Shalom, this week we interrupt or normal Torah reading to celebrate Shavuot, the feast of weeks. Other religions, particularly Christianity, refers to this day as Pentecost, which is the Greek translation found in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), and therefore the Christian Bible. I just wanted to take a moment to remind us about the holiday and our connection to it.
Shavuot, one of the foundational Torah chagim (festivals) found in Leviticus 23 (cf. v.17ff), began as a grain harvest that followed the 49 days (7 weeks, hence feast of weeks) of counting the Omer that began on the second Day of Passover. The Omer was a measurement that was agricultural and tied into the bigger meaning of this day. On this day Israelite men were to go up to Jerusalem and present an offering of the first-fruits of their harvest as a way to thank God. It was yet another chagim that connected the earth, Israel and God together.
Over time Shavuot would take on a different meaning. For example, the early followers of Jesus say it was on Pentecost (the day of Shavuot) that the Holy Spirit came, the sign that a new age had begun. In Judaism, while certainly farmers still continued, and continue to follow agricultural mitzvot in Israel, the Rabbis connected the day of Shavuot with the day God gave the Torah to Moses on Mt Sinai, both spoken about in Exodus 19 and Pirkei Avot 1:1 (For further reading you can see https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/77055.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en). So important was this event of receiving Torah there is a beautiful Midrash in Avot d'Rabbi Natan where Moses was enveloped in a cloud for seven days in perpetration to receive the Holy Words of God. Moses later admonishes the people regarding this day by saying, "But guard yourselves, and carefully guard your souls, lest you forget… The day upon which you stood before God at Horev [to receive the Torah]" (Duet. 4:9-10). In Kabbalistic tradition the days of the Omer are now counted as we do a self check of our middot (our soul traits) leading up to the day of Shavuot where we celebrate the receiving of the Torah and how it impacts of lives.
In Torah on Shavuot we read about the Ten Commandments (Exodus) as well as the laws of tithing from the land and the importance of the seventh year (Deuteronomy), not to mention the reminder of the season that connects Passover to Shavuot (Numbers). Our Haftarahs reflect the mystery and specialness of the words we read (Ezekiel) and a plea for God to always intervene in the lives of people (Habakkuk). We also conclude this chagim with Yizkor to remember those who are no longer physically in this world although they live on in our hearts and memories forever.
However you see these words, meaning they came directly from God to Moses or they were redacted later from people who were God-inspired, on Shavuot we all stand at our understating of Sinai and receive them as well. We are given the opportunity to take the words of tradition and make them our own, which is why Shavuot is also looked at as a perpetual marriage ceremony as well between Israel and God. But it is about the power of the words of Torah and what they mean and why we embrace them. Regarding words the author Evan Moffic writes, "Words give us a notion of past, present, and future. Words give us a way to describe and give meaning to our bodies, our surroundings, our sense of self." This is what we are supposed to discover on Shavuot, how do the words of Torah matter?
Shabbat Shalom v'chag Shavuot Sameach,
Rabbi Adam
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