Community

Torah Portion

Heeding Torah In Everyday Life
Creates A Tear-Round' Shavout

al, is commanded instead (Leviticus
24:22): "And when you reap the har-
vest of your land do not deplete the
corners of your field when you harvest
and the gleanings of your harvest do
not gather; to the poor and to the
stranger leave them; I am the Lord
Your God."
This verse, at first glance, seems out
n this Shabbat, we celebrate
of context. But if we think about it, we
the biblical festival of
see the profundity of the Torah. The
Shavuot. Although the vers-
Torah, in my opinion, is telling us that
es in the Torah do not
one day a year cannot commemorate
explicitly identify Shavuot with the
the giving and receiving of the Torah
pronouncement of the Ten
without trivializing it. The only true
Commandments at Mount
commemoration or celebra-
Sinai, tradition has defined
tion for the Torah is its
the day as z'man matan
observance — and only the
Torateynu
the time of the
continual observance of the
giving of our Torah.
Torah in its totality every
Shavuot is seen as the
day of the year.
anniversary of God's com-
To present a particular
manding the Jewish People
act•for a particular day
to keep the Ten
would give the wrong
Commandments as a model
impression as to what kab-
and precursor of the entire
balat haTorah
the accep-
RABB I ELIEZER tance of the Torah — is all
Torah and of the nation's
C OHEN
acceptance of God's Torah.
about. Acceptance of the
It is somewhat ironic that
Spe cial to the
Torah is a fulltime, all-time,
this festival, celebrating the
Jew ish News
all-encompassing, continual
very covenant that manifests
duty And this is exactly
our relationship with the
what the Torah is telling us.
divine and the very identity of the
. The • farmer in his most mundane
Jewish People as God's own, has
work celebrates the Torah by observ-
become the proverbial "stepchild" of
ing its commandments in his very
the festivals. Each of the other holi-
occupation. And it is particularly
days we celebrate has its own rituals
enlightening that the obligation
and rules to give it its own identity
selected by the Torah to represent this
and flavor.
idea is one that relates to the proper
There are, of course, some customs
concern for the poor and the stranger.
particular to Shavuot that have devel-
This, the Torah is telling us, is the
oped, but these are of rather late vin-
very crux of Torah observance: To
tage with unclear origin and certainly
demonstrate in our everyday lives our
eating cheesecake does not define nor
concern for the disadvantaged and the
illuminate the nature of the day. And,
different in very concrete and practi-
it seems, because Shavuot lacks its
cal terms. The Torah commands us to
own special mitzvot, its observance is
create a just, benevolent and noble
certainly not as popular and wide-
society — each one of us in our nor-
spread as is the observance of the
mal, everyday pursuits.
other holidays.
Such a society and such behavior is
If we look at the verses in the
truly the only possible celebration of
Torah that delineate the holidays and
kabbalat haTorah — anything less is
the particular mitzvot and rituals of
really a desecration of the divine
each, there seems to be a very strange
imperative inherent in the Torah. II]
verse in reference to Shavuot. In the
verses of Leviticus 23:4-44 each holi-
day is named, together with its partic-
ular observances — that is, except for
Shavuot, which is identified especially
What ceremonies and rituals could
in conjunction with the concurrent
be practiced to celebrate Shavuot?
wheat harvest.
Why
are the poor and the stranger
Not only is there no particular rit-
singled
out in the verse? How do
ual commanded, but a command-
the
Ten
Commandments relate to
ment related to the harvest, in gener-
the rest of the Torah? Why is ritual
important?
Eliezer Cohen is rabbi at Congregation
Or Chadash.

Shabbat Shavout, Day 2:
Deut. 1519-16:17;
Numbers 28:26-31;
Habbakuk 2:20-3:19.

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