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Spiritual Rededication
Of Our Liberation
Shabbat Second Day Shavuot: Deuteronomy
15:19-16:17; Numbers 26:26-31; Habbakuk 3:1-19.
RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
S
ince the festival of Shavuot
falls on this Sabbath, this
week's portion is prescribed
as a special reading from
the Torah. It deals with the giv-
ing of the Ten Commandments.
Shavuot assumed major sig-
nificance in Jewish life and the
Jewish religion because it com-
memorates the proclamation that
liberated the Israelites from
Egyptian bondage. Until that mo-
ment, when the Israelites gath-
ered at the foot of Mount Sinai,
they were not truly free.
The festival, 50 days after the
first day of Passover, signifies
that the revelation at Sinai was
the crowning climax of the Exo-
dus. The Israelites had become
spiritually emancipated from all
the immoral standards that dom-
inated the ages before Sinai.
Thus Shavuot marked the birth
of a spiritual and moral law that
has characterized Western civi-
lization since the days of Moses.
According to the Bible, the
three pilgrimage festivals that
are central in the Jewish religion
were once all seasonal holidays.
When the spring season ar-
rived, it meant the soil was ready
for planting. Our forefathers
thanked God not merely for their
liberation from Egyptian
bondage, but also they prayed for
the liberation of the earth from
the cold grip of winter. In later
times, their livelihood and well
being depended upon their suc-
cess in planting seeds that they
were later to harvest.
The word Shavuot means
"weeks." It denotes that after the
first day of Passover, there were
to be seven weeks of toil and
strain, 50 days of watching, wait-
ing. Hence the celebration of
Shavuot expressed the sense of
gratitude for the success of the
spring crops. The 50 days were
counted; the English term, de-
rived from the Greek, is Pente-
cost, which means 50.
Tradition tells that the ancient
Jews counted hopefully each day
that brought them closer to the
moment when they were to be
lifted up to the spiritual heights
of the Torah. The counting of
these days was regarded as
preparation for the great event
of receiving the Torah.
Shavuot thus celebrates not
only the reaping of the spring
Richard C. Hertz is distinguished
professor of Jewish studies at
the University of Detroit-Mercy.
harvest; but, more importantly,
it emphasizes the spiritual
growth of the religious heritage
of Judaism. The giving of the law
and the Ten Commandments
read in the synagogue recalls the
ripening of the first fruits of free-
dom and the beginning of Israel
functioning as a light bearer to
mankind.
The Torah says that lightning
and thunder accompanied the
revelation at Sinai. Maybe these
were symbols of the illumination
and the message which Judaism
was to bring to the world, the
message of justice and brother-
hood.
The rabbis of the Talmud em-
phasized that our forefathers be-
came one people, a free and
dedicated people, only when they
recited their pledge, 'We shall do
and we shall hearken." Only then
were they free, for freedom can
be had only within the law.
The rabbis stressed that every
Jew, even the generations yet un-
born, personally accepted the
Torah at Mount Sinai.
Because of this historic back-
ground, Shavuot has been desig-
nated in many Reform and
Conservative congregations at
the time for confirmation exer-
cises. The ancient covenant be-
tween God and Israel is renewed,
especially at Shavuot as children
listen to the Decalogue read.
They re-affirm their loyalty to the
faith of our fathers. The young
people rededicate themselves as
they complete their basic reli-
gious school education and their
understanding of basic Judaism
and its teachings.
Shavuot becomes an act of
rededication to the Torah — "a
tree of life to those who hold onto
it" — and those who uphold it will
find themselves enriched. ❑