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May 25, 2001/Sivan 3, 5761, Vol. 53, No.34
Shavuot contains secret of eternal life
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
B'midbar/ Numbers 1:1-4:20
The Festival of Shavuot is curiously enough the only one of the major festivals whose name does not describe the historical event that sanctified that particular date, in this instance, the gift of the Torah at Sinai.
It relates rather to the seven weeks leading up to the holiday, the days of the count of the omer (bundle of grain), which begins on the second day of Passover, and concludes with the advent of Shavuot.
Apparently, these days are quite significant, each marked every evening with the recitation of a blessing before enumerating the precise week and day of the particular time of counting. Moreover, only if one has not missed a day is one permitted to count with the blessing - in accordance with the biblical directive of "seven complete, whole weeks."
What is the significance of the count, and why does it begin with Passover, the first of matzot and conclude with Shavuot, the feast of Torah?
One of the major biblical commentaries of the Middle Ages, known as the S'forno, suggests that we begin to count each day following our exodus from Egypt because it was only then that a particular day assumed significance. After all, a slave has no need to mark the days because he lacks the ability - or power - to in any way determine how he will spend that day, what he will do on that day. His time, his days, belong not to him but to his master.
From this perspective, the daily count beginning on the second day of our freedom from Egyptian slavery is akin to the very first commandment God gave to Israel, just prior to their exodus with the appearance of the new moon on the first of Nisan (the month of their deliverance): "This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months..." (Exodus 12:2).
In effect, God is educating the about-to-be freed Israelites as to the about-to-be appreciated importance of time: Count the months, make proper use of the months, sanctify the months. Now that you are about to become free, the months - time - are about to become yours.
But if that is the case, why cease counting the days and weeks on Shavuot? Why not continue to count each day, and recognize the blessing of each day, and recognize the blessing of each day in freedom?
I believe the reason is that the recognition of time and its preciousness is a double-edged sword. Even as one counts each day and thereby reminds oneself of the significance of time, one must at the same time become mindful of human mortality, of the fact that every individual is "terminal."
Time is a blessing, but it is also a curse; time beckons with its potential, but it also mocks with its limitations.
Shavuot is the festival of Torah - and therein lies the antidote to our anxiety regarding human mortality. The human being may be temporal, but Torah is eternal; every Reb Yisrael (individual Jew) will ultimately be defeated by the limitations of time, but k'lal Yisrael (the Jewish historic nation), dedicated to the Torah traditions that will emerge victorious over the Angel of Death as the immortal nation of the covenant.
Insofar as the individual participates in Torah, he participates in eternity; therefore, commitment to Torah has the power of removing the anxiety born of human mortality.
Passover teaches us to appreciate the potential of time; Shavuot enables us to overcome the limitations of time. When and why the count begins and ends is the secret of a blessed, meaningful and eternal life.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of Efrat, Israel.
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