By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5TJT.com Shavuos is called Z’man Matan Toraseinu. Originally, this event occurred in the Hebrew year 2448 (3,332 years ago). Rav Dessler in his Michtav M’Eliyahu explains that time does not flow as a straight line, but rather as a circle. The day of Shavuos, which is the 6th of Sivan every year, is, therefore, the very day that we receive the Torah. Similarly, the Nesivos Shalom explains that just as the Torah is eternal, so too is Kabbalas HaTorah eternal. Each and every year there is a new Kabbalas HaTorah. In other words, Shavuos is not just a commemoration of our receiving the Torah; we are receiving it once again. Receiving the Torah is monumental. The entire essence of the nation of Israel is only for Torah (Sefer HaChinuch 273). The entire universe, heavens and earth, were only created for the sake of the Torah (ibid). Receiving the Torah, therefore, requires much preparation. Indeed, the Torah tells us in Parashas Yisro that we needed to prepare for three days: “Heyu nechonim l’shloshes yamim (Shmos 19:15).” One of the preparations that we make for receiving the Torah is that we learn Pirkei Avos on every Shabbos between Pesach and Shavuos. The Midrash Shmuel explains, “One who will be learning Torah must first know its method of study and how to treat Torah. Therefore, so that the heart of each member of K’lal Yisrael will be ready to accept Torah with a complete heart and to properly observe it, they enacted the learning of Pirkei Avos.” Let us also recall that Shavuos represents the zenith of our spiritual growth. When we left Mitzrayim we were on the lowest level of tumah, impurity. In a matter of 49 days we experienced record spiritual growth to the point where the nation of Israel was the greatest generation that ever lived. We should also be aware that there is no limit to the heights and growth we can accomplish in our ruchniyus, indeed in any mitzvah. This can be seen from a passage of the Targum Yonasan on Sefer Rus. Boaz tells Rus that he is aware of both how she came and joined the nation of Israel and also of all the chessed that she had performed with her mother-in-law. The Targum Yonasan explains that because these two things were said in the same breath, the two mitzvos were equal to each other. This is fascinating. Rus was a princess of Moav, a very powerful nation. It is remarkable that one of the top women in society would give it all up to become a lowly member of the Jewish nation who had to take tzedakah. Is this lofty mitzvah equal to the mere chessed that she does for her mother-in-law? The answer, according to Rav Henoch Leibowitz, zt’l, is that there is no spiritual limit to any mitzvah that we perform. If we do a chessed, any chessed, with the right intentions, it can be equal to the greatest of mitzvos. Preparing For Shavuos The Shla HaKadosh explains that Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan is a special time of preparation in terms of teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah. This may be based upon the Rashi in Parashas Yisro (19:1–2) that the nation of Israel did teshuvah on this day when […]
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