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Shavuot as Part of the 3 Regalim
By Jennifer Lazar, Yosepha, with the able assistance of Rabbi
Finkelstein
Coming up this week is the holiday of
Shavuot. Although not as well
known as Pesach or Succoth, it is a very important holiday since it
reminds us of how the Jewish people got the Torah at Mount Sinai. How
interesting that I am celebrating my becoming a bat mitzvah, a person of
commandments, on the week when all of the Jewish people became commanded
as a nation.
As we think about Shavuot, we need to see this holiday in connection
with all of the three pilgrimage holidays. The Pilgrimage
holidays
were those in which a Jew was supposed to go to Jerusalem each year.
Each year all of the people of the country would gather in Jerusalem to
feel close to G-d in the Holy Temple. It wasn't enough to go once a
year, but one had to go in the spring, summer, and fall for these three
holidays.
The Gherer (garer) Rebbee (Reh'- bee), known as the Sefas (Seh-fas)
Emes, said that the holidays kind of go together. One without the other
is not enough. After celebrating all three holidays, then and only then
was the Jew really inspired. Just like going to school every day has an
impact after a while, so too, going to the holy city of Jerusalem every
spring, summer, and fall, and again, spring summer and fall, had the
effect of changing the person and helping her grow.
What is the role of each of the Shalosh (shah-loshe) Regalim' the three
holidays of which we speak,? Pesach is the beginning of the history of
the nation of Israel. It was in Egypt that the Jews rediscovered G-d
through all the plagues and the splitting of the sea. In Egypt the Jews
had turned to idols. On Passover night, the Jews found G-d again. On
Pesach the Jews showed they believed in G-d by having the very first
Seder. Pesach reminds us of Avraham, the first Jew who discovered G-d.
Pesach is also parallel to childhood. The prophet Jeremiah recalls
the
loving way in which the Israelites followed G-d through the desert even
though they didn't know where they were going. "I remember the love
of
your youth," says G-d. Pesach is the time when the Jews felt the love
of
G-d and G-d felt that the Jews loved Him.
In between Pesach and Shavuot, which is where we find ourselves today,
we count from Pesach to Shavuot, from Exodus to Sinai, the next stop on
the way in the dessert. Today is the 45th day of the Omer, on our way to
Sinai. At Sinai, the Jews begin to hear the voice of G-d, which
commanded them to keep the Torah. At Sinai the Jews began to feel and
experience G-d. At Sinai, G-d's presence rested on the mountain and was
felt by all the people.
Sinai is similar to Isaac. Isaac felt that G-d was awesome. Isaac was
asked to be placed on the altar and almost lost his life for G-d. In the
same way, the Jews at Sinai trembled with fear when they heard the
magnificent voice of G-d, when they heard the thunder and saw the
lightning.
Sinai is also parallel to a bat mitzva. At Sinai the Jews received their
obligations and commandments. As a bat mitzvah, I too must hear the
voice of G-d from a long time ago and now I am supposed to keep the
commandments.
The final holiday is in the fall, and that's Succot (Soo-coat). This
holiday recalls how the Jews had the protection of G-d in the dessert as
they traveled for 40 years. G-d's presence, which they first encountered
at Shavuot, at Mt. Sinai, they now continue to experience in privacy of
their own Succot. Eventually, this presence of G-d would be carried
to
their private homes and especially to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Just
this last Friday we celebrated the re-unification of Jerusalem under
Jewish control since 1967. We celebrated the opportunity for Jews and
all people to come to Jerusalem and experience G-d's presence.
As my Bat mitzva celebration comes to a close, and as Shavuot passes by
yet again, I now have the challenge of continuing to hear the
commandments of G-d and to live in the presence of G-d. On Shavout Jews
used to bring their first fruits to the Holy Temple. The Gherer
(geh-rehr) Rebbe explains that as the fruits come to maturity and are
brought to the Temple, so does Shavuot represent the maturing of the
world, as it allowed G-d in. So too, today, I begin my mature life and
begin to make my own decisions. These mitzvot I will do today are my
first fruits and I hope to bring many more good deeds and mitzvot to G-d
throughout my life. |
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