|
|
May 17, 2002/Sivan 6, 5762, Vol. 54, No.35
Shavuot captures anticipation of Torah
Torah study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Shavuot/Exodus 19:1-20, 23;Numbers 28:19-25
When the Torah was given 3,300 years ago at Mount Sinai, the entire nation was gathered around the mountain. A glimpse of what that experience may have been like can be felt on the night of Shavuot in Jerusalem, when tens of thousands of people who have been up all night studying Torah begin to stream toward the Western Wall, shortly before dawn.
But does this night of Torah really have anything to do with Sinai? The very fact that we ask the question means that in our minds the festival of Shavuot and the giving of the Torah are synonymous.
But doesn't it seem odd that the name of Shavuot (literally "weeks") hardly does justice to the central motif of the festival, emphasizing instead the period of time which we are enjoined to count between Passover and Shavuot?
After all, the biblical names of the other festivals certainly reflect their essence: the name Pesach tells us to think of the paschal lamb as the central motif of Passover, just as the name Sukkot focuses our attention on the commandment to live in a temporary sukkah for seven days. Their names express their essence. Moreover, the Bible never identifies Shavuot as the day of the Sinai revelation.
And indeed, if counting is a significant aspect of Shavuot, there is something about the numbers that just doesn't add up.
Verses from Torah state that after completing a seven week count from Passover, 49 days, Shavuot falls on the 50th day. This is simple enough until we compare actual dates, and a discrepancy emerges regarding the giving of the Torah on Sinai and the count of the 50th day.
The Bible tells us that the Jews took the paschal lamb on the 10th day of Nisan, and the Midrash records that it fell on the Sabbath. Since the Israelites left Egypt on the 15th of Nisan, they had to have left that first year on a Thursday, the fifth day after the Shabbat.
Since the 50-day count begins the day after the first day of the festival, it turns out that the first day of the count that first year was on a Friday, and upon counting seven complete weeks, the 50th day must likewise fall out on a Friday. But the Midrash insists that the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai look place on the Sabbath. Well, the Sabbath that year was obviously the 51st day after the start of the count.
One of the inconsistencies of life is that the excitement of anticipation generally exceeds the joy of achievement; we anxiously await the acquisition of something, but then when we have attained the longed-for prize, it often loses its allure.
Once the Israelites received the Torah, they lost sight of its significance, remaining apathetic to its content. Indeed, only 40 days after the revelation itself, the Israelites worshipped a golden calf.
Hence, the historical aspect of our Shavuot celebration is not the day we received the Torah but is rather the climax of our anticipation. The Torah may have been given on Shabbat, the 51st day, but in celebrating Shavuot on the 50th day, we seek to recapture our initial desire for Torah with the very fiber of our entire being, the breathless anticipation for God's word.
Now it makes sense why we call this festival Shavuot. Our festival celebrates the counting and waiting of a people dedicated to hearing the eternal word of God. Our desire to receive the Torah, our preparations to make ourselves worthy of Torah is of far greater significance if we are truly to remain a "kingdom of priest-teachers and a holy nation."
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of Efrat, Israel.
|
