Comment Parsha

a project of www.Chabad.org

Shavuot 5763 (2003)

The Third Way G-d looked into the Torah and cre- Comment "I'm going to tell him everything," insisted the ated the world. Man looks into first father. "No, I won't!" objected father #2. "I Torah and sustains the world want a son, not a puppet." "I'll tell him everything," said the third father. "But I won't tell him (Zohar) what it means"

Voices Thunder on the Mountain G-d's appearance at Mount Sinai was not subtle. Mountains shook, thunder crashed. the divine voice reverberated through the galaxies. But He's kind of disappeared since

The Fiftieth Miracle Seasons of Miracles are a concession to the human need to see things from a different perspective in order to the Soul apprehend what they've already seen. Shavuot is when G-d believes in us enough not to indulge it

Story Original Ideas Interface At a nearby table sat a man who would come every evening for an hour of study. Although Torah is the interface between his business consumed the bulk of his day the Infinite and creation. On the and his study-skills were limited, he diligent- outside, it speaks the language ly pursued his nightly page of Talmud of humankind. On the inside is depth without end. Idea of the The Torah: An Anthology 40 essays, stories, meditations and readings, each Grasp either end and you Week offering a glimpse into something the Torah says have nothing. Grasp both and about itself and its place in our lives you have G-d Himself

Shavuot Torah Readings — Exodus 19:1- Parsha 20:23; Deuteronomy 14:22--16:17 Who are the Jews, what it means to be "chosen", the revelation at Sinai, the Ten Commandments, and the three pilgrimage festivals

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Comment The Third Way whys and hows of life. But I’ll leave him room to by: Yanki Tauber grow. He’ll do the right thing because I told him what to do, but he’ll also sense that there’s much more there — much more to understand, much more to give meaning to. He’ll discover new truths, but they won’t really be new, because they’d have been there all along, and they won’t be new to him, either, because I’d have told them to him already, but they’ll be completely new because he’ll discover a Three new fathers are sitting around discussing new meaning, a new significance, a new way to how they’re going to rear their children. make it work, a new pathway through life. And that pathway will be his own more than one he’d have “I’m going to tell him everything,” says the first forged on his own, because a self-made path would father. “I’m going to be there for him every step of only be his, and this one is both his and true. the way. My father was one of those ‘modern’ parents with a ‘follow your bliss’ and ‘don’t mess with “Now that’s the most convoluted speech I’ve ever their minds’ attitude. The first 25 years of my life heard,” exclaimed the first father. “You’re all mixed were nothing but a series of mistakes (which was up...” supposed to be a good thing — life’s teachers and all “No,” said the second father. “He’s got it all fig- that). Well, I made those mistakes, and learned ured out.” something from some of them (mostly what not to do), so why should my son need to start all over from The third father is G-d. And that all-mixed-up, all- square one? And what’s to guarantee that he won’t figured-out document is the Torah He presented to fall off the edge before he has a chance to figure it us when He became a father at Mount Sinai. out on his own? I’ll tell him what’s right and what’s wrong, what works and what doesn’t — that’s what a father is for!” By Yanki Tauber, [email protected]; based on the “Not me,” said father #2. “I want a son, not a pup- teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, www.therebbe.org pet! I want to have brought another person into the world — not a replica of myself. If all he’s going to do is be walked through life by daddy, what did my child need to be born for in the first place? I want my child to be his own person, to find his own way — even if there are blunders and painful experiences along the way. As for the possibility that he’ll fail — well, that risk is there, but it’s a risk that must be taken if a new human being is going to make a life for himself...” “I’ll tell him everything,” said the third father. “But I won’t tell him what it means. That’ll be his job — working out what it means.” “You mean you’ll give it to him in code? You’ll tell him what to do, but he won’t know what he’s supposed to do until he cracks the code?” “No, no. If I don’t tell it so that he knows what to do, what’s the point? That would be just like father #2, cutting his child loose in the wilderness to blun- der about. I’ll give him the code and the key. I’ll teach him right and wrong. I’ll explain to him the

Voices Thunder on the cling to the remembrances of these in a strange and hostile land. I read about their struggles to retain that Mountain shard of elusive G-dliness in their lives — elusive by: Bella Schapiro because they could talk and communicate with G-d, but no matter what they did, they themselves were not touched, their souls and surroundings remained unchanged. And I read about a nation in Egypt, six hundred thousand strong, that was raised and saved as it was about to slip below the horizon of existence G-d’s appearance at Mount Sinai was not subtle. into oblivion. Mountains shook, thunder crashed. The divine voice And then I read about the mountain and the thun- reverberated through the galaxies. The world was der, the revelation to all of mankind at which this shocked into stillness. And the people present, those book was given. That not-so-subtle revelation. who were supposed to receive this great revelation, And I read in the commentaries that indeed G-d dropped dead at the first intimation of His presence. shook the world’s foundation with His appearance, They were revived shortly thereafter, only to be changing the very nature of existence. That indeed knocked out again by commandment number two. this was for us an out-of-body experience, in which Now, I can assure you that I would be happy to G-d took each of our souls and altered its make-up, drop dead myself if G-d made a personal visit. But changing forever who we are and what we could do. He’s not making a personal visit and He doesn’t want That G-d rewrote the codewords of creation, me to die. G-d started the whole business with a big enabling us to be, forever after, receptacles to a dif- bang, but He’s kind of disappeared since. Yes, there ferent type of revelation — a revelation so subtle, have been a couple of selected appearances: a cloud that although it is earth shattering, I feel only the on the tabernacle, a fire on the altar, a something slightest tremor. here, there. But it seems that the grand personal I read on. How after Mt. Sinai, the Children of appearance, where we heard G-d’s voice, felt G-d’s Israel settled into a different type of existence. One presence, was a one-time thing. in which their Torah could speak to them, and their So here I am, some three thousand years later, and actions to G-d. An existence that was enabled by that I’m left with this book called a Torah and its many, earth-shattering event, and that empowers us, to this many instructions, but none of the instructor. I’m left day, to do our own earth shattering. with a G-d who doesn’t want me to drop dead at the And I understand finally that G-d made the most sight of Him, but wants me live with Him — in His unsubtle revelation so that afterwards His presence absence. So the question I’d very much like to put to should become so subtle that it could fit in my mind, this G-d of mine is, What are You thinking? my heart. So subtle I could live with it. Nothing doing. We’re dealing with a G-d who’s not available for comment. He’s already given that Bella Schapiro, [email protected], is on the editorial comment, and all the commentaries along with it. staff of Chabad.org So I open the book. “In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was bare and empty, and darkness covered it.” And I read and read and read. I read about how G-d created the world as an extension of Himself and why He did it. I read about a world, just a few centuries later, alien- ated not just from this purpose, but from the creator Himself. I read about a little boy who defied con- ventional wisdom with the assertion of G-d’s existence. I read about his descendants, sure in their identity, proud of their heritage, but barely able to

seasons of the soul ings. After Sinai, G-d’s voice — by His own choice — cannot itself issue a ruling on the practice of Judaism. The Fiftieth Miracle Furthermore, all of the Torah’s precepts (mitzvot) are defined as certain actions that are done with certain by: Shlomo Yaffe objects in precise mandates of time, mass, volume and space — the very boundaries of the natural world. Nevertheless, the primary name used for this festival, Shavuot (“weeks”), refers to the seven weeks of the Omer. Seven weeks of a seamless continuum which define Passover and Shavuot as a single entity.

We are told by the Talmud that a farmer “believes in the Life Source of the Worlds and (therefore) sows”. At No two festivals on the Jewish calendar are more first glance this seems a poor example of faith — one coupled than Passover and Shavuot. And no two festi- sows because it is a fact of nature that sowing seed vals seem further apart conceptually. brings a harvest in its wake, and we all need to eat. We proceed from Passover to Shavuot along the In truth, this is the whole point of the progression pathway of the 49-day Omer Count which delineates and growth that we experienced as a people in those them both. The Omer period always begins on the sec- momentous seven weeks between the first Passover ond day of Passover and ends with Shavuot. Shavuot is and that first Shavuot. defined by the Torah as the day following the Omer To see G-d in the “fireworks” of the Egyptian Count — the 50th day after Passover. Shavuot is thus Exodus is something that even a child can do. As our the only festival on our calendar not set by the date of sages say, “A child at the splitting of the sea saw more the month but by its position vis-a-vis another holiday: than the prophet Ezekiel”. Indeed, how could he not? It Passover defines Shavuot. is obvious that the “Hand of G-d” is at work in the Yet when we look at these two festivals, we discov- wholesale upending of the natural order. er that they represent differing, even opposite, ideas. Far deeper and more mature is the understanding Passover is called by the Torah the festival of “leaping” that the natural cycle is no less a miracle than the split- (pesach). We leap out of exile on the heels of ten super- ting of the Red Sea and all the miraculous drama of the natural Plagues. We are guided across a sea that splits Exodus. Both flow exclusively from G-d’s essence. open and then engulfs our pursuers in a process that The only difference between the natural and the mirac- violates every law of physics and chemistry. A nation ulous is frequency. of slaves, uncoiled a mere six days from the fetishism of Egyptian idolatry, perceives “more than the It is an axiom of Judaism that creation is an ongoing prophets” and sings a sublime song of transcendent process. At every moment, the flow of divine energy is beauty! being condensed into the stuff of our bodies and souls and of every entity in all universes; were it to cease for In contrast, Shavuot is called by the Torah Chag even a split second, we would cease to exist instanta- Habikkurim “The Festival of the First Fruits”. In the neously and utterly — it would be as if we never had Temple period it marked the beginning of the wheat existed. So it is clear that no accomplishment can be harvest and the first use of the new crop by a commu- made, no purpose attained, without the energy for it nal offering of loaves of wheat-bread in the Temple as flowing from the Source of all life. thanks for blessings of the harvest. This is reality; we need only to look beneath the sur- Shavuot also marks the giving of the Torah, which, face of things to perceive it. Sometimes it leaps above though a supernatural experience, actually marked the the surface on its own — that is a miracle. When that beginning of the era of the natural, the human and the happens, seeing is no longer a choice: it is there before ordinary in Jewish life. From the moment the Torah our eyes. was given to the Jewish people, G-d decreed that “It (the Torah) is not in the heavens” but in our world. When our perception is driven by the force of the Only human beings can interpret the Torah and its rul- novel and the spectacular, we are passive bystanders —

seasons of the soul The Fiftieth Miracle

we are “forced” into recognizing our relationship to G-d. But when we choose to see G-d’s essence in the first green shoot of wheat, this is our accomplishment. We have found G-d not as an external force impacting our world, but as the very fabric of our (seemingly) ordinary being. Nature exists because G-d chose the natural order as the “default” option for all time. Miracles, on the other hand, are a concession to the human need to see things from a different perspective in order to apprehend what they’ve already seen. G-d entrusted us with a “natural” existence because G-d has faith in our capacity to find the essential reflected in each moment of our lives and in each strand of the natural world. G-d takes us from the obviousness of Passover and impels us — with confidence in our success — to the subtlety of Shavuot. This is because as much as we think of “faith” as our belief in G-d, there is an equally significant faith — the faith G-d has in us. G- d knows that with the light contained within Torah we have sufficient illumination to find — and live — the G-dliness that is the core of each being and the fabric of every moment.

Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe, [email protected] is the spiritual leader of www.agudas.org, of West Hartford, Connecticut

story Original Ideas from the Chassidic Masters

Rabbi Joseph Caro (author of the Shulchan Aruch, 1488-1576), once encountered an extremely difficult passage in his study of the Talmud. After many days and nights of toil, he finally succeeded in compre- hending its meaning. At a nearby table in the study hall sat a man who would come every evening for an hour or two of study. Although his business consumed the bulk of his day and his study-skills were limited, he diligent- ly pursued his nightly page of Talmud. Rabbi Joseph noticed that this man (who was studying aloud, as is customary in the study of Torah) was approaching the very passage that had given him such difficulty; curious as to how his neighbor would deal with it, Rabbi Joseph listened in. To his great surprise, the businessman mastered the passage without any difficulty, immediately hitting upon the very interpretation which he had himself arrived at only after so much effort. Rabbi Joseph was greatly distressed by the inci- dent. Obviously, he thought, there is something grievously lacking in my understanding of Torah. Why else would it have taken so much time and toil on my part to see what is so readily obvious to even a part-time, rather unexceptional student of Talmud? That night, Rabbi Joseph had a dream, in which it was revealed to him the significance of what had occurred. Know, he was told, that from the time that the Torah was given at Sinai, no man had compre- hended the particular insight which you have uncov- ered. This is why you had to labor so strenuously — this facet of the divine wisdom had yet to enter the world of earthly intellect. But your efforts opened the channel by which this truth was revealed. Having opened this channel, you have made this truth readily accessible to every mind that approaches the study of G-d’s Torah.

As rendered by Yanki Tauber, [email protected]

idea of the week

The Torah: An Law, Truth and Peace Three essays on three fundamen- tal roles of Torah, adapted from the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Anthology talks by Yanki Tauber www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45202

The Third Knot adapted from the Rebbe’s talks by Yanki Tauber www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45227

Reasoning the Stone adapted from the Rebbe’s talks by They call us the “People of the Book” because of our Yanki Tauber legendary devotion to it. When a child is born, we wish www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45207 its parents, “May you merit to raise him/her to Torah,” and the first words that a Jewish parent teaches his or The Mathematics of Marriage adapted from the her child are: Torah tzivah lanu Moshe, morashah kehi- Rebbe’s talks by Yanki Tauber lat Yaakov (“The Torah that Moses commanded us is www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45208 the heritage of the congregation of Jacob”). Jewish law Yes and No adapted from the Rebbe’s talks by Yanki states that we are obligated to pursue the study of Torah Tauber every spare moment of our day and night. www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45209 For thousands of years, the study of Torah has been our life’s occupation and our highest mark of achieve- The Day that Nothing Happened adapted from the ment. Rebbe’s talks by Yanki Tauber www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45210 The Torah is our mandate as a people, the marriage contract of our special relationship with G-d as His How Do We Know that We Heard G-d at Sinai? by chosen “kingdom of priests and holy nation.” But it is Tzvi Freeman not only that: to the Jew, the Torah is nothing less than www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45201 the basis and objective of all existence. In the words of the Midrash: “G-d made a condition with the work of The Torah-Science Debates by Professor Velvl Greene creation: if the people of Israel accept the Torah, you www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45211 will exist; if not, you will revert to chaos and nothing- Insights: ness.” “G-d looked into the Torah,” says the Zohar, “and created the world. The Jew looks into the Torah, Is G-d Religious? by Simon Jacobson and sustains the world.” www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45212 For 40 days and nights Moses sat on the summit of Mount Sinai, as G-d taught him the Torah; for the next Where the Roads Meet by Andre Haijdu 40 years, Moses taught it to the people of Israel. Thus www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45213 our sages have said: “a person does not attain the mind The Lady, the Tiger and Freedom of Choice by Yanki of his master until after 40 years [of study].” We don’t Tauber have 40 years to explain Torah; we only have an www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45214 anthology of 40 essays, stories, meditations and readings, each offering a glimpse into something the Torah In the Desert by Yanki Tauber says about itself and its place in our lives: www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45216

G-d Writes a Book by Mattis Kantor The Breakthrough by Yanki Tauber www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45199 www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45217

Reality and its Shadow by Yaakov Brawer Because it is There by Yanki Tauber www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45200 www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45218

idea of the week The Master of Song by Yanki Tauber The Torah: An Anthology www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45234 The Cat by Yanki Tauber www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45237

The Sinai Files by Tzvi Freeman www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45238 How to Have by Yanki Tauber www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45219 Readings

Say It in Your Own Words by Yanki Tauber Ethics of the Fathers Chapter Six www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45220 www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45239

Our Goodly Tents by Yanki Tauber A Marriage of Minds (Tanya Chapter Five) www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45221 www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45240

The Ten Commandments series by Yanki Tauber What is the Torah? www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=79816 www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45241 from To Be a Jew by Rabbi Hayim HaLevi Donin Meditations: Condensed from the Wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe by Tzvi Freeman

Inner Engravings www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45228

Talking to Himself www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=68384

Torah and the World www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45230

Grab the clothing www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45231

Youthful Wisdom www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45232

Stories:

A Cheder in Siberia as told to Eliyahu Touger by Reb Mendel Futerfas www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45235

Echos by Jay Litvin www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45236

The Survivor by Shmuel Marcus www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=45233

Moses is summoned to the top of Mount Sinai, where G-d tells him that He is taking the chil- Shavuot dren of Israel as His own chosen nation: Exodus 19:1-20:23; Deuteronomy 14:22--16:17 “Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:

“You have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I The Torah reading for the first day of Shavuot bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to describes the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey which occurred on this day, where G-d revealed My voice, and keep My covenant, you shall be Himself to the Children of Israel, entered into an My own treasure from among all peoples, for all eternal covenant with them, communicated to the earth is Mine the them Ten Commandments, and summoned Moses to the top of the mountain to receive the “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, Torah and a holy nation.”

In the third month following the children of Moses descends from the mountain and “called Israel’s exodus from the land of Egypt; that for the elders of the people, and laid before same day they came into the wilderness of them all these words which G-d had command- Sinai... and there Israel camped opposite the ed him.” mountain. And all the people answered together, and said:

Commentary place where they would receive the Torah—”Moses did not say anything at all to them, on account of their exhaustion from the journey.” IN THE THIRD MONTH... THAT SAME DAY THEY CAME INTO THE For six weeks the children of Israel had been eagerly awaiting the most WILDERNESS OF SINAI (19:1) important event in their history—their receiving of the Torah from G- d. Our sages tell us that they literally counted the days (hence our annu- On the first of the month [of Sivan] they arrived in the Sinai... and on al practice of “counting the omer” during the weeks that connect that day Moses did not say anything at all to them, on account of their Passover to Shavuot). Does it make sense that on the very day they exhaustion from the journey. arrived at Mount Sinai they would do do nothing at all in preparation for the great day? On the second day, he said to them, “And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests...” At Sinai, the divine wisdom was revealed to man. Obviously, the human mind cannot attain the divine wisdom on its own—-it that must On the third day, he informed them of G-d’s command to set boundaries be given to it by G-d Himself. So although G-d instructed us to study [around Mount Sinai]... His Torah, desiring that human intellect should serve as the vehicle by which we apprehend His truth, a crucial prerequisite to Torah study is On the fourth day, he commanded them to “Sanctify [yourselves today the mind’s total abnegation of its ego. Only after it has voided itself of and tomorrow” (Exodus 19:10); following which the Torah was given all pretension that it is capable of attaining the truth of truths on its own, on the sixth day of Sivan]. can the mind become a “fit vessel” to receive it. In the words of the Sages, “An empty vessel can receive; a full vessel cannot receive.” Rabbi Jose says that the Torah was given on the seventh day of the month... Moses having added a third day of sanctification out of his So the day on which “Moses did not say anything at all to them” was own understanding. an integral part of their preparations for receiving the Torah. This was the day on which they undertook the most “exhausting journey” of All agree that the Torah was given on Shabbat. They differ only in that emptying their souls of intellectual vanity and make themselves fit Rabbi Jose says that the first of the month was a Sunday, while the other receptacles of the divine truth. rabbis hold that the first of the month was a Monday. (The Lubavitcher Rebbe) (Talmud, Shabbat 86b) AND THEY CAMPED IN THE DESERT (19:2) A most puzzling thing in the Talmud’s account is the fact that on the first day of Sivan—the day on which the people of Israel arrived at the

was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, Shavuot and the sound of a shofar exceeding loud; so Exodus 19:1-20:23; Deuteronomy 14:22--16:17 that all the people in the camp trembled. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with G-d; and they stood under the mountain. “All that G-d has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to G-d. And Mount Sinai smoked in every part, because G-d descended upon it in fire: and the smoke of G-d instructs that the people should purify and it ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the sanctify themselves for two days, “Because on whole mountain quaked greatly. the third day G-d shall descend upon Mount Sinai before the eyes of the entire people.” The The voice of the shofar sounded louder and mountain itself should be fenced in, and all louder; Moses speaks, and G-d answers him by should be warned against ascending the moun- a voice. tain or even “touching its edge.” And G-d came down upon Mount Sinai, on the The Revelation top of the mountain. And G-d called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.... And it came to pass on the third day when it

Commentary gent in the fulfillment of the commandments. Another explanation is: So that they should introduce their children to the study of the Torah. In the ownerless wilderness was the Torah given to the people of Israel. For if it were given in the Land of Israel, the residents of the Land of Rabbi Tachlifa of Caesarea says: G-d said, “When I created the world, Israel would say, “It is ours”; and if it were given in some other place, I commanded Adam first, and only then Eve was commanded, with the the residents of that place would say, “It is ours.” Therefore it was given result that she transgressed and upset the world. If I do not now call in the wilderness, so that anyone who wishes to acquire it may acquire upon the women first, they will nullify the Torah.” it. (Midrash Rabbah) (Mechilta D’Rashbi) AND ALL THE PEOPLE ANSWERED TOGETHER, AND SAID:“ALL THAT G- Why was the Torah given in the desert? To teach us that if a person does D HAS SPOKEN WE WILL DO” (19:8) not surrender himself to it like the desert, he cannot merit the words of Torah. And to teach us that just as the desert is endless, so is the Torah Said G-d to them: “I require guarantors.” without end. (Pesikta D’Rav Kahana) Said the people of Israel: “The heaven and the earth shall be our guarantors.” AND THERE ISRAEL CAMPED OPPOSITE THE MOUNTAIN (19:2) Said G-d: “They won’t last forever.” At all their other encampments, the verse says vayachanu (“and they Said they: “Our fathers will guarantee it.” camped,” in the plural); here it says vayichan (“and he camped,” in the singular). For all other encampments were in argument and dissent, Said He: “They are busy.” whereas here they camped as one man, with one heart. Said they: “Our children will guarantee it.” (Mechilta; Rashi) Said He: “These are excellent guarantors.” THUS SHALL YOU SAY TO THE HOUSE OF JACOB, AND TELL THE CHIL- (Mechilta D’Rashbi) DREN OF ISRAEL (19:3) AND IT CAME TO PASS ON THE THIRD DAY (19:16) “The house of Jacob” are the women; the “children of Israel” are the men. A Galilean scholar lectured before Rabbi Chisda: “Blessed be the Merciful One who gave a three-fold Torah (consisting of Torah, Why did He command the women first? Because they are the more dili- Prophets and Scriptures) to a three-fold people (comprised of Kohanim,

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work; but Shavuot the seventh day is a sabbath to G-d... For in six Exodus 19:1-20:23; Deuteronomy 14:22--16:17 days G-d made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore G-d blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The Ten Commandments Honor your father and your mother...

And G-d spoke all these words, saying: You shall not murder.

I am G-d your G-d, who has brought you out of You shall not commit adultery. the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall not steal. You shall have no other gods beside Me. You shall not make for yourself any carved idol, or You shall not bear false witness against your fel- any likeness of any thing... you shall not bow low. down to them, nor serve them... You shall not covet... anything that is your fel- You shall not take the name of G-d your G-d in low’s. vain... The people are overwhelmed by all that they see and hear, and beg Moses: “You speak with

Commentary famous “sixth day”).

Levites and Israelites) through a third-born (Moses, the third child of This teaches that G-d stipulated with the works of creation and said to Amram and Jocheved) on the third day in the third month. them: “If Israel accepts the Torah (on the sixth of Sivan), you shall exist; but if not, I will turn you back into emptiness and formlessness.” (Talmud, Shabbat 88a) (Talmud, Shabbat 88a) The Torah is associated with the number “3” because the ultimate function of Torah is “to make peace in the world” and “3” represents the AND THEY STOOD UNDER THE MOUNTAIN (19:17) concept of peace. This teaches that G-d overturned the mountain upon them like an Peace is unity in diversity. The number “1” implies exclusivity and sin- [inverted] cask, and said to them: “If you accept the Torah, fine; if not, gularity; the number “2” connotes diversity and plurality; the number there shall be your burial.” “3” represents a state in which the diversity of “2” is superceded by a third, encompassing truth, within whose context differences no longer Rabbi Acha ben Yaakov observed: This resulted in a strong legal con- divide but rather unite diverse components into a harmonious whole. test against the Torah (since it was a contract entered into under duress). Said Raba: But they re-accepted it (out of their own, uncompelled This is the function of Torah: to introduce a unity of purpose to the choice) in the days of Ahasuerus, as it is written (Esther 9:27): “The diverse objects, forces and peoples of creation, uniting them all in the Jews confirmed, and accepted”—on that occasion they confirmed what harmonious endeavor of serving the divine objective in creation. they had accepted long before. (The Chassidic Masters) (Talmud, Shabbat 88a)

At the Torah’s conclusion of its account of the creation of the world, it MOSES SPEAKS, AND G-D ANSWERS HIM BY A VOICE (19:19) is written (Genesis 1:31): “And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” What is the purpose of the additional “the” “The voice of G-d is in power” (Psalms 29:4). If it would have said, (hashishi)? “The voice of G-d is in His power,” the world could not survive it; rather it says, “The voice of G-d is in power”—in accordance to the (Regarding the other days of creation, the Torah simply says, “And it individual strength of each and every one of them. To the old, accord- was evening and it was morning, one day... a second day.. a third day, ing to their strength, and to the young, according to theirs; to the chil- etc.”; “the sixth day” implies that the verse is referring to a certain dren, to the babes and to the women, according to their strength; and

Shavuot Exodus 19:1-20:23; Deuteronomy 14:22--16:17 Pilgrimage

On the second day of Shavuot we read from Deuteronomy chapters 14-16, which detail the laws of the three pilgrimage festivals—Passover, us, and we shall hear; but let not G-d speak Shavuot and Sukkot—on which all Jews came with us, lest we die.” So “the people stood afar “to see and be seen before the face of G-d” in off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The reading also where G-d was.” includes the laws of tithing, the sabbatical year, charity and the consecration of firstborn ani- The reading concludes with a number of addi- mals. tional laws communicated at Sinai, including the prohibition to use any iron tools in constructing an altar to G-d.

Commentary The mitzvot could be, and were, performed before the revelation at Sinai, and had the power to achieve great things within the spiritual even to Moses according to his strength, as it is said: “Moses spoke, and realm (by elevating the soul of the one who performed them and effect- G-d answered him by a voice.”" ing “unions” (yichudim) and “revelations” (giluyim) in the supernal worlds) and within the physical realm (by refining the object with (Midrash Rabbah) which it was performed, within the limits of its natural potential). But AND G-D CAME DOWN ON MOUNT SINAI... AND G-D CALLED TO because the mitzvot had not yet been commanded by G-d, they lacked the power to bridge the great divide between matter and spirit. Only as MOSES TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN, AND MOSES WENT UP (19:20) a command of G-d, creator and delineator of both the spiritual and the Once there was a king who decreed: “The people of Rome are forbid- physical, could the mitzvah supersede the natural definitions of these den to go down to Syria, and the people of Syria are forbidden to go up two realms. Only after Sinai could the mitzvah actualize the spiritual to Rome.” Likewise, when G-d created the world, He decreed and said: and sanctify the material. “The heavens are G-ds, and the earth is given to man” (Psalms 115:16). (The Lubavitcher Rebbe) But when He wished to give the Torah to Israel, He rescinded His original decree, and declared: “The lower realms may ascend to the higher AND G-D SPOKE ALL THESE WORDS (20:1) realms, and the higher realms may descend to the lower realms. And I, Myself, will begin” as it is written, “And G-d descended on Mount When G-d gave the Torah no bird twittered, no fowl flew, no ox lowed, Sinai,” and then it says, “And to Moses He said: Go up to G-d.” none of the angels stirred a wing, the seraphim did not say “Holy, Holy,” the sea did not roar, the creatures spoke not, the whole world (Midrash Tanchuma) was hushed into breathless silence and the voice went forth: “I am G-d Our Sages tell us that the Patriarchs studied the Torah and fulfilled its your G-d.” precepts many centuries before the Torah was “officially” given at (Midrash Rabbah) Sinai. Since no “new information” was revealed on the sixth of Sivan, what is the significance of the “giving of the Torah” on that occasion? With each and every utterance that issued forth from the mouth of G-d, the souls of Israel flew from their bodies, as it is written (Song of Songs The answer lies in the above-quoted Midrash: at Sinai G-d abolished 5:6), “My soul went out when He spoke.” But since their souls depart- the decree which had consigned the physical and the spiritual to two ed at the first utterance, how could they receive the second one? G-d separate domains. Thus, at Sinai was introduced a new phenomenon— brought down the dew with which He will resurrect the dead and the cheftza shel kedushah or “holy object.” After Sinai, when physical revived them. man takes a physical coin, earned by his physical toil and talents, and (Talmud, Shabbat 88a) gives it to charity; or when he forms a piece of leather to a specified shape and dimensions and binds them to his head and arm as tefillin— In other words, even after they were revived by the divine “dew” fol- -the object with which he has performed his “mitzvah” is transformed. lowing the first utterance, this did not suffice to keep body and soul A finite, physical thing becomes “holy,” as its very substance and form together at the second utterance; and the “dew” which enabled them to become the actualization of a divine desire and command. absorb the second utterance, did not suffice for the third; and so on “with each and every utterance.” This means that each utterance

Is it then possible for a person to do “all his work” in six days? But rest on Shabbat as if all your work is done. Shavuot (Mechilta) Exodus 19:1-20:23; Deuteronomy 14:22--16:17 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER (20:12)

There are three partners in man: G-d, his father, and his mother. When a man honors his father and his mother, G-d says: “I consider it though Commentary I had dwelt among them and they had honored Me.” (Talmud, Kiddushin 30b) involved a greater revelation of divinity than the previous one. Thus the commandment “Do not murder,” for example, expresses an even lofti- (The commentaries point out that the Ten Commandments were er divine truth than “Remember the Shabbat” or “I am G-d your G-d.” engraved on two tablets—five on the first and five on the second. The first tablet contains mitzvot that are “between man and G-d,” while the (The Lubavitcher Rebbe) commandments on the second tablet govern the relationship “between I AM G-D YOUR G-D (20:2) man and man.” This means that as the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and your mother,” belongs to the category of “between G-d Because G-d appeared to them at the Red Sea as a mighty warrior, at and man”!) Sinai as a sage teaching Torah, in the days of Solomon as a handsome lad and in the times of Daniel as a compassionate old man, G-d said to HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER (20:12) them: Just because you perceive Me in many guises, do not thinks that there are many gods; rather, it is I who was at the sea, I who was at And in Leviticus 19:3 it says, “Every man, his mother and father should Sinai, I who is in every place — “I am G-d your G-d.” fear.” For it is revealed and known to G-d that a person adores his mother more than his father, and that he fears his father more than his moth- (Midrash Tanchuma) er. G-d therefore set the honor of one’s father first, and the fear of one’s mother first, to emphasize that one must honor and fear them both I AM G-D YOUR G-D, WHO HAS BROUGHT YOU OUT OF THE LAND OF equally. EGYPT (20:2) (Talmud, Kiddushin 31a) Would it not have been more appropriate for G-d to say, “I am G-d... who created the heavens and the earth”? DO NOT MURDER (20:13)

But G-d the creator is the G-d that Israel shares with the rest of creation. How were the Ten Commandments given? Five on one tablet and five At Sinai, G-d did not speak to us as the author of nature, but as the on a second tablet. This means that “Do not murder” corresponds to “I executor of the miraculous Exodus. For at Sinai we forged a covenant am G-d your G-d.” The Torah is telling us that one who sheds blood it with G-d in which we pledged to surpass all bounds of nature and con- is as if he has reduced the image of the King. vention in our commitment to Him, and He pledged to supercede all What is this analogous to? To a king of flesh and blood who entered a laws of nature and convention in His providence over us. country and put up portraits of himself, and made statues of himself, (The Chassidic Masters) and minted coins with his image. After a while, the people of the country overturned his portraits, broke his statues and invalidated his coins, REMEMBER THE SHABBAT DAY (20:8) thereby reducing the image of the king. So, too, one who sheds blood reduces the image of the King, as it is written (Genesis 9:6): “One who In Deuteronomy 5 (where the Ten Commandments are repeated), it spills a man’s blood... for in the image of G-d He made man.” says, “Safeguard the Shabbat day.” “Remember” and “safeguard” (which represent the imperative and prohibitive aspects of Shabbat) (Mechilta) where expressed in a single utterance—something which the human mouth cannot articulate and the human ear cannot hear. DO NOT MURDER.DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.DO NOT STEAL (20:13) (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 27a) When Moses ascended to heaven, the angels protested to G-d: “What is a human being doing amongst us?” SIX DAYS SHALL YOU LABOR... (20:9) Said He to them: “He has come to receive the Torah.” This, too, is a divine decree. Just as the people of Israel were commanded to rest on Shabbat, so, too, were they commanded to work on Said they to Him: “This esoteric treasure, which was hidden with You the other days of the week. for nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created, You wish to give to flesh and blood?... ‘What is man, that You (Mechilta D’Rashbi) are mindful of him, and the son of man, that You take notice of him? ... Place Your glory upon the heavens!’ (Psalms 8:2-5)” SIX DAYS SHALL YOU LABOR, AND DO ALL YOUR WORK (20:9) Said G-d to Moses: “Answer them.”

(Rabbeinu Bechayei) Shavuot And when you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone: for if you lift up your sword upon it, you have defiled it (20:22) Exodus 19:1-20:23; Deuteronomy 14:22--16:17 Iron was created to shorten the life of man, and the Altar was created to lengthen the life of man; so it is not fitting that that which shortens should be lifted upon that which lengthens. Commentary (Talmud, Middot 3:4)

Said Moses: “Master of the Universe! I fear lest they consume me with the breath of their mouths.” Said G-d: “Hold on to the Throne of Glory, and return them an answer.” Said Moses: “Master of the Universe! This Torah that You are giving to me, what is written in it? I am the L-rd Your G-d, who has taken you out from the land of Egypt.” “Have you descended to Egypt?” asked Moses of the angels. “Have you been enslaved to Pharaoh? So why should the Torah be yours? “What else does it say? You shall have no other gods. Do you dwell amongst idol-worshipping nations? What else does it say? Remember the Shabbat day. Do you work? ... What else does it say? Do not swear falsely. Do you do business? What else does it say? Honor your father and your mother. Do you have parents? What else does it say? Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal. Is there jealousy among you? Do you have an evil inclination?” Straightway the angels conceded to G-d... and each one was moved to befriend Moses and transmit something to him. Even the Angel of Death too confided his secret to him... (Talmud, Shabbat 88b)

AND ALL THE PEOPLE SAW THE VOICES (20:15)

They saw what is ordinarily heard and they heard what is ordinarily seen. (Midrash Lekach Tov; Rashi)

As physical beings, we “see” physical reality. On the other hand, G-dliness and spirituality is only something that is “heard”—it can be dis- cussed, perhaps even understood to some extent, but not experienced first hand.

At the revelation at Sinai, we saw what is ordinarily heard—we experienced the divine as an immediate, tangible reality. On the other hand, what is ordinarily “seen” —the material world—was something mere- ly “heard,” to be accepted or rejected at will.

(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

AND MOSES DREW NEAR TO THE THICK DARKNESS WHERE G-DWAS (20:18)

There are three types of darkness: the “heavy darkness” of the Covenant Between the Pieces (Genesis 15:17); the “tangible darkness” of the ninth plague in Egypt (Exodus 10:22); and the “thick darkness” at the giving of the Torah.

The Breakthrough lower realms. And I, Myself, will begin — as it is From the Chassidic Masters written, “And G-d descended on Mount Sinai,4 and then it says, “And to Moses He said: Go up to G-d.”5 (Midrash Tanchuma, Vaeira 15; Midrash Rabbah, Shemot 12:4) And it came to pass on the third day, when morn- For the first twenty-five centuries of history, there ing came, that there were thunders and lightenings, existed a gezeirah — a decree and schism — which and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and the sound split reality into two hermetic worlds: the spiritual of the shofar exceedingly loud; and the entire people and the physical. The spiritual could not be truly within the camp trembled. And Moses brought the brought down to earth — its very nature defied actu- people out of the camp to meet with G-d, and they alization; nor could the physical be made transcen- stood at the foot of the mountain... dent and divine — its very nature kept it imprisoned And G-d came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top within the finiteness and mortality of the lower of the mountain. And G-d called Moses to the top of realms. So Torah, the divine wisdom and will, could the mountain, and Moses ascended. have no real effect upon the physical world. It was a Exodus 19:16-20 , pertaining to the soul of man and to the spiritual reality of the heavens. While its concepts could, and The most momentous event in history took place were, applied to physical life, physical life could not on Shabbat, the sixth day of the month of Sivan, in be elevated - it could be improved and perfected to the year 2448 from creation (1313 bce). On that day, the limits of its potential, but it could not transcend the entire people of Israel — more than 2 million its inherent coarseness and subjectivity. men, women and children1, as well as the souls of all At Sinai, G-d revoked the decree which had con- future generations of Jews — gathered at the foot of fined matter and spirit to two distinct realms. G-d Mount Sinai to receive the Torah from G-d. Ever came down on Mount Sinai, bringing the spirituality since, the event has been marked on our calendar as of the heavens down to earth. He summoned Moses the festival of Shavuot,”the Time of the Giving of to the top of the mountain, empowering physical Our Torah.” man to raise his physical self and world to a higher But the Torah we received at Sinai had already state of existence. The Torah could now sanctify been in our possession for many generations. Our physical life. ancestors had studied and fulfilled the entire Torah This encounter between G-d and man at Sinai even before it was given, observing its every law and introduced a new phenomenon: the cheftza shel ordinance — including the obligation to make an kedushah or holy object. After Sinai, when physical eruv tavshilin when a festival falls on the eve of man takes a physical coin, earned by his physical toil Shabbat.2 No new document was unveiled at Sinai, and talents, and gives it to charity; or when he bakes and no hitherto unknown code of behavior was com- flour and water as unleavened bread (matzah) and manded there. What, then, was given to us at The eats it on the first night of Passover; or when he Giving of Our Torah? forms a piece of leather to a specified shape and The Midrash explains the significance of the event dimensions, inserts into it parchment scrolls with the following parable: inscribed with specified words, and binds them to his Once there was a king who decreed: The people of head and arm as tefillin — the object with which he Rome are forbidden to go down to Syria, and the has performed his mitzvah (divine commandment) is people of Syria are forbidden to go up to Rome. transformed. A finite, physical thing becomes holy, Likewise, when G-d created the world He decreed as its substance and form come to embody the real- and said: “The heavens are G-d’s, and the earth is ization of a divine desire and command. given to man.”3 But when He wished to give the The mitzvot could have been, and were, per- Torah to Israel, He rescinded His original decree, and formed before the revelation at Sinai. But because declared: The lower realms may ascend to the high- they had not yet been commanded by G-d, they er realms, and the higher realms may descend to the lacked the power to bridge the great divide between

The Breakthrough the generations, all the prophets and sages who From the Chassidic Masters prophesied, taught and expounded upon the wisdom of the Torah are the extension of that very voice, for they added nothing that was not already inherent in the Ten Commandments. Finally, the Midrash offers a third explanation of the voice’s “unceasing” nature: matter and spirit. Only as a command of G-d, creator the divine voice at Sinai was unique in that it had no and delineator of both the spiritual and the physical, echo. could the mitzvah supersede the natural definitions The first two interpretations obviously point to the of these two realms. Only after Sinai could the mitz- universality and timelessness of Torah. But what is vah actualize the spiritual and sanctify the material. “great and unceasing” about a voice that has no [Thus we find that when Abraham required his echo? Why should the divine voice at Sinai have servant Eliezer to take an oath, he told him to “place been distinguished in this manner from all other your hand under my thigh.”6 An oath is taken while sounds? holding a sacred object such as a Torah scroll or In truth, however, the echoless nature of the divine tefillin; here Abraham is telling Eliezer to swear on communication conveys the very essence of what the part of his own body sanctified by the mitzvah of transpired at Sinai. An echo is created when a sound circumcision. But since Abraham “observed the meets with a substance which resists it: instead of entire Torah even before it was given” — i.e., he absorbing its waves, the substance repels them, studied Torah, put on tefillin, affixed a mezuzah on bouncing them back to the void. Prior to Sinai, the his doorpost — it would seem that he had no short- voice of Torah had an echo. Belonging to the spiritu- age of sacred objects available to him. Why, then, ality of the heavens, it could not truly penetrate the did he have Eliezer place his hand under his thigh, physicality of the earth. The world might hear of contrary to all common standards of modesty and Torah and be affected by it; but there remained a cer- propriety? But as we said, the effects of Abraham’s tain degree of resistance, as the Torah and the physi- pre-Sinai mitzvot were of a wholly spiritual nature. cal world each remained defined by their respective Since G-d had not commanded him to do them, they “higher” and “lower” realms. At Sinai, however, G- remained subject to the law that separated the super- d rescinded the decree which had severed the heav- nal from the material; while they had a profound ens from the earth. The world could now fully absorb effect on his own soul, the souls of his descendants, the divine voice; a physical object could now and the spiritual essence of creation, they had no become one with its mission and role. impact on the material substance of the universe. The The Empowering Precedent single exception was the mitzvah of circumcision, Therein lies an important lesson to us as we pur- which G-d did command to Abraham (as related in sue our mission in life to implement the ethos and Genesis 17), imparting to this mitzvah something of ideals of Torah in our world. the nature of the post-Siniatic commandments of the Torah.7 At Sinai we were charged to serve as “a light unto the nations” — to actualize in our own lives, and to An Absorbent World teach all of humanity, that no matter what the condi- Therein lies the significance of a curious detail tions of a particular time, place or society may be, related by our sages regarding the revelation at Sinai. there is an all-transcendent, unequivocal, divinely The Torah tells us that G-d spoke the Ten ordained truth and moral code of behavior to which Commandments in “a great voice, which did not to adhere. cease” (Deuteronomy 5:19). The Midrash offers a At times, we might be confronted with a seeming- number of interpretations for this description of the ly unresponsive and even resisting world. It may divine voice. One interpretation is that the divine did appear that one or another of the Torah’s precepts not confine itself to the holy tongue but reverberated does not fit in with the prevalent reality. So the Torah in mankind’s seventy languages. A second meaning tells us that the voice which sounded G-d’s message is that the voice did not cease on that particular to the world had no echo. Shabbat morning some 3300 years ago: throughout

The Breakthrough manded us through Moses that we should circumcise ourselves as did Abraham (Maimonides’ commentary From the Chassidic Masters on the Mishnah, Chulin 7:6)

The voice of the Ten Commandments permeated every object and reality in the universe. So any resistance we may possibly meet in implementing them is superficial and temporary. For at Sinai, the essence of every created being was made consistent with, and wholly receptive to, the goodness and per- fection which G-d desires of it.

Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, www.therebbe.org, adapted by Yanki Tauber, [email protected]

FOOTNOTES 1. A census taken eleven months later counted 603,550 males between the ages of 20 and 60 (exclud- ing the tribe of Levi). 2. Talmud, Yoma 28b. 3. Psalms 115:16. 4. Exodus 19;20. 5. Ibid., 24:19 6. Genesis 24:2; cf. Jacob’s similar administration of an oath to Joseph, Genesis 47:29. 7. Nevertheless, Abraham’s mitzvah of circumcision was only a precedent for the divine commandments issued at Sinai, and not a full revocation of the decree dissevering heaven from earth; it was the closest thing he had to an object of holiness, but not a complete sanctification of the physical, which is possible only after Sinai. Thus Maimonides writes: “Pay attention to the major principle expressed by [the words] “It was said at Sinai” ... For everything from which we refrain or which we do today, we do only because of G-d’s command to Moses at Sinai, not because of any communication by G-d to earlier prophets. For example, that which we do not eat a limb from a live animal is not because G-d forbade this to Noah, but because Moses forbade it to us by commanding at Sinai that the prohibition of eating a limb from a live animal should remain in force. Similarly, we do not circumcise ourselves because our father Abraham circumcised himself and the members of his household, but because Gd com-

PARSHAH in a nutshell Shavuot Exodus 19:1-20:23; Deuteronomy 14:22--16:17

The Children of Israel camp opposite Mount Sinai, where they are told that G-d has chosen them to be His “kingdom of priests” and “holy nation.” The people respond by proclaiming, “All that G-d has spoken, we shall do.” On the sixth day of the third month (Sivan), seven weeks after the Exodus, the entire nation of Israel assembles at the foot of Mount Sinai. G-d descends on the mountain amidst thunder, lightening, billows of smoke and the blast of the shofar, and summons Moses to ascend. G-d proclaims the Ten Commandments, commanding the people of Israel to believe in G-d, not to wor- ship idols or take G-d’s name in vain, to honor their parents, keep the Shabbat, and not to murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness or covet another’s property. The people cry out to Moses that the revelation is too intense for them to bear, begging him to receive the Torah from G-d and convey it to them.

On the second day of Shavuot we read from Deuteronomy chapters 14-16 which detail the laws of the three pilgrimage festivals — Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot— on which all Jews came “to see and be seen before the face of G-d” in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Today begin the three days of preparation for the festival of week at a glance Shavuot known as the "Three Days of Hagbalah"; in the custom of many communities, the mourning practices of the Omer period, such as not to hold weddings or get a haircut, S u n d a y Sivan 1 | June 1 are now suspended. It was on this day that G-d command- ROSH CHODESH ed Moses to "fence in (hagbel) the mountain and sanctify it" 45TH DAY OF OMER COUNT in preparation to the giving of the Torah on Sivan 6. On This Date: Encampment at Sinai (1313 BCE) Link: Boundaries On the 1st of Sivan of the year 2448 from creation http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword.asp?kid=1252 (1313 BCE), six weeks after their exodus from Egypt, COUNT "48 DAYS TO THE OMER" TONIGHT the Children of Israel arrived at Mount Sinai in the Sinai W e d n e s d a y Sivan 4 | June 4 Desert and camped at the foot of the mountain "as one man, with one heart" in preparation for the receiving of 48th day of Omer Count the Torah from G-d. On this day, however "Moses did On This Date: Moses writes (first part of) Torah (1313 not say anything to them, because of their exhaustion BCE) from the journey." Moses writes down the first 68 chapters of the Torah, from Link: The Day That Nothing Happened Genesis 1:1 ("In the Beginning G-d created the heavens and www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=45210 the earth") to the giving of the Torah in Exodus 19 (Exodus Laws & Customs: Rosh Chodesh observances 24:4; Rashi ibid.). Today is Rosh Chodesh ("Head of the Month") days for COUNT "49 DAYS TO THE OMER" TONIGHT the month of Sivan, the third month of the Jewish T h u r s d a y Sivan 5 | June 5 Calendar. 49th DAY OF OMER COUNT Special portions are added to the daily prayers: Hallel On This Date: Jews accept Torah (1313 BCE) (Psalms 113-118) is recited -- in its "partial" form -- fol- On this day, Moses made a covenant with the Jewish peo- lowing the Shacharit morning prayer, and the Yaaleh ple at the foot of Mount Sinai at which the people declared, V'yavo prayer is added to the Amidah and to Grace "All that G-d has spoken, we shall do and hear" (Exodus After Meals; the additional Musaf prayer is said. 24:7) commiting themselves to observe the Torah’s com- Tachnun (confession of sins) and similar prayers are mandments ("do") and strive to comprehend them ("hear"), omitted. while pledging to "do" also before they "hear." Many have the custom to mark Rosh Chodesh with a Links: A Jew in a Jeep, www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=2902 festive meal and reduced work activity. The latter cus- Reasoning the Stone, www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=45207 tom is prevalent amongst women, who have a special Spiritual Modality for Behavior Modification, www.chabad.org/arti- affinity with Rosh Chodesh -- the month being the femi- cle.asp?aid=2663 nine aspect of the Jewish Calendar. An Easy Life www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=77428 Links: The 29th Day Laws & Customs: Eruv Tavshilin http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=2764; The Lunar Files When Shabbat occurs immediately following a festival day, http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=1209 an "eruv tavshilin" (i.e., food for at least one "meal" that is set COUNT "46 DAYS TO THE OMER" TONIGHT aside in advance for Shabbat) must be prepared prior to the [How To: http://www.chabad.org/holidays/frame.asp?URL=OmerGuide festival, so that it should be permitted to prepare food for About: http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=42907] Shabbat during the festival. Light Festival Candles for Shavuot before sunset m o n d a y Sivan 2 | June 2 46TH DAY OF OMER COUNT f r i d a y Sivan 6 | June 6 On This Date: Chosen People (1313 BCE) SHAVUOT Sivan 2 is marked on the Jewish calendar as Yom On This Date: Torah given (1313 BCE) HaMeyuchas ("Day of Distinction"); it was on this day On the 6th Sivan of the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE), that G-d told Moses -- when Moses ascended Mount seven weeks after the Exodus, G-d revealed Himself on Sinai for the first time -- to tell the people of Israel: "You Mount Sinai. The entire people of Israel (600,000 heads of shall be My chosen treasure from among all the nations, households and their families), as well as the souls of all for all the earth is Mine. You shall be to Me a kingdom of future generations of Jews, heard G-d declare the first two of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:4-6). the Ten Commandments and witnessed G-d's communica- Link: Who Are the Jews? tion of the other eight through Moses. Following the revela- http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=2902 tion, Moses ascended the mountain for 40 days, to receive COUNT "47 DAYS TO THE OMER" TONIGHT the remainder of the Torah from G-d. t u e s d a y Sivan 3 | June 3 At Sinai, G-d rescinded the "decree" and "divide" (gezeirah) 47TH day of Omer Count that had been in force since the 2nd day of creation sepa- Laws & Customs: 3 Days of "Hagbalah" begin rating the spiritual and the physical into two hermetic worlds; from this point on, "the higher realms could descend into the Comment | Voices | Seasons of the Soul | Story | Idea of the Week | Parshah | Week at Glance 19 www.Chabad.org week at a glance studying Torah. The traditional Tikkun Leil Shavout ("Rectification for Shavuot Night") study program includes the opening and closing verses of each book of the Written lower realms, and the lower could ascend to the higher." Torah (Tanach), the entire Book of Ruth (see below), the Thus was born the "mitzvah" -- a physical deed that, by opening and closing sections of each tractate of the Talmud, virtue of the fact that it is commanded by G-d, brings G- a list of the 613 mitzvot, and selected readings from the dliness into the physical world. Zohar and other Kabbalistic works. Link: The Torah: an Anthology children in shul http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=43148 The Lubavitcher Rebbe urged that all children -- including passing of King David (837 BCE) infants --should be brought to the synagogue on the 1st day David, a descendent of Judah the son of Jacob as well of Shavuot to hear the reading of the Ten Commandments in as of Ruth, a Moabite convert to Judaism, was anointed re-enactment of the Giving of the Torah at Sinai. Our sages King of Israel by Samuel in 878 BCE; all future legitimate relate that when G-d came to give the Torah to the people of kings of Israel were David's descendents, as will be Israel, He asked for a guarantee that that they will not for- Moshiach (the messiah), who will "restore the kingdom sake it. "The heaven and the earth shall be our guarantors," of David to its glory of old." said the Jews, but G-d replied that "they will not last forever." "Our fathers will guarantee it," said the people, but G-d David fought many wars, defeating Israel's enemies and said that "they are busy." It was only when we promised that securing and expanding its borders; he conquered "our children will guarantee it" that G-d agreed, "These are Jerusalem, purchased the Temple Mount from its excellent guarantors." Yebusite owner, and prepared the foundation for the Link: Our Children, Our Selves Holy Temple (which was built by his son, King Solomon). http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=42029 David served as the head of the Sanhedrin and the fore- Book of Ruth most Torah authority of his generation; he is also the "sweet singer of Israel" who composed the Book of It is the custom in many communities to read the biblical Psalms, that for 28 centuries has embodied the joys, sor- Book of Ruth, which tells the story of Ruth, a Moabite rows and yearnings of the Jewish people. King David princess who converted to Judaism. passed away on the 6th of Sivan of the year 837 BCE, Links: Text of Book of Ruth and its connection to Shavuot; age 70. http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=2142 How Does One Convert to Judaism? and BeSHT (1760) http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=3002 In 1734, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov ("BeSHT", 1698- dairy foods 1760), who up until that time had lived as a hidden tzad- dik, began to publicly disseminate his teachings. While It is customary to eat dairy foods on Shavuot. Traditional adding nothing "new" to Judaism, he re-emphasized Shavuot recipes include cheesecake and blintzes. truths and doctrines that had been buried under the Shabbat candles hardships of exile: the immense love that G-d has for Because today is a festival (Shavuot), the Shabbat candles every Jew, the cosmic significance of every mitzvah a should be lit from a pre-existing flame. For candle lighting person performs, the divine meaningfulness that resides times see http://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp in every blade of grass, in every event, and in every S h a b b a t Sivan 6 | June 6 thought in the universe. He spoke to the downtrodden masses and to the aloof scholars, giving meaning to their Torah reading: Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17 existence, and thus joy, and thus life. Many disciples Haftarah: Habakkuk 3 came to imbibe the "inner soul" of Torah from him, and the new movement came to be known as "Chassidism." Laws & Customs: 2nd day Shavuot Rabbi Israel passed away on the 6th of Sivan of 1760, Outside of the Land of Israel, Shavuot is observed for a 2nd and was succeeded (one year later) by his disciple, day today. (In Israel, where Shavuot is observed for one day Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch. only, the Torah reading for this Shabbat is Naso, and Link: Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov Chapter One of Ethics of the Fathers is studied in the after- http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword.asp?kid=98 noon.) "Yizkor" is recited and charity is pledged in memory Torah reading: Exodus 19:1-20:23 of departed parents. The "eruv tavshilin" set aside before the Haftarah: Ezekiel 1 festival (see "Laws and Customs" for Sivan 5) should be eaten today. Laws & Customs: All-night learning The Talmud relates that when G-d came to give the Torah to the People of Israel in the early morning of Sivan 6, He found them sleeping (the Chassidic masters explain that this was an attempt to connect to their sub- conscious, transcendent self in preparation for their reception of the divine wisdom). To rectify this lapse, we spend the entire night of Shavuot (Friday night, this year)