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Shavuot is the day when the Torah was given to the Jewish people by God, so the festival is also the festival of receiving of
the Torah. The Hebrew meaning of the work Shavuot is "weeks", because Shavuot marks the completion of the seven weeks between
Passover and Shavuot, which is called the Omer period, during which the people of Israel prepared themselves for the giving
of the Torah. During this time they cleansed themselves of the scars of slavery in Egypt, and became a holy nation ready to
enter into the eternal covenant with God with the giving of the Torah. Shavuot also means "oaths", with the giving of the
Torah, the Jewish people and God exchanged oaths, forming an everlasting covenant, not to forsake one another. Shavuot is the
second of the three major festivals (Passover being the first and Sukkot the third) and comes exactly fifty days after
Passover. The Torah was given by G-d to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai over 3,300 years ago. Every year on this day we
renew our acceptance of G-d's gift. The word Shavuot means "weeks": It marks the completion of the seven weeks between
Passover and Shavuot (the 'Omer' period) during which the Jewish people prepared themselves for the giving of the Torah.
During this time they cleansed themselves of the scars of slavery and became a holy nation ready to enter into an eternal
covenant with G-d with the giving of the Torah. Shavuot also means "oaths", with the giving of the Torah, the Jewish people
and G-d exchanged oaths, forming an everlasting covenant, not to forsake one another.
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The Torah is composed of two parts: the Written Law and the Oral Law. The written Torah contains the Five Books of Moses, the
Prophets and the Writings. Together with the Written Torah, Moses was also given the Oral Law which explains and clarifies
the Written law. It was transmitted orally from generation to generation and eventually transcribed in the Talmud and
Midrash. The word 'Torah' means instruction or guide. The word 'mitzvah' means both commandment and connection. There are 613
commandments. The positive commandments ('do'), numbering 248, are equivalent to the number of organs in the human body. The
365 negative commandments ('don't do') are equivalent to the number of blood vessels in the human body. Through the study of
Torah and fulfillment of mitzvahs we connect ourselves and our environment to G-d. G-d's purpose in creating the world is
that we sanctify all of creation, imbuing it with holiness and spirituality. |
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Shavuot in the Torah :
The Observance of Shavuot is mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy:
9. Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put
the sickle to the corn.
10. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand,
which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee:
11. and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy
maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among
you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
12. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
~ Deuteronomy 16:9-12. |
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The giving of the Torah was a far-reaching spiritual event - one that touched the essence of the Jewish soul then and for all
time. Our Sages have compared it to a wedding between G-d and the Jewish people. One of the many names of Shavuot is the Day
of the Great Oath, (the word shavuah also means oath). On this day G-d swore eternal devotion to us, and we in turn pledged
everlasting loyalty to Him. On this day we received a gift (matan) from Above which we could not have achieved with our own
limited faculties. We received the ability to reach and touch the Divine; not only to be cultivated human beings, but Divine
human beings who are capable of rising above and beyond the limitations of nature. |
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Why the Torah wasn’t given in Israel!
The Torah was given freely, in an ownerless public place. If it had been given in the land of Israel, the nations of
the world would say that they have no portion in it. Anyone who wishes to properly accept it is welcome to do so. Why was
Mount Sinai chosen to be the site for the giving of the Torah? The conventional answer is that the choice of Mount Sinai was
to teach us humility, since Mount Sinai was the most humble of all mountains. If so, why was it not given in a low lying
valley? Surely, that would have been a stronger lesson in humility? Hence, we learn that a Jew must be able to distinguish
between being proud and being arrogant. Arrogance is distasteful. Being proud of one's roots is a virtue. The Torah
therefore, was given on a humble mountain. |
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The Role of the Children in receiving the Torah :
Our Sages said that before G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people, He demanded guarantors. The Jews made a number of
suggestions, all rejected by G-d, until they declared, "Our children will be our guarantors that the Jewish people will
cherish and observe the Torah"; G-d immedately accepted them and agreed to give the Torah. When the Torah is read in the
synagogue on Shavuot, G-d is actually giving the Torah anew. Therefore every Jewish man, woman and especially children should
make every effort to be present in a synagogue on Friday June 2, 2006, as the Ten Commandments are read from the Torah. |
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Date of the giving of the Torah :
Within the Jewish tradition, the exact day on which the Torah was given is in dispute. Most of the classical rabbis
say it was given on the 6th of Sivan; according to R. Jose it was the 7th of that month. The classical rabbinic literature
holds that the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai on the new moon (Ex. xix. 1), and that the Ten Commandments were
given on the following Saturday. The question whether the new-moon day fell on Sunday or Monday is undecided (Talmud,
tractate Shabbat 86b).
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