Shavuos Thoughts
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What is Shavuos about?
The Torah does not connect Shavuos to Matan Torah. The connection appears in our t’filla; ‘z’man matan Toraseinu’, and
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What is Shavuos about?
The Torah does not connect Shavuos to Matan Torah. The connection appears in our t’filla; ‘z’man matan Toraseinu’, and in the gemarrah.
The connection to matan Torah is complicated because Shavuos is not a calendar date; it occurs either the fifth, sixth or seventh of Sivan. Rather it is the fiftieth day since the Omer. The consensus in the gemarah is that the Jews left Egypt on Thursday. (They tied a sheep to their beds on Shabbos HaGodol, four days before the slaughtering on Wednesday, right? So they left Egypt the next day, Thursday) Shabbos was Matan Torah. So Matan Torah was 51 or 52 since leaving Egypt. (-Thursday seven weeks later, plus two days until Shabbos) Shavuos doesn’t approximate the days from leaving Egypt to Matan Torah, nor is it the claendar date. So what is it all about?
The simple meaning of Shavuos is that we finish counting the Omer. As we make a siyum when finishing a part of Torah, so do we celebrate finishing any mitzvah. Shavuos is a festivity on the finishing the shavuos, counting the weeks of the Omer. This seems the simplest interpretation.
What of the reference to Matan Torah?
1. The Trumas HaDeshen’s shamash quotes him that a gematria may be one off. Not because the word itself counts as one, (as is commonly assumed,) but simply because gematria does not need 100% accuracy, so one off is still approximately the same.
(He brings fascinating proof;
The pasuk says that Hashem was quick to bring upon us bad times because He is righteous and kindly. What is so righteous and kindly about that?! The gemarah explains that Hashem exiled us two years before we reached the number of years equaling ‘v’noshantem’. Had that part of the pasuk been fulfilled, then so would be its sequel, – that we be destroyed. Since Hashem was kind, He was quick to bring us bad times, so that the bitter prophesy the pasuk foretold would not come to be.
Comments the Trumas HaDeshen; if Hashem was really so kind, why didn’t He take us into galus only ONE year before the time of ‘v’noshantam’?
Obviously, one year off is still the same gematria!)
So although the Jews received the Torah on the fifty-first day, the fiftieth too is ‘zman matan Toraseinu’.
1. Another approach: Matan Torah was neither a calendar date nor a number of days after leaving Egypt. Rather it was upon completion of a 7 week course. The Zohar says that the Jews waited seven weeks until receiving the Torah, the 7 weeks purifying them. We too complete this course, counting the Sefira. Although we do not start at the same day the Jews had, the course is the same, and Matan Torah is at ‘graduation’.
‘Zman Matan Toraseinu’ means we stand at the completion of the course.
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Under Threat
The Torah says that the Jews gathered UNDER the mountain. Chazal explain that Hashem raised Har Sinai and held it over them “If you accept the Torah, fine. If not, die here!”
The Jews had already proclaimed: ‘We will do and accept!’ Why threaten them?!
The Sma”k explains that Fear of Hashem and Love of Hashem compliment each other; Someone afraid never says “I’m just not in the mood today”. He behaves even when he doesn’t feel like it. And someone with love doesn’t say “I hate doing this!”, because he finds meaning in what he is doing. Both are necessary; Fear and Love.
Perhaps its being a parent: you WANT to provide for the child. At the same time, you MUST care for the helpless kid. Obligation and Love mix together.
Klal Yisroel expressed their love for Hashem, offering to keep His Mitzvos. This is the correct attitude; we ought to want to serve Hashem. But at the same time Mitzvos cannot be a hobby, something you do because you want to. You need to do them under obligation, even if you are not in the mood. Even if they are hard.
The two co-exist; we want to do Mitzvos – we see in their fulfillment our deepest destiny, and we MUST do them, – under threat as well. We are motivated to keep them by Naaseh V’nishma, and we are duty-bound to keep them because of the mountain hanging over our heads.
The rare beauty of a love-offering backed by obligation.
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Meaning In Mitzvos
We celebrate Shavuos as “Zman Matan Torasenu”. The Torah never identifies Shavuos as the commemoration of the giving of the Torah. Why don’t people celebrate Shavuos simply because the Torah tells us to??
People instinctively know mitzvos are meaningful, aside from the Ratzon HaShem. He commanded us to meaningful acts, His commandment making those acts binding and relevant. However those acts are meaningful in any case.
Some think that the meaning in Mitzvos is in the very fact that they are doing Hashem’s will: ‘Sheamarti v’naaseh ri’tzoni’. In fact, it’s absolutely true. Not only is it a good reason for performing Mitzvos, it needs to behind ALL performance of Mitzvos. Performing a Mitzvah only because it appears personally meaningful (i.e. ” I do those Mitzvos I appreciate and not those that I fail to understand”) is not serving Hashem; it’s doing one’s own thing. (Perhaps you can call it self-service; i.e. service of one’s self and intelligence.)
However, saying “The police forbade running a red light; I obey them”, is not the same as “Police have set a system enabling safe driving on the road, which I obey”. Although the result is identical, the experience, and act, is different.
We believe that enlightened doing of Hashem’s will is more meaningful than unenlightened doing. Not only are our minds richer, we actually commit a different act – one defined by the Mitzvah’s meaning, rather than an act of pure obedience. Furthermore, it is Hashem’s will that we understand His mitzvos, as well as our poor minds can. For that reason we explore the meaning in mitzvos. For Mitzvos embody ideals.
Human nature insists on ritualizing Mitzvos, stripping them of meaning. Tension exists between our minds and our natures: our minds try to perform Mitzvos of content, our natures try to do acts of rote.
The Malbim (and Tashbetz) explain ‘Naaseh V’nishma’ that we commit to the Mitzvos no matter if we understand them or not. Even if we cannot stand them, ‘Na’ase’!
‘Nishma’, referring to understanding the meaning of the Mitzvos, – appreciating their significance and connotation – comes second. We do, then understand.
Na’ase preceeds Nishma, also because through action, performing the Mitzvos, we reach understanding them. Our minds figure out the sense in what we do!
So Yes, we do need to understand the Mitzvos. At the same time, our commitment to fulfill them is unconditional. We will do, then understand. Naaseh V’nishmah!
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Torah Appreciation
We are grateful for the Torah. I wouldn’t have a job without it. That may sound like a joke, but it’s the plain truth. Why not be grateful for the Torah in a personal, everyday way?
The Gemarrah tells that R’ Yosef would prepare a Shavuos feast ‘If not for this day, how many other Yossi’s are there in the street!’. He recognized that he would be just another Yossi, a nobody, were it not for the Torah. He appreciated that his status as a distinguished Rosh Yeshiva was because of this day.
Let’s try to find the simple things that the Torah enhances our life with, so that our appreciation of the Torah be not philosophic, but rather concrete and visceral.
Some ideas: We may have a dear friend developed by learning together. We may enjoy the coffee in the Beis Midrash. Perhaps the safe, friendly sincerity of the learners feels good. Maybe we enjoy Yomtov with the family, talking to the kiddies on Shabbos and soaking in a warm Mikve before davening. Cholent on Shabbos, Bar Mitzvah celebrations and Brissim are all great fun.
Torah learning allows a man to rise above his circumstances and suffering. Many have turned to learning in times of grief and pain, and found solace in the pages of the gemarah. This is another thing to appreciate the Torah for.
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Second Thoughts On Meaning In Mitzvos
On the wine bottle it says ‘This wine has a fruity taste and a full body. Its finish is smooth’. Fruity? Do they add fruit to the wine? No, no. Its pure grape. Yet the experience includes a fruity taste. We appreciate the fruitiness in the wine, even when there is no fruit there. (Aside from grapes – which is not the fruit referred to.)
Torah is like wine; there are reasons for mitzvos, and there are flavors or Mitzvos. Its not the same. We appreciate the flavors the mitzvos have and relate to the mitzvos through them. But they are not the REASON for Mitzvos.
That is why the Rambam teaches that though a mitzvah may be a chok, a law not dictated by reason, we are encouraged to seek reasons for it, and the more reasons we find, the more praiseworthy it is.
Its not fake, a con-job we do to ourselves, thinking to understand the mitzvah while we do not really understand it at all. Rather we are encouraged to sample the mitzvah, to taste and appreciate it. Not to understand WHY Hashem gave it, but to reconcile it to appeal to our minds.
Taste is not accidental. Hashem designed strawberries thoughtfully with a taste to appreciate and enjoy. It encourages us to eat strawberries and brightens our day. We do not fool ourselves that the value of strawberries lies in its taste, rather we accept that we are presented with its taste so that we enjoy them.
Mitzvos are much the same: Hashem designed Mitzvos in a way that they appeal to our reason. This is no accident. We are supposed to appreciate mitzvos. We are to seek understanding of them, and the more reasons one can think of , the more praiseworthy it is. This is what taamei hamitzvos is all about, in our opinion.
©2014
kollel parshah | Tiferet Ramot 83-21, Jerusalem, Israel, 97290
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