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From: 	 heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Sent: 	 Wednesday, June 11, 1997 1:14 AM
To: 	 Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup
Subject: Shavuot - Part I



From	  Nehemiah Trustees Covenant Fund
To:	  Torah Lovers
Subject:  Shavuot - Part I

Shalom and Hag Shavu'ot Samay'ach (Happy Pentecost)!

As promised, here are the answers to the Shavu'ot quiz released a few
days ago. Enjoy the reading... its long... and enjoy the day off, if
you can get away with it.

=====================================================================
1. Why is Shavu'ot celebrated, and what are the most common traditions
associated with it?
=====================================================================

Shavu'ot (also called "Weeks," or "Pentecost," amongst other Bible
nicknames) is the last of the spring feasts, celebrated as one of the
three pilgrim festivals (in Hebrew "shalosh regalim"), and was
primarily an agricultural holiday connected with the peak of the new
wheat & barley crop. After the crop was harvested, a portion was
brought to Yerushali'im and offered along with special sacrifices of
thanksgiving at the Temple.

The Torah (Shm'ot [Exodus] 23:16) refers to Shavu'ot as Hag HaKatsir
(the feast of the harvest) and is observed by offereings of the best
ripe produce of the fields. D'varim (Deut) 16:12 gives the reason for
its obersvance, "you shall remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and
follow carefully these decrees."

The holiday also bids us to share what we have, in keeping with the
Torah commands to feed the stranger, the orphan, the widow and other
poor and unfortunate people within the redeemed community. It also
serves as a conclusion to Pesach which began 7 weeks prior. Milk dishes
are customary foods, symbolizing the Torah which is lilkened to milk,
according to an allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs.

The Talmud identifies Shavu'ot with the anniversary of the giving of
the Ten Commandments. The sages, following the biblical account,
calculated that the dates of this festival coinside with the events at
Har Sinai recorded in Shm'ot.

In synagogues, it is customary to read Megilat Rut (the book of Ruth)
whose setting also takes place in spring and at harvest time. One of
the central messages of Shavu'ot, that of voluntarily taking upon
oneself the instructions of G-d (Torah) is shared in the story of Rut
who expressed her loyalty to the Torah and to the Jewish people by
freely embracing both. Rut was the ancestor of King David, and
according to the Talmud, David was born and died on Shavu'ot.

An additional custom connected with the holiday is that of spending the
night before Shavu'ot in prayer and study so as to be prepared
spiritually for the commemoration of the giving of the Torah.
Kabbalists (students of Jewish mystical literature) were the first to
introduce this practice. They reasoned that at Har Sinai, thunder and
lightening kept bnei Israel (the children of Israel) awake during the
time Moshe was on the mountain awaiting to receive the Torah. In
adapting this to modern times, the giving of the Torah was, for all
intents, the wedding of the redeemed community to their G-d, and so it
only fitting that we should be engaged in preparing the ornaments of
the bride the previous night.

But there is a deeper reason that we don't sleep on the night of
Shavu'ot.

Sleep is the taste of death. If fact, the Talmud tells us that sleep is
1/60th part of death. Similarly, Shabbat is a "taste" of life, better
know as "the World-to-Come."  It is precisely 1/60th of the
World-to-Come.

Since Shavu'ot is both the anniversary of the giving of the Torah and
the end of King David's life, we stay awake all night and immerse
ourselves in the study of Torah because breathes life into Man.

But when the Mashiach, the scion of King David, arrives to herald the
era of the resurrection of the dead, he will use the Torah, the dew of
life, which will be the mechanism to awaken the body from its long
sleep.

Then we will finally understand the words we have sung for so long:

"David, Melech Yisrael, chai v'kayam!"
"David, king of Israel, lives and exists!"


=====================================================================
2. According to tradition, in the desert at Sinai, bnei Israel (the
Children of Israel) had the the Torah delivered to them on engraved
Tablets on stone on Shavu'ot. Why did G-d choose this particular timing?
=====================================================================

G-d choose to deliver the Torah at Har Sinai, 50 days after Pesach in
order to communicate with us the deeper significance of our
relationship with him as His chosen vessels of light to the rest of the
world. Its such a pity that much of the church today has ignored the
very contract which separates us out and sancifies us for such a high
calling to bring light to the nations.

As I previously mentioned, Shavu'ot literally means "weeks." Weeks
suggests the interim period of waiting or preparing, which rather than
describing its uniqueness, points to a period which leads up to it,
namely the period of 50 days from Pesach to Shavu'ot.

In other words, Pesach needs Shavu'ot. Pesach, you see, is not really a
festival celebrating freedom. The first seder took place in Mitzai'im
(Egypt), when we were still subjugated by the Egyptians and even before
the 10th plaque had occured. Pesach is merely the promise of freedom.
And even after the Jews left Mitzrai'im, it was only an exodus into the
desert, which in reality turned out to be jumping out of the frying pan
and into the fire.

The real festival of freedom did not come until Shavu'ot, when bnei
Israel would stand before G-d on their wedding day, complete with a
canopy (Har Sinai), a ketubah (marriage contract), i.e. the Torah, and
stipulations of the covenant which included a homeland and a Holy
Temple which would serve to maintain the covenant.

Even from a spiritual vantage point, although Pesach is when G-d
wrought great miracles for the Jewish people, demonstrating His love
and concern, He did not yet completely reveal how it was that we should
serve Him. It was not until we received the Torah on Shavu'ot, that
spiritual liberation became a reality, for freedom is impossible
without the Torah.

Thus, Shavu'ot is the culmination of time between redemption promised
and redemption realized.

Pesach is when G-d promised to marry us; Shavu'ot is the marriage
itself. The seven weeks in between, are like the 7 crucial days that a
bride-to-be counts in preparation for her wedding, during which she
purifies and readies herself. There can be no achievement of a goal
without such preparation. It requires t'shuva or repentance -- a
willingness to turn to G-d, otherwise the redemption is but an elusive
dream. "Weeks" is a name that speaks of the road which must be traveled
which is the prerequisite for the accomplishment of our goal. The real
test lies in our willingness and ability to count and prepare for the
G-d of redemption, and to expect His power, as a gift in the form of
His Spirit, which will enable us to reach that goal.

Now regarding why G-d choose to engrave His commands on tablets of
stone, the rabbis deduced long ago that there are two kinds of letters.
Letters which are written, and letters which are engraved. The
difference is that written letters which are ultimately separate from
what they are written on. They are not one with the paper or the
parchment. The letters are of ink and they adhere to the paper, and
then are they one.

However, when letters are engraved, the letters themselves are from the
same medium as that on which they are written.  There is no distinction
between what is written and on what it is written.  The letters are not
something external, separate entities, rather they emanate from the
stone itself.

The Torah was given in the form of engraved tablets to teach us that we
should relate to it not as separate from ourselves, but rather as
indivisible and identical. The words of the Torah will one day be
engraved in the very fabric of our heart, not merely embroidered there,
as they are today, where they often fade or fray. They must penetrate
to the deepest and innermost chambers of our identity, and in fact
according to the prophets, will soon permanently. The word in Hebrew
for "engraving" is from the same root as the word for a decree that
surpasses human understanding - chok. Our attitude to the entire Torah
should be the same as to a chok.  Even though we don't understand the
chok, we still do it because it is the Will of our Father in Heaven.
With this same attitude we should work out our salvation with fear and
trembling -- for no other reason than the fact that they will someday
be engraved on the tablets of our hearts as decrees of the King of
kings.


=====================================================================
3. In Acts 2, it is recorded that tongues of fire were seen resting on
the heads of the Talmidim. What did this remind them of, and how does
it relate to the holiday of Shavu'ot?
=====================================================================

>From a Jewish point of view, which was the point of view most commonly
held in the days of the Talmidim (disciples), the events of Acts 2 echo
what occurred on Har (Mt.) Sinai, some 1400 years earlier. But, it
wasn't only a "repeat performance," it was a sequel -- "Mt. Sinai II,"
if you will, and for the Talmidim, the experience was far better than
watching a re-make of Star Wars!

Take a look at verse 3...

3 "And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing
themselves, and they rested on each one of them."

>From these two mountains, Har Sinai, and Har Tzion, the Lord of all the
earth played out, as if from two grand stages, Israel's greatest
revelations. From one mountain, the Law, our beloved Torah, the very
instruction of G-d was revealed in booming voices that made Israel
tremble. From the other mountain (Tzion), languages of every region
made Israel wonder, as the Spirit of the Holy One, blessed be He, was
given to enable us to keep those instructions.

Shavu'ot was orginally marked as one of the feasts in which Jews were
commanded to come up to Yerushali'im and worship in the Temple, but, as
mentioned before, the most significant element was the commemoration of
the giving of Torah on Har Sinai. The dates mentioned in Shm'ot
(Exodus) reveal that Torah was given on Har Sinai fifty days after
Israel had left Egypt. The instructions, therefore, that Yeshua left
for the Apostles to wait at Har Tzion for the Spirit were not
arbitrary, but part of G-d's larger plan to fulfill prophecy. It was
designed so that the Apostles and all those who were present in the
Temple Court that day would recognize this magnificent re-enactment of
the giving of Torah on Har Sinai.

"When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet
and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear." (Shm'ot 20:18).

In Hebrew, the "thunder and lightning" in this passage literally reads
"voices and torches." But when the Greek translation of the Torah was
completed in the 3rd century BCE, "voices" was translated "thunders",
because voices are normally heard rather than seen, and "torches" was
translated "lightnings" probably because lightning seems more dramatic.

The other thing that is interesting to note in the text is that in
Hebrew, the word "voices" is plural. "G-d is one", the Rabbis
contended. "How then can He have more than one voice?" One rabbinical
source describes their understanding of the event -- "They (the voices)
were heard by each man according to his capacity, as it it said, 'The
voice of the Lord was heard according to strength.' (Ps 29:4)". What
the people heard was one G-d, but many voices. This means that everyone
heard the Torah in a way that they could understand it, even though
they were a "mixed multitude" (Shm'ot 12:38). Contrast this to when men
gathered to build the tower of Bavel, without a word from the Lord.
Then, they also heard many voices, but they did not understand, because
the voices were their own, and were brought forth in confused languages.

Now, back in Acts 2, we have:

"And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves,
and they rested on each one of them."

The term "tongues as of fire" is very similar to the "torches" that the
people saw at Har Sinai. What does this show us? Well, for one thing,
it shows us the marvelous way in which G-d repeated the phenomena of
Har Sinai in such a way that the people who looked upon it, would
immediately make a connection to their past and to all that their
ancestors saw (voices and torches) when the Torah was given, even as we
were commanded and accustomed to personalizing the story of our
rememption. "On that day tell your son, `I do this because of what the
LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' (Shm'ot 8:13).

In other words, the events in Acts were not just some unassociated
miracles without rhyme or reason. When you put all of this together,
you come to an very exciting conclusion, and its the very same
conclusion that Peter arrived at. "These men are not drunk, as you
suppose.... No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Yo'el." (Acts
2:15ff). What did Yo'el prophesy about?

Amongst other things, Yo'el said that that the Lord is going to do
something very special in one location -- Har Tzion. "And everyone who
calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Har Tzion and in
Yerushali'im there will be deliverance..." (Yo'el 2:32). So we know
that the pouring out of the Spirit is related to Har Tzion. But if we
can connect Har Tzion to Har Sinai, we will have come full circle. And
the key to this is found in Yishaiyahu (Isaiah) 2:2-3:

"In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and
all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come,
let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the G-d of
Ya'acov. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths."
The Law will go out from Tzion, the word of the LORD from Yerushali'im."

So Har Tzion would become the spiritual capital and center of knowledge
where the Remnant would gather for two reasons:

1. It would be the place where the Spirit would be poured out.
2. It would be the place from which the Torah would go forth.

This embodies the Messianic Vision. In place of Har Sinai, the Torah
now comes forth from Tzion. And in this second giving of the Torah of
G-d, this time, its written upon the hearts of men, instead of upon
tablets of stone, by means of the Spirit of the Holy One, blessed be
He. Yehezk'el (Ezekiel) 39:29 further implies that this New Covenant
will be a revelation of the face of G-d.

Acts 2 then, is a neon sign, announcing the beginning of the Messianic
Age. All of the markers that were present at the giving of the Torah,
are present at the giving of the Spirit, by whose power we are able to
appropriate the Torah.

* A "mixed multitude" who came to worship the G-d of Israel

* Voices and torches that were seen (and heard)

* A sign of 3000. 3000 died when they rejected the Torah at Har Sinai.
3000 lived when they accepted the Torah through the Spirit on Har Tzion.

* Everyone heard in their own language, "speaking of the mighty deeds
of G-d." in a way which he could understand.

Is it, therefore, any wonder why G-d choose Shavu'ot as an everlasting
feast to the people of G-d, attesting to His faithfulness to call out
and redeem a people to himself, and to do so twice, so that there would
be no mistake in the interpretation?

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