June 9, 2005
ALWAYS PERSEVERING:
Shavuos: A view from the mountain (Rabbi Yonason Goldson, 6/08/05, Jewish World Review)
On the sixth day of the Jewish month of Sivan, Jews around the world will celebrate the revelation at Sinai, 3,317 years ago, when the Almighty gave us the Torah. It was the Torah that provided the moral and legal foundation that has enabled the Jewish people to build a nation devoted to spiritual ideals, a nation that endured for nearly 1,500 years in its land and nearly two thousand years scattered across the globe. It was the Torah that introduced the concepts of peace, of charity, of justice, and of collective responsibility to a world that knew no value other than "might makes right." It was the Torah that formed the basis of Christianity and Islam, spreading monotheism throughout the world and fashioning the attitudes of modern progressivism.It all began on that mountain called Sinai, and from that point on the Jewish people have labored to climb the mountain of morality and virtue, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, sometimes wondering whether our efforts are worthwhile, but always persevering in our mission to attain the summit of spiritual and moral perfection.
Had our mission demanded completion within a single generation we would never have held out hope of success. But every generation climbs a little higher, building on the accomplishments of their fathers and grandfathers, fighting for every handhold, struggling for every foothold, occasionally slipping back but never surrendering.
The mission that defines us as a people began 33 centuries ago, it continues today as we recommit ourselves to the study and observance of Torah, and we celebrate it this year as every year on the holiday of Shavuos.
Happy Shavous. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 9, 2005 9:42 AM
Thanks, and much joy, older brothers.
Posted by: Luciferous at June 9, 2005 10:08 AMWeeks!
Posted by: obc at June 9, 2005 12:37 PMYou had me going. The services at my shul are scheduled for Sunday Evening. I checked and today (Thursday June 9, 2005 C.E.) is Sivan 2, 5765 in the Hebrew calendar. Sivan 6, the day of Shavuot, is Monday, June 13, and erev Shavuot (which is the commencement of the Festival) is indeed, Sunday evening.
A couple of notes.
The author above used the transliteration shavuos while I used shavuot. The former transliterates the ashkenazic (European) pronuciation. The later transliterates the Israeli pronunciation, which is now regarded as the standard by most American Jews.
Shavuot means seven weeks. It comes from Dt. 16:9
"9 You shall count off seven weeks; start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. 10 Then you shall observe the Feast of Weeks for the Lord your God, offering your freewill contribution according as the Lord your God has blessed you. 11 You shall rejoice before the Lord your God with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite in your communities, and the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your midst, at the place where the Lord your God will choose to establish His name. 12 Bear in mind that you were slaves in Egypt, and take care to obey these laws."
In time, "when the sickle is first put to the standing grain," was turned into seven weeks after the beginning of Passover. That association tied the date of the holiday to Sivan 6. The association of Shavuot with the Ten Commandments began after the destruction of the Temple, when the agricultural rites and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem could no longer be observed.
Exodus Chapter 19 says: "1 On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone forth from the land of Egypt, on that very day, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. 2 Having journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain, 3 and Moses went up to God."
The rabinic commentators read this passage as "in the third month of the exodus." (the order of the months is Nisan, Iyyar, and Sivan.) And they associated shavuot with the giving of the ten commandments Ex, 20.
Since Shavuot is the 50th day after the passover, it was also called the Pentecost. Christians thus associated it with Acts 2.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at June 9, 2005 5:16 PM