Bamidbar 5784: A Holiday to Remember! - Aish.com (2024)

GOOD MORNING! If there was ever a contest for a Jewish holiday that didn’t get the proper respect it deserved, the upcoming holiday of Shavuot would certainly be prominently featured. This “Rodney Dangerfield” of Jewish holidays is actually one of the most significant days on the Jewish calendar, for it commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people. This is the anniversary and celebration of the day the Jewish people heard the Ten Commandments as they were camped by Mount Sinai 3,332 years ago.

This year, the holiday of Shavuot begins on Tuesday evening, June 11th. In Israel, Shavuot is a one-day holiday, while in the diaspora it’s celebrated for two days. Shavuot has the same holiness as the more well-known holidays of Passover and Sukkot, and is marked by festive holiday meals and the custom of all-night Torah study sessions, followed by holiday prayer services including Yizkor (memorial service for relatives who passed) on Thursday, June 13th. (If, for whatever reason, you are unable to go to synagogue you can arrange to have someone participate in the Yizkor service on your behalf by going to https://go.talmudicu.edu/e/983191/yizkor-/k25y3/739922918/h/WGi9WqIlzCgUxWqRzk-1W71eiStSOnZ3Rg94o6XQFAc).

Undoubtedly, one of the reasons that Shavuot is lesser known is that there are no specific mitzvot – commandments – associated with the day. All other holidays have associated mitzvot that give the holiday a unique identity: Blowing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, fasting on Yom Kippur, eating in outdoor temporary structures on Sukkot, and only eating matzah (nothing leavened) on Passover. These acts give each holiday a special identity. Yet we don’t have any specific mitzvah associated with Shavuot. Why not?

A marriage proposal is more than just a special occasion in the arc of a couple’s relationship. It marks a quantum leap in their commitment to one another. It’s not merely a pledge of lifelong fidelity; it’s an articulation of desiring to merge identities and build a future together as a single entity with a shared vision. It’s such a momentous event that even complete strangers who are present at a marriage proposal celebrate the moment together with the couple. The wedding that follows is each party’s formalization of that pledge to one another.

In this way, Shavuot too represents a quantum leap in the relationship between the Almighty and the Jewish people. Prior to receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai (and similar to a man presenting a ring to his intended), the Almighty instructed Moses to ask the Jewish people if they will accept His Torah. Their response? “And all the people answered together, and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ And Moses relayed the response of the people to the Lord” (Exodus 19:8).

This wasn’t merely a question of whether or not the Jewish people would follow the will of the Almighty. After all, the nations of the world are obligated to observe the seven Noahide laws as ordained by the Almighty. This question was similar to a marriage proposal, were we ready to pledge to merge our identities with that of the Almighty – to be His people? Their answer? The Jewish people said, “YES!”

According to our tradition, at Mount Sinai the Jewish people asked that God Himself speak to them. Therefore, the first two of the Ten Commandments were actually spoken by God, and thus He introduced Himself to the Jewish nation. That is why the first of the Ten Commandments reads, “I am Hashem, your God, who took you out of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2).

Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, who lived approximately eight hundred years ago, asked a fascinating question in his landmark work on Jewish philosophy known as the Kuzari: Why does God merely introduce Himself as the one who took the Jewish people out of Egypt? A far more impressive accomplishment (and a compelling reason to accept His dominion and law) is that He is the Creator of the world!

The reason that God introduced Himself as the one who redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and not as the Creator is because God was not trying to express His power and impressive resume as a reason to follow His law. Rather, He was conveying to the Jewish people that He loved and cared for them and that is why He took them out of Egypt.

Similarly, giving them the Torah was an act of a love relationship. Following the Torah as a guide for their lives would lead them to have better and more meaningful lives. This is why the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai is described by our sages as a marriage between God and the Jewish people. This is also why, according to our sages, the Jewish people demanded to hear God’s voice. A relationship is about communication.

In Jewish law, any contractual relationship may be cemented without either party verbalizing a commitment; as long as there is a meeting of the minds, there is no need for either party to utter a word. But marriage is different. In order for a marriage to take effect, a verbal statement must be made. A marriage relationship transcends contractual and fiscal obligations.

The reason for this is that marriage is an emotional bond between two people and a union of their respective essences. Hearing another party’s voice is a means of getting to know them and an indispensable requirement for forming an emotional bond – think about how you feel when you hear a loved one’s voice after a long absence. This is why speech is a crucial criterion for a marriage ceremony and why marriage is the only partnership in Jewish law that requires a spoken communication to be valid (“You are hereby betrothed to me”).

Because this holiday is about celebrating the marriage relationship with the Almighty there are no specific mitzvot on this holiday. Shavuot does not commemorate the fact that we became God’s servants and assumed the obligation to observe His commandments. Rather, we celebrate the fact that God chose to establish an even more expansive relationship with us, not only defining us as His servants but elevating us to the status of His betrothed, as it were. This bond transcends ritual laws and observances, and therefore it would not be fitting to celebrate it with a specific ritual.

This holiday isn’t about what we have to do for God; it’s about reveling in our relationship. In fact, the Talmud writes that everyone is in agreement that the holiday of Shavuos is to be celebrated by eating and drinking. This is the party celebrating the union of God and His nation, with the Torah as the vehicle for the betrothal. Most importantly, as Shavuot is the celebration of the Jewish people receiving the Torah, it is a time of rededication and commitment to learning Torah.

On Shavuot, there is a custom to stay up all night learning Torah. Virtually every synagogue schedules Torah learning throughout the night. The reason being that the morning the Jewish people were to receive the Torah on Mount Sinai they overslept and showed up late. We can now rectify the tendency to give in to our desires by demonstrating our resolve through learning the whole night. This is also a meaningful experience you can share with your children.

Torah is the lifeblood of the Jewish people. But one cannot love what he does not know, and without knowledge there is no commitment. Thus, our enemies have always known that when we Jews stop learning Torah complete assimilation is sure to follow. It is, in fact, inevitable. A Jew is commanded to learn Torah every day and to teach it to his children. If a couple wants their family to be Jewish and their children to marry other Jews, then they must integrate a Torah study program into their lives and implement the teachings into their home. You can tell your children anything, but only if they see their parents learning Torah and doing mitzvot will they inherit the love for being Jewish.

How can we utilize this opportunity to grow and strengthen our self-identity as Jews? Just as a baby crawls, toddles, and then walks, likewise we can build mitzvot. A person should undertake one more mitzvah, do it well, and then add to it. Here are a few suggestions:

• Read the Torah! The Almighty gave it to all of us as a gift. It is the instruction manual for living – how to be happy, choose the right spouse, make your marriage work, raise your children with values, get more joy out of life (I highly recommend The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan).
• Read a few pages of Pirkei Avot – Ethics of the Fathers a day. It’s basically concentrated wisdom about life!
• Commit to Torah classes! Today there is a wealth of free Torah classes available online. Rabbi Asher Resnick has an excellent site called www.jewishclarity.com. You can also check out aish.com.

Please, take the opportunity of this holiday to reflect upon the importance of Torah study to the many generations that preceded us and why it is crucial to the survival of succeeding generations as proud Jews. Commit to make Torah study an indispensable part of your day. We all must do our part to ensure the continuity of the bond between God and His betrothed – the Jewish people.

Bamidbar, Numbers 1:1 - 4:20

In the second year of travel in the desert, Moses and Aaron were commanded by the Almighty to count all male Israelites between 20 and 60. There were 603,550 available for military service. The tribe of Levi was exempt because of their special duties as religious leaders. (It is probably from here that countries give divinity deferments to clergy and divinity students.)

The twelve tribes were directed regarding the formation (three tribes were on each side of the Portable Sanctuary) in which they were to camp and travel.

The 22,300 Levites were commanded in the Sanctuary service. The family of Gershon was to transport the coverings of the Sanctuary. The family of Kehos carried the Ark, Table, Menorah, and Altars. The family of Merari transported the boards, pillars, bolts, and sockets.