THE JEWISH NEWS
JUNE 2, 1989
A Toast
To Jewish Living
Shavuot: Celebrating The Torah And Its Teachings
By RABBI IRWIN GRONER
)
Rabbi Irwin Groner, senior rabbi
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek, is
the author of this month's main
L'Chayim feature. For each issue of
L'Chayim, a rabbi, a Jewish
educator or other notable from the
community will present an overview
of the month's theme.
Shavuot is the second of three
pilgrimage festivals designated in
the Bible, the other two being
Passover and Sukkot. The word
"Shavuot" means "weeks," since
the festival occurs seven weeks
after Pesach. In the non-Jewish
world it sometimes called
"Pentecost," which is a term
derived from the Greek, meaning
"50th day." Shavuot also
commemorates the spiritual birthday
of the Jewish people, the Revelation
of God's word at Sinai.
On the second day of Passover,
an omer, a measure of barley, was
brought as an offering to the
Temple. From that time on, a period
of 49 days was counted until
Shavuot. This period is known as
"Sefirah," counting the omer. The
great Maimonides said that Jews
awaited Shavuot so anxiously that
they counted every day from Pesach
on, as one reckons the days before
a most glorious event, which is the
giving of the Torah. Thus, Passover
and Shavuot are linked because the
first marks the liberation of our
ancestors from slavery, and the
latter celebrates the beginning of
the spiritual life of the Jewish
people.
On this festival in biblical times,
pilgrims came from all parts of the
land of Israel to Jerusalem. Shavuot
was the festival of first fruits or Hag
Habikkurim. Each farmer brought
the first of his barley, wheat, grapes,
figs, pomegranates, olive oil or
honey, the seven varieties for which
the Land of Israel was then famed.
These were offered in baskets,
covered with fresh new leaves and
flowers.
When the offering was
presented to the priest, the farmer
would recite a prayer recalling the
history of the Hebrew people:
"Behold, the Lord brought us out of
Egypt with a mighty hand. He has
brought us unto this place and has
given us this land, a land flowing
with milk and honey, and now,
behold, we have brought the first
fruits of the land, which Thou, Oh
Lord, hast given us."
According to the tradition, the
Ten Commandments were given to
the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai on
the Festival of Shavuot. A truly
stupendous event was this in the
life of the Jewish people, as the
biblical account makes clear.
Around this central experience
in its life, our people wove a rich
garland of legend. Before the Torah
was given to Israel, God
approached every nation of antiquity
and offered them the Torah, so that
they might not later say, "Had the
Lord given us the Torah, we would
have accepted it." He went to the
• e
children of Esau and offered the
Torah to them. "What is written
there?" they asked. "Thou shalt not
murder," was the reply. "We live by
the sword; we do not wish to accept
the Torah" was their decision.
Another people rejected it because
the Commandment prohibiting
adultery was counter to their
practice. The third nation refused to
bind itself to obedience of the
commandment "Thou shalt not
steal." But when the Torah was
offered to Israel, the people
exclaimed, "All that the Lord has
spoken will we do and we shall
harken."
God sought surety from Israel
to guarantee their observance of the
Torah. "Our forefathers, the
patriarchs, are bondsmen for us,"
said Israel. When this was not
acceptable, the children of Israel
offered their prophets as bondsmen.
This offer, too, was rejected. "Our
children will stand as bondsmen,"
they said. "Your posterity, your
young are good security," said the
Lord, "for their sake, I will give the
Torah."
Shavuot is known as "Zeman
Mattan Toratenu," the season of the
giving of our Torah. This is the day
on which our people were assigned
the awesome task of proclaiming
God's revelation to the world. As
they entered this covenant, they
were transformed from nomad tribes
to a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation. A Chasidic teacher asked:
"Why is the festival of Shavuot
called 'The time of the giving of the
Torah' and not the time of receiving
of the Torah?" It is called so
because the giving of the Torah
happened at one specified time, but
the receiving of the Torah happens
at every time and in every
generation.
In its narrow meaning, Torah
refers to the five books of Moses. In
a wider sense, it represents the
whole of the Bible including the
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