Chag HaShavuos 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- May 22
- 2 min read
יציב פתגם לאת ודגם ברבו רבבן עירין, עני אנא במנינא דפסלין ארבעה טורין ... (יום ב')
Shavuos is a time of deep spiritual aspiration. The Haftorah for both days of Yom Tov describe a manifestation of Hashem and His greatness. Shavuos is referred to as the celebration of revelation, connected to the giving of the Torah and Hashem’s appearance at Har Sinai. Yet the Torah itself never explicitly describes Shavuos this way; only תורה שבע"פ (Oral Law) does. In תורה שבכתב, Shavuos is presented as the time of the wheat harvest, which is why the קרבן שתי הלחם, the offering of fine wheat loaves, is brought. What, then, is the connection? Why do Chazal ascribe Shavuos to Matan Torah while the Torah aligns it with the wheat harvest?
R’ Tzadok HaKohen zt”l (Pri Tzaddik) writes that wheat represents the growth and elevation of a person. Just as a small wheat kernel can become a loaf of bread, so too a person has the inner ability to become great even if he is presently small in character. On Shavuos, the giving of the Torah elevates the world to the spiritual level that existed before the sin of Adam and Chava. R’ Chaim Volozhiner zt”l (Ruach Chaim) explains that a person should use Shavuos night to elevate himself to a higher status. Chazal teach in Pirkei Avos (6:1) that when a person learns Torah for its own sake, it prepares him to be righteous - "מכשרתו" - from the word "מכשיר" to Kasher. Just as we Kasher a pot by purging absorbed tastes, Torah study purges foreign ideas and experiences.
Shavuos is meant to purify us through Torah and recognition of Hashem’s greatness, elevating us to unimaginable levels.