Towards the middle of פרשת אמור, the תורה discusses all of the מועדים. By all of them the תורה tells us exactly which month and which day that holiday will fall out. By פסח it says "בחדש הראשון בארבעה עשר יום לחדש וגו". By ראש השנה it says "בחדש השביעי באחד לחדש וגו". By יום כיפור it says "בשעשור לחדש השביעי וגו". By סוכות it says "בחמשה עשר יום בחדש השביעי וגו".
All holidays, that is, except for שבועות. By שבועות the תורה doesn’t give us an exact date of month and day, rather all it says is "וספרתם לכם ממחרת השבת וגו עד ממחרת השבת השביעית תספרו חמישים יום וגו". So the obvious question is why?
Rav Schlezinger answers as follows: The very first משנה in פרקי אבות says, "משה קיבל תורה מסיני ומסרה ליהושע ויהושע לזקנים וזקנים לנביאים ונביאים מסרוה לאנשי כנסת הגדולה."
The משנה is telling us of the many different days of "מתן תורה" that we’ve had throughout the generations. When יהושע got it from משה that was his "יום מתן תורה". When the זקנים received it from יהושע, that was their "יום מתן תורה". And so on until it keeps getting passed down, רבי to תלמיד, father to son.
We see from this that in every generation, and for that matter, every single day, there is a new "קבלת התורה". Therefore its impossible for us to establish the exact date of שבועות, which is "זמן מתן תורתנו", since in reality every single day of our lives is a new "יום מתו תורה".
With this idea Rav Schlezinger answers another question. Hashem commands us by פסח and to סוכות to be בשמחה, to celebrate the holiday with great joy. So why is it that for שבועות, the time of קבלת התורה, there is no ציווי in the תורה to be "לשמוח ביום"? Some want to answer based on the רמב"ם who says that the ימי ספירה are really חו"ל המועד between פסח and שבועות. So really שבועות is connected to the holiday of פסח and therefore the שמחה is also connected. But we can answer differently. By פסח and סוכות the נס was a one-time thing. We will never experience another event like יציאת מצרים and the protection of the עננע הכבוד in the מדבר. So when these holidays arrive, we celebrate with amazing שמחה as a commemoration to what happened. But שבועות is different. The שמחה of שבועות is of קבלת התורה and לימוד התורה. This שמחה isn’t a one-time event. It happens every day. Every day of our lives we should be למד בתורה and be שש ומתענג בה. Therefore Hashem didn’t command any extra שמחה on שבועות because in reality we have to feel this every day.
“Kafah Aleihem Har Kegigis”
The Har Sinai experience, that which we celebrate this coming Shavuos, is famously portrayed by the Gemara in Shabbos 88a. The Gemara states as follows: “And they stood afoot the mountain; R’ Avdimi bar Chama explained, that the Torah means to teach us that Hashem raised the mountain over the heads of B’nei Yisrael like a tub and said to them. ‘If you accept the Torah, it will be to your betterment. If not, there you shall be buried’ Our meforshim throughout the ages have all been bothered by this statement in the Gemara. Was the Torah truly given coercively? And if so, where is the element of free will involved with its acceptance?
R’ Meir HaKohen MiDvinsk, the Meshech Chochmah, explains as follows. In truth, there was no active coercion on Hashem’s part. The imagery of “kafah aleihem har ke’gigis” simply is used to describe a situation during which “[Hashem] showed to them His glory with such a clear openness to the point that they (B’nei Yisrael) lost their natural will…and it was as if they were like the ministering angles, as they fully recognized that all of creation is dependent on the Torah’s acceptance.” However, the Meshech Chochma’s question begs another question. We recite on Pesach night that “had Hashem brought us before Har Sinai without giving us the Torah it would have been enough.” But according to the Meshech Chochma’s explanation, this statement is quite puzzling. If B’nei Yisrael came to the realization that the world itself was dependent on the Torah’s acceptance, how could have the gathering at Har Sinai sufficed alone?
HaRav Baruch Dov Povarsky Shlit”a, current Rosh Yeshiva of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, explains as follows. There are in fact two distinct roles that Kabbalas HaTorah plays with respect to the sustenance of the world. The first facet involves the sustenance of the natural order and the billions of people who roam the Earth. The second facet, however, is distinctly related to Klal Yisrael and the role that the Jewish People play in G-d’s creation. Perhaps, the Kabbalah of “kafah aleihem har ke’gigis” is solely discussing the relationship between Kabbalas HaTorah and the Jewish People as will be explained below.
The Gemara in Kesubos 66b relates a powerful statement in the name of R’ Yochanan ben Zakkai: “Fortunate are you, O Israel! When you perform G-d’s will, the nations have no reign over you. And when you disobey G-d’s will, you are delivered into the lowest of nations.” This Gemara sounds puzzling at first, as it seems to imply that the Jewish People is fortunate for both its wonderful successes and dismal failures. What could be positive about being “delivered into the lowest of nations”? The Maharsha, in dealing with this question, advances the famous notion that while other nations are governed by a ministering angel or some secondary force, Klal Yisrael’s status is dependent on G-d’s unique hashgacha pratis. Accordingly, it is indeed a laudable fact that when we fall we fall all the way because our failure is simply indicative of a removal of G-d’s presence from the Jewish People. And from our failures we can see the true beauty of our successes which are only resultant from an intimate relationship with the Ribbono Shel Olam.
R’ Chaim Brisker Zt”l advanced the Maharsha’s idea one step further. In Jewish philosophy, there is a known distinction between four different categories of beings: The Stationary (“domem”), the Growing (“tzomeiach”), the Living (“chai”), and the Jewish People (“Yisrael”). What’s the relationship between “domem” and “tzomeiach”? Is “tzomeiach” simply a “domem-plus”, and fundamentally only slightly different than the “domem”? Or perhaps “tzomeiach” is fundamentally incomparable, as it belongs in its own separate category? R’ Chaim explained that the answer is truly obvious. If one were to sever a plant from its life source, the plant does not revert to the status of “domem”. The plant withers away into nothingness as it’s lifeblood has been cut off. This is true of the Jewish People as well. What the Gemara in Kesubos is telling us is that if we do G-d’s will and tap into our lifeblood which is the Torah and its commandments, then we are unchallengeable by any other nation just as the “tzomeiach” is an a fundamentally different category than the “domem”. And if G-d forbid we forsake the Torah and it’s ways, we wither away into nothingness, just like the plant without its roots.
With this in mind, R’ Povarsky explains that this was the Meshech Chochma’s intention. The necessity of “kafah aleihem har ke’gigis” was to show the Jewish People that its only source of life and sustenance is the Torah, just as was demonstrated above from the Gemara in Kesubos. By raising the spiritual awareness of the Jewish People to such a degree that they could no longer choose not to accept the Torah, Hashem was intimating that our only survival throughout the ages would be dependent on our commitment to tapping into the one true source of life. And this process was a work in progress, beginning with the inception of Klal Yisrael at Yetzias Mitzrayim and culminating with Ma’amad Har Sinai. Even as they stood afoot the mountain, Klal Yisrael had already attained a certain spiritual elevation and understanding of G-d’s will in the world.
Accordingly, the question we raised above is answered as well. What would have been the greatness of gathering at Har Sinai without accepting the Torah? The very fact that we had the privilege of climbing one more rung along the ladder of our relationship with Hashem was a tremendous thing in and of itself, and therefore it would behoove us to thank Hashem for it independently. However, it’s clear that once we attained this level of spirituality it was a natural consequence to accept the Torah and the yoke of Mitzvos.
R’ Povarsky points out that from this analysis it’s implied that our acceptance of Torah was not the catalyst which propelled us to such great heights. Rather, it was our accomplishments prior to accepting the Torah which caused us in a sense to accept the Torah upon ourselves coercively. Doesn’t this seem to be out of order? Why was it that our understanding of Hashem had to come before we accepted the Torah? R’ Povarsky answers that this message is exactly the point. In order to properly accept the Torah with authentic and meaningful mesirus nefesh, we must understand that it is our key to life and existence in the world we live in. The same applies to when we commit ourselves to learn Torah and fulfill the Mitzvos, as the Gemara in Shabbos 83b teaches us that “the Torah is not maintained only through one who is willing to die for it.” May it be Hashem’s will that this Shavuos we attain that understanding once again, and through clarity of purpose we accept Hashem’s Torah upon ourselves and all it entails.
