Parshas Bamidbar - Chag HaShavuos 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- May 29
- 2 min read
כי לבעבור נסות אתכם בא האלקים ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם לבלתי תחטאו (שמות כ-יז)
Throughout davening on Shavuos we declare that Shavuos is זמן מתן תורתנו, the time that Hashem gave us the Torah. Now, this seems difficult: Why do we celebrate Shavuos as זמן מתן תורתנו, if after the חטא העגל we lost the luchos, and the “Matan Torah” of Shavuos was in effect בטול? We should really celebrate Matan Torah on Yom Kippur, when we received the second luchos permanently! Why do we still celebrate Shavuos as זמן מתן תורתנו?
Says R’ Asher David May shlita, the posuk states that the whole tachlis of Matan Torah was so that through the awesome display of "קולות וברקים וקול שופר חזק מאד" we should be inspired to great heights in yiras shamayim - "כי לבעבור נסות אתכם בא האלהים ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם לבלתי תחטאו". The יראה that they received then by Matan Torah remained indelibly etched upon our souls. It is that aspect of Matan Torah that we celebrate on Shavuos. Indeed, the Tur writes that Shavuos corresponds to Yitzchok Avinu. Now, that seems strange; wouldn’t such a Yom Tov be more connected to Yaakov, the consummate איש תם יושב אהלים? The answer is as above, that Shavuos is not about the Torah that we received per-se, so much as the יראת שמים that we got then. Hence, it certainly corresponds to Yitzchok, the עמוד היראה.
In truth, however, this yirah is not something unconnected to Torah. The Maharal zt”l asks, why is it that Hashem had to hold Har Sinai over the Jewish people’s heads and force them to accept the Torah, when they had already said נעשה ונשמע? He answers that Hashem was teaching them that Torah does not depend on their current desire to learn and observe it. Torah must be learned with yirah, with the recognition that even if right now I am not in the mood and don’t enjoy my learning, I must learn anyhow, as that is what Hashem commands me to do, period! That is the giluy of yirah we got at Matan Torah.
The Aibeshter should bentch us that we should come to קבלת התורה with a firm commitment to rededicate ourselves to למוד התורה and through that, yes, to come to love Torah, too!