The festival of Shavuot will be celebrated on Motzei Shabbat (Saturday Night), Sunday and Monday. It is one of the three major festivals that, in Temple times, would attract a fabulous pilgrimage of the Jewish nation to Jerusalem.
The Torah does not determine a specific date for the holiday of Shavuot. The counting of the Omer, begins on the second day of Passover and culminates seven weeks (49 days) later followed by the festival appropriately called “Shavuot” – weeks. Clearly, Pesach and Shavuot are one unit that share a common theme.
The liberation from Egyptian slavery accomplished the physical freedom of the Israelites and the revelation at Sinai provided our nation with moral, ethical and spiritual freedom. G-d gifted us the Torah to illuminate our lives and to enable us to achieve the purpose of existence.
On Shabbat we will begin to read the fourth book of the Torah – Bamidbar (Numbers). The opening narrative of the Parsha is the command to count the nation. The final tally of men between the ages of 20 and 60 reached 603,550. Our sages have stated – had one Jew been missing at Sinai, we would have not received the Torah 3,328 years ago! Just as a Torah scroll is rendered invalid if only one letter is faded or cracked, so too the national acceptance of the Torah necessitated the participation of every Jew.
This is also understood from the fact that the Ten Commandments that G-d communicated at Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah), were articulated in singular tense – to emphasize the relevance of Torah to each individual. Yes, YOU matter!
Every year, the Revelation at Sinai is not merely commemorated – it occurs anew. The public reading of the Ten Commandments is a reenactment of this powerful event – and we all need to be there.
Join us in celebrating this special holiday. Torah Study and a festive dinner on Saturday night, Ten Commandments, Ice Cream Party and a festive Dairy Luncheon on Sunday and the recital of Yizkor on Monday. (See below for details). We look forward to celebrating together!
May we merit to joyously and meaningfully receive the Torah anew.