 50th day after beginning the count of the Omer on the second night of Pesach. It is for this reason that in rabbinic literature Shavuos is called Atzeres (concluding festival), suggesting that the relationship between Pesach and Shavuos is the same as between Sukkos and Sh'mini Atzeres. The overriding lesson to be learned from this unusual departure of Torah style, is that the freedom of Pesach falls far short of its full meaning unless it resolves itself into a comprehensive way of life as represented by the Torah.

"Moreover, the Torah's conspicuous omission of a precise date for the Revelation at Sinai stresses the eternity of its contents which must be equally as fresh and compelling as they were on the day that they were spoken at Sinai."

(Quoted from "Shavuos" UOJCA)

3. THE LOGIC OF REVELATION

"To the Jew, G-d is reality, experience and knowledge - much more than faith or belief. This knowledge can be obtained through studying and observing nature, what the world is made of, what keeps it going and how it came into being. This is the source for the classical indirect proofs for G-d's existence. Though useful, all indirect methods, the mind, emotions and nature, depend on our understanding. Is it not true that the door to our minds is hinged upon our emotions: Are human eyes not often distorting mirrors? Is not an attractive debater sometimes more convincing than a solid argument? Don't most people follow the popular majority rather than the obvious truth? How then can we find G-d if indirect methods are fallible and if science sometimes follows and even creates fads, and hides the truth for political or other reasons?

"Can we know G-d directly? To a Jew, the answer must always be in the affirmative. Man can come close to G-d and know the truth directly. For example, Maimonides points out that the word "know" is used constantly with reference to the Al-mighty, rather than the more commonly used "believe". It is not belief alone that we are commanded to demonstrate, nor blind faith in that which cannot be seen. The "act of Sinai" was seen, witnessed and experienced by the entire nation (nearly three million people).

"The two revelations - indirect observation and direct revelation - are in truth one. Without both, man will neither understand nor know. Without the historic act of Sinai, of the giving of the Torah, the indirect revelation would always be a scholar's toy. Knowledge would serve individual men but not humanity. There would be no measure of truth that all could accept. Man or a few men might discover G-d, but which G-d, and whose purposes would this powerful discovery serve? Therefore, Torah provides direct revelation so that man could know G-d on His (G-d's) terms, but in man's language, within man's community and through man's history.

"Revelation, therefore, is the opposite of faith. It commands knowledge. It commands not less human thought but the advanced knowledge that G-d's thought and revelation are primary. The Torah blueprint for man is direct revelation.

"Truth is not a riddle..."

(Quoted from

"What Happened on Sinai" NCSY)

4. TORAH STUDY ON SHAVUOS

[4.1] "Shavuos observances today emphasize primarily Mattan Torah, the giving of the Torah. On the first evening of the festival, we study the Tikkun Layl Shavuos (preparation for Shavuos Eve). After the holiday dinner, the Jews return to the synagogue to spend the entire night in Torah study. The Tikkun contains selections from the beginning and end of each portion (Sidra) of the Torah, certain selections such as the creation story, part of the Shema, and the Ten Commandments. Opening and closing verses of the books of Prophets (N'viim) and the Writings (K'suvim) are also included.

"Following the Biblical quotations, there are passages from the beginning and end of the sixty-three volumes of the Mishnah; selections from great works of the Kabbalah, the Sefer Yetzirah, the Zohar, and finally the listing of the six hundred and thirteen commandments of the Torah as enumerated by Maimonides (Rambam).

"Thus, the Jew prepares him/herself symbolically to "receive the Torah" as is described in the Torah reading for Shavuos morning. "Every Jew" our rabbis tell us, "must regard him/herself as though he/she stood at Mount Sinai."

[4.2] "On the second night, it is customary to recite the entire book of Psalms; for this night is traditionally recorded as the yahrzeit of King David, Great Singer of Israel and editor of the Psalms."

(Quoted from "Shavuos" UOJCA)

[4.3] The Kabbalists in their mystical search for inner meaning to receiving the Torah, viewed and highlighted the moment of revelation as a marriage between G-d and His people, Israel. Accordingly, a prenuptial agreement (t'naim) and a wedding contract (k'subah) are most fitting. R. Yisroel Najara, the author of the famous Shabbos z'mirah, Kah Ribbon Olam, penned a stirring piece of religious literature using the style and contents of the t'naim and k'subah used at every Jewish wedding to inspire through its being read on Shavuos a renewed love of Torah and a rededication to its study and observance.

For the one who can appreciate this intricate place in its original it is fitting to read it on Shavuos. For those who cannot appreciate such a piece in its original, rededication by any means to Torah study accomplishes the same task with which we are challenged by R. Yisroel Najara.

5. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND TORAH

According to many early scholars, the Ten Commandments serve as a topical summary for all 613 mitzvos (commandments) that were taught while the Jews were at Sinai and thereafter while wandering in the desert.

In Temple times, the Ten Commandments formed part of the service and were daily recited before the Sh'ma. According to the Talmud, this practice was abolished because of the heretical inferences spread by the early Judaeo-Christians (minim) that only the Ten Commandments were divinely revealed unto Moses at Mt. Sinai. [TJ Berachos 1,5]

Using the above cited talmudic passage as primary evidence, Maimonides (Rambam) objected to the custom of rising during the reading of the Ten Commandments, though people sat at all other times the Torah was read. He felt that by standing specifically at this point in the Torah reading "one is lead to the erroneous idea that this part of the Torah excels others" (or that the Ten Commandments are the more basic among all of the Torah's mitzvos.)

Both Rav Moshe Feinstein, z.l., as well as Rav Joseph B. Soloveichik allowed for the standing on Shavuos during the reading of the Ten Commandments, holding that this was a reenactment of the Jews standing around Mt. Sinai, which, even according to the Rambam would not have constituted a violation of treating the entire Torah with equal sanctity.

bbi Joseph B. Soloveichik and R

6. SHAVUOS DECORATION

Since medieval times, it has been customary to decorate synagogues and homes with green plants on Shavuos reminiscent of the harvest ceremonies observed during Temple times. Additionally, the foliage symbolically recalls the metaphor of our sages that Sinai became like a green mountainside as Israel stood round for the receiving of the Torah. Much as foliage in the midst of a desert would spark deep joy and hope in the heart of one who would behold such a sight, so, too the Torah brought a newfound hope and raison d'ete into Jewish existence, surrounded until then by barren paganism.

Nonetheless, the Gaon of Vilna attacks this custom as an imitation of non-Jewish practices, particularly in the synagogue, and as dangerously close to the Torah's prohibition that trees, which were worshipped in pagan days, ought not be planted near the alter of the Bais HaMikdash.

7. THE M'GILLAH OF RUTH

Several reasons have been advanced for the reading of the Book of Ruth on the second day of Shavuos:

(a) Reference is made in M'gillas Ruth to the entire story taking place at harvest time and Shavuos is the harvest festival.

(b) The Torah's most outstanding convert to Judaism is Ruth. And, Shavuos was the time when the entire Jewish people "converted" to Judaism through the acceptance of Torah as their life style, pledging to abandon Egyptian values which they came by during the centuries of exile.

8. SHAVUOS MENU

As on other holidays, food served on Shavuos is intended to highlight certain Yom Tov ideas in a dramatic and imaginative manner.

[8.1] Dairy Foods are served such as blintzes and cheese cake. This has been interpreted as being suggestive of the Torah which figuratively is described as "honey and milk" (Song of Songs 4:2). Others have interpreted this practice as being reminiscent of the first Shavuos which was Shabbos when the Jews could not eat meat because of the newly enacted laws of Kashrus, in general, and Shechita, in particular. This situation did not allow the Jews the opportunity to prepare festive meat meals in anticipation of the giving of the Torah (Mishna B'rura 494:12)

[8.2] Kreplach are a traditional meat food for Shavuos. Some suggest that this doughy triangular pocket stuffed with meat is symbolic of:

(a) the three divisions of the Tanach - Torah, N'viim (Prophets) and K'suvim (Writings) - which started to be given to Israel on Shavuos.

(b) a threefold people - the Jews - who are divided into Kohanim, L'viim and Yisr'aylim, all of whom stood round Sinai to receive the Torah.

(d) Mattan Torah after three days of spiritual preparation (Shloshes Y'may Hagbalah) during the third Hebrew month of the year (Sivan).

9. AKDAMUS

"Prior to the reading of the Torah on the first day of Shavuos the reader chants a forty-five stanza poem in Aramaic couplets known as Akdamus.

"Akdamus means "introduction". The poem intends to prepare the congregation for the story of the Revelation soon to be read from the Torah. Hence, the poem first pays tribute to the Al-mighty for creating the world and selecting Israel as His chosen people. There ensues a debate between Israel and the other nations who seek to persuade us to forsake our faith. The Jews, however, remain steadfast and tenaciously cling to the hope that a just reward awaits them.

"Akdamus begins by saying:

"Could we with ink the ocean fill.

Were every blade of grass a quill,

Were the world of parchment made

And every man a scribe by trade,

to write the love of G-d above

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor would the scroll contain the whole

Though stretched from sky to sky."

Some congregations maintain the custom of interrupting the Torah reading after the first verse has been read and then chant the Akdamus. It is the general consensus today that such an interruption is unwarranted and is halachically controversial. Rather, the Akdamus, should be said before the Kohen recites his b'racha over the Torah.

(Quoted from "Shavuot" UOJCA)