Shavu'ot - The Festival of Weeks

Chag Shavu'ot — Festival of Weeks

Countdown to Chag Shavu'ot
May 23, 2010

(Days : Hours : Minutes : Seconds)

Revealing the Torah — A Continuation of Redemption

Vayikra 23:9-14
     ⁹HASHEM spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the Children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you shall enter the Land that I give you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring an Omer from your first harvest to the Kohen ¹¹He shall wave the Omer before HASHEM to gain favor for you; on the morrow of the rest day the Kohen shall wave it. ¹²On the day you wave the Omer, you shall perform the service of an unblemished lamb in its first year as an Olah-Offering to HASHEM. ¹³Its Minchah-Offering shall be two tenth-ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an Eshayah-Offering to   HASHEM, a satisfying aroma; and its libation shall be wine, a quarter-hin. ¹⁴You shall not eat bread or roasted kernels or plump kernels until this very day, until you bring the offering of your God; it is an eternal decree for your generations in all your dwelling places.
    ¹⁵You shall count for yourselves — from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving — seven weeks, they shall be complete. ¹⁶Until the morrow of the seventh week you shall count, fifty days; and you shall offer a new Minchah-Offering to HASHEM. ¹⁷From your dwelling places you shall bring bread that shall be waved, two loaves made with two tenth-ephah, they shall be fine flour, they shall be baked leavened; first-offerings to HASHEM. ¹⁸With the bread you shall offer seven unblemished lambs in their fist year, on young bull, and two rams; they shall be an Olah-Offering to HASHEM, with their Minchah-Offering and their libations — an Eshayah-Offering, a satisfying aroma to HASHEM. ¹⁹You shall make on he-goat as a Chatat-Offering, and two lamb in their first year as feast Shelamim. ²⁰The Kohen shall wave them upon the first-offering breads as a wave-service before HASHEM — upon the two sheep — they shall be holy, for HASHEM and for the Kohen. ²¹You shall convoke on this very day — there shall be a holy convocation for yourselves — you shall do no laborious word; it is an eternal decree in you dwelling places for your generations.

Commandment 386
B’midbar 28:27-31
²⁷You shall offer an Olah-Offering for a satisfying aroma to HASHEM : two young bulls, one ram, seven lambs within their first year. ²⁸And their Minchah-Offering: fine flour mixed with oil — three tenth-ephah for each bull; two tenth-ephah for the one ram; ²⁹one tenth-ephah for each lamb of the seven lambs. ³⁰One male of the goats to atone for you. ³¹Aside from the continual Olah-Offering and its Minchah-Offering shall you offer [them] — unblemished shall they be for you — and their libations.

D’varim 16:9-12
     ⁹You shall count seven weeks for yourselves; from when the sickle is first put to the standing crop shall you begin counting seven weeks. ¹⁰Then you shall observe the Festival of Shavu'ot for HASHEM , your God, will have blessed you. ¹¹You shall rejoice before HASHEM , your God, you, your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, the Levi who is in your cities, the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow who are among you – in the place that HASHEM , your God, will choose to rest His Name. ¹²You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall observe and perform these decrees.

Historically, Chag Shavu'ot celebrates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, God's gift to the Jewish people, which is their guide for living in this world. The Torah spells out of the details of the Covenant that, while initiated by the events of the Exodus, is agreed upon and sealed at Sinai. Also known as Chag Matan Torateinu (the Festival of the Giving of Our Torah) is more than receiving the Torah – it is experiencing the Divine, an experience that Jews believe is shared by all Jews of all time. It is at Sinai that the Covenant is finally sealed and accepted as an agreement binding on both parties. It is here that the Torah is given to us as a guide for life.

Jews regard the forty-nine days from the Chag HaBikkur until Chag Shavu'ot as a time of spiritual purification or taharah which grows with intensity as the seven weeks progress. It is believed that someone who purifies himself will receive Divine help. The Divine help that Yeshua alluded to in Yochanan 16:7 was the παράκλητος (paraklatos) or Ruach Ha'Kodesh . You might ask what the talmid'im were during the 49 day period prior the Chag Shavu'ot. Forty of those days were spent with Yeshua as described in Mifalote Ha'shilcheem (Acts) 1:1-3. They were told that they would “receive power when the Ruach Ha'Kodesh has come upon you;”. They knew what had happened at Sinai and understood that this would be the fulfillment of a promise made centuries before by the prophet Yo’el.

Like Eloheim, who cannot be described, His Torah cannot be limited by a specific ritual or symbol other than the Sefer Torah itself. With Matan Torah or the Giving of the Torah, to each of us through its regulations and guidelines on how to live in this world. With the Torah as our guide, we can be part of this world, partaking of its delights, fully confident that the observance of the Torah will protect us from corruption by the chametz of life, which contains within its essence the power to both corrupt and to give its pleasure.

Rabbi Abahu said, in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: "When Eloheim gave the Torah, no bird chirped, no fowl flew, no ox made a sound, angels did not fly, Seraphim did not say "Kadosh", the sea did not stir, no creature spoke. The world was utterly silent – and a voice was heard “I am HASHEM your Eloheim.” (Sh’mot Rabbah 29) Yesha’yahu 6:1-3; Cha’zon 4:8. Rabbinical sources say that as Eloheim began to utter each commandment, a fire emerged from His mouth. The fire immediately separated itself into the seventy languages of the earth and quickly moved throughout the world so all people could hear each commandment in their native tongue. As the Hebrew portion of that fiery language descended and stood before each person, the fiery tongue would say “Do you understand this commandment?” The reply was in the affirmative. The fiery tongue would then say “Do you promise to keep this commandment?” After each acknowledgement, the fiery language would return to the top of the summit and engrave the commandment into the tablets of stone. Although not described in this manner in Scripture, the fiery tongues in Acts 2:1-4 lend credibility to the Jewish account of that first Chag Shavu'ot.

You have to wonder what the talmid'im's reaction was to their ability to speak in other languages. I believe that during the forty days preceding Chag Shavu'ot, Yeshua devoted time in preparing the talmid'im for what would soon occur. This position is strengthened because there appears to be no surprise on the part of the talmid'im when they began speaking in other languages. The Hebrew term for speech is dibbur – a form of dibar, meaning word. The form of dibbur that originated at Sinai can be separated into two components: one characterized by the rough sounds of speech that emerged from the mouth, and two the articulate speech that emanates from the tongue. The first is more of a surface phenomenon, while the second originates from a deeper, not readily evident source.

Did the talmid'im believe that their new found ability to speak in other languages was a result of the all night vigil? That the effect of the all night vigil should express itself in an elevation of speech from "rough sounds" that emerge from the mount to the "articulate speech" that originates from a deeper source. The believer should be encouraged to go into a period of separation (purification) in anticipation of receiving the double of the Ruach HaKodesh.

Shvu'ot From the Scriptures

Chag Shavu'ot, Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks occurs in Judaism on the sixth day of Sivan. In Scripture, however, no exact date is given for the holiday. If the Sabbath referred to in Vayikra 23:15 is the first day of Unleavened Bread, as it is taught in the Talmud or Oral Law, then Chag Shavu'ot occurs on a different day of the week but always on Sivan 6. This, however, sets the date for Chag Shavu'ot to Sivan 6 in deference to Scripture. If, however, the Sabbath spoken of is the weekly Sabbath, the day of the week is set but the actual date is fluid staying true to Scripture. We have previously shown that the timing for the counting for the omer — Chag HaBikkur — begins on the day after the first weekly Sabbath after Pesach. This conclusion is substantiated in the latter half of Vayikra 23:15-16. Seven (weekly) Sabbaths must be completed and the 50^thday must occur on the day after the seventh Sabbath.

Originally, Chag Shavu'ot had no connection with the revelation at Sinai. The holiday and celebrations get their start from when the children of Israel enter the land and reap its harvest. The first fruits of the barley harvest at Chag Ha'Bikkur and the first fruits of the wheat harvest at Chag Shavu'ot. Everything on the earth, both man and beast, was to be presented before HASHEM as first fruits to Him.

The firstborn of both man and beast were sanctified (made holy) and presented to HASHEM (Sh’mot 13:2; 22:29).

The first fruits of all the earth were presented to HASHEM at His altar in praise and thanksgiving (D’varim 26:1-11).

The most peculiar ceremony which took place on Chag Shavu'ot was the presentation before HASHEM of two leavened loaves of bread. It was a ceremony not fully understood by the Hebrews because it seemed to contradict a previous commandment. The two loaves speak of the fact that sin has not yet been eradicated, in spite of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The believer, because of human frailties still renders imperfect service to HASHEM.

The themes of Chag Shavu'ot, harvest and revelation, come together in the book of Rut which is read aloud on Chag Shavu'ot. The renewed fertility of the earth and the ensuing harvest parallel and anticipate the fulfillment that is delivered to the Israelite woman Naomi and her Moabite daughter-in-law, Rut. Rut inaugurates this process of fulfillment by embracing the Israelite Covenant. There can be no harvest without the rains to cause it to grow and mature. HASHEM promised Yisra'el that He would bless their land, that He would give the "first rain and the latter rain" in order that they would be able to gather the corn, wine and oil in the appointed seasons. Thus under Pesach and Feast of Weeks, there was the "latter rain" or "spring rain", according to the reckoning of the sacred year of Israel.

The Jews have always understood that the outpouring of rain or water was symbolical and prophetic of the coming of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on their own nation as well as on the other nations. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of the Feast of Weeks and onward was indeed the "first rain" or "the spring rain". The prophet Yo’el alludes to this in Yo’el 2:21-32 where he links the outpouring of the early and latter rains with his prophecy of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh.

Yo’el 2:21-3:5(2:21-32)
²¹Fear not, O land; exult and be glad, for HASHEM has done great [kindness]. ²²Fear not, animals of the field, for the dwellings of the wilderness have become covered with grass; for the tree has borne it s fruit; the fig tree and the vine have given forth their wealth. ²³Children of Zion, exult and be glad with HASHEM your God; for He has given you a teacher for righteousness, and He has brought down the rain for you — the early rain and the late rain — in the first [month]. ²⁴The granaries will be filled with grain, and the vats will overflow with wine and oil. ²⁵I will repay you for the years that the abundant-locust, the chewing-locust and the demolishing-locust and the cutting-locust — My great army that I sent among you — consumed. ²⁶And you will eat, eating and being satisfied, and you will praise the name of HASHEM your God who has acted wondrously with you; and My people will not be ashamed evermore. ²⁷Then you will know that in the midst of Israel am I, and that I am HASHEM your God, there is none other; and My people will not be shamed evermore.
^3:1(2:28)And it will happen after this, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy; your elders will dream [prophetic] dreams, and you young men will see visions. ^3:2(2:29)Even also upon the slaves and upon the maidservants in those days I will pour out My spirit. ^3:3(2:30)I will set wonders in the heavens and on earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke; ^3:4(2:31)the sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood [red], before the coming of the great and awesome Day of HASHEM. ^3:5(2:32)And it will be that anyone who calls in the Name of HASHEM will escape, for on the mountain of Zion and in Jerusalem there will be refuge as HASHEM said, and among the survivors who HASHEM summons.

Chag Shavu'ot gets its connection with the giving of the Torah because of the timing put forth by the Torah.

Sh’mot 19:1
¹In the third month from the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, on this day, they arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai. ²They journeyed from Rephidim and arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the Wilderness; and Israel encamped there, opposite the mountain.

Traditions

Chag Shavu'ot has no rituals equivalent to the sukkah of Chag Sukkot or the Seder of Pesach. The agricultural rituals ceased with the destruction of the Temple. The revelation at Sinai can be viewed as an experience so cosmic and mysterious that no ritual could encompass it. The Torah is so multifaceted that it eludes any attempt to be delineated. Yochanan stated it this way:

Yochanan 16:13
¹³However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Most holidays call for the eating of meat. Chag Shavu'ot calls for the eating of dairy products. The traditional explanation for this is that when the Israelites received the laws of kashrut (keeping kosher) they realized their pots were not kosher so they ate uncooked dairy dishes instead. Another explanation is that first eating dairy and later eating meat (thus two dishes) recalls the two loaves offered on Chag Shavu'ot. Some eat daily foods with honey because the Torah is likened to milk and honey.

Shir-HaShirim 4:11
     ¹¹Your lips, O my bride, drip as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

One of the most intriguing traditions is the reading of the Book of Rut. The story is set at the time of the wheat harvest. Rut (a Moabite) is converted to Judaism which is analogous to a Jew's voluntary acceptance of the Torah and Eloheim's Covenant at Sinai. It is taught that the Israelites in the desert hat the status of converts and hence underwent circumcision and ritual immersion (their passage through the Red Sea). As believers in Yeshua we undergo circumcision not of the flesh but of the heart and experience ritual immersion.

Rut is not merely a book to be read but serves as an essential supplement to the Torah. Prophetically, Rut points toward Gentile conversion. This teaching, though not yet understood by non-believing Jews, underscores what happened on the day of Chag Shavu'ot after the resurrection. Rut has been described as the personification of righteousness. Rut dramatizes the theme of conversion; not just the practice of righteousness but personifies it. The Torah and the Ruach HaKodesh can be compared to an inner light sown in the soul of the tzaddik.

Mizmor 97:11
¹¹Light is sown for the righteous, and for the upright of heart, gladness.

Although she did not study the Torah, Rut personified righteousness. Rut exemplifies the day when all nations will do as she did — receive eternal life through faith in the Messiah.

The reading of Rut reminds of the final Revelation Day, a day as glorious as that on which the Torah was given, when Messiah ben David will appear. Chag Shavu'ot marked the onset of Jewish history; the Messiah's arrival will be its splendid climax, when all humankind will flock to Eloheim. This splendid climax has occurred. Messiah has come and we are responsible to our brothers who have been blinded to the truth.

Boaz's redemption of the property of Elimelech (whose name means Eloheim of the King) and his sons, and the ceremony he performed with Rut evokes Jewish faith in the "resurrection". By marrying Rut, Stern says that Boaz "restored the name of her late husband" and presents the concept of a "redeemer." In reality, all this was set forth in the second chapter of Acts and will be concluded when our "Kinsman Redeemer", Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, returns to resurrect and rapture all believers for the heavenly marriage.

Tradition holds that King David was born and died on Chag Shavu'ot. The book of Rut ends with the genealogy from Rut down to King David. Reading Rut means that the totality of the Torah is celebrated on Chag Shavu'ot, for Rut is part of the kituvim – the writings that together with the Torah and the prophets compose the whole of the Scriptures. There is a tikkun or set order of study of the Torah the whole night of Chag Shavu'ot.

Timothy Shanee 2:15
¹⁵Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth

Kabbalists (mystics of Judaism) prepared for the monumentous revelation of the following morning. This in stark contrast of the Israelites at Sinai who, according to tradition, slept late that morning and had to be awakened by Moshe. In atonement, Jews stay awake all night. The corroboration of this can be seen in Acts 2:1.

Acts 2:1
¹When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

It is believed that the study of the Torah books during the night will hasten the arrival of the Messiah.

Acts 1:4-5
⁴And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; ⁵for Yochanan (the Immerser) truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

This promise of the Spirit of the Holy One prompted the disciples to bring up the subject of the "arrival" of the Messiah and the restoration of the kingdom to Israel.

Acts 1:6-9
⁶Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
9Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

From that day until this, Christians have been awaiting the return of Messiah. This conforms with the Jewish belief that the study of the Torah during the all-night vigil of Chag Shavu'ot will hasten the arrival of Messiah.

Chag Shavu'ot is regarded as the wedding of Eloheim's and Israel and of Eloheim's masculine and feminine parts. One stays up all night to "decorate the bride". This is the only tikkun which is widely observed. At sunrise the tikkun is ended and the morning services are recited. Ritual immersion is observed on the morning of Chag Shavu'ot in remembrance of the three days of preparation observed by the Israelites in the desert. Chag Shavu'ot is depicted as a beautiful image of marriage between Eloheim (the groom) and Israel (the bride). Pesach is the period of Eloheim's courtship of Israel. Chag Shavu'ot celebrates the actual marriage of Eloheim and Israel. Chag Sukkot then becomes the setting up of a bayit ne'eman – a household faithful to Judaism.

Sinai becomes a chuppa or wedding canopy for the marriage. Moshe smashes the tablets of the Ten Commandments because they are Eloheim's ketubah or marriage contract to Israel. Moshe, as the messenger, chooses to smash them rather than deliver them to Israel and thereby complete the marriage of Israel to Eloheim. To complete the marriage would have meant that the Israelites, who were worshiping the golden calf, were in fact being unfaithful in their marriage.

Pesach is a liberation ... but from what? Freedom does not lie in anarchy; rather it is found at Sinai. We enter into the service of Eloheim, the one Master who offers freedom as the underlying basis for choosing the Covenant. Eloheim insists we choose. Serve human authority or be freed from servitude by coming in contact with the Divine. Accepting the Covenant at Sinai enables us to face the world in freedom. The forty-nine days between Pesach and Chag Shavu'ot is period in which we ready ourselves to freely choose the Covenant by saying a resounding "YES" to Sinai and its revelations.

King David and Chag Shavu'ot

Tradition holds that King David was born and died on Chag Shavu'ot. The Tehillim (Tehillim) reflect the mystical side of the Sinai experience. The Torah is the more concrete dimension of the experience. The revelation of Eloheim, the divine being, is the spiritual/mystical one. Without the presence of Eloheim, the Torah no longer derives from an encounter with the Divine.

The purpose of the Mitzvot (Commandments) is to aid us in becoming a kingdom of priests and a holy nation to maintain a covenant with the living Eloheim.

Sh’mot 19:6
     ³Moses ascended to God, and HASHEM called to him from the mountain, saying, “So shall you say to the House of Jacob and relate to the Children of Israel. ⁴‘You have seen what I did to Egypt, and that I have borne you on the wings of eagles and brought you to Me. ⁵And now, if you hearken well to Me and observe My covenant, you shall be to Me the most beloved treasure of all peoples, for Mine is the entire world. ⁶You shall be to Me a kingdom of ministers² and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the Children of Israel. ”
Cha’zon 1:4-6
⁴Yochanan, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, ⁵and from Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Psalm after psalm speaks from the depth of David's human experience of his relationship with the Divine. The Tehillim are a response to the revelation of Eloheim's presence and seek to continue the interaction that occurred at Sinai between the Eternal and the human.

The Cycle and the Law

We have to ask why lives were not changed. The people at Sinai heard the Voce that would forever change their lives. Why did they seem so unchanged? Forty days after the giving of the Torah, the people of Eloheim were steeped in the sin the Torah designates as the worst — the worship of an idol, the golden calf. They made the climb out of the depths of slavery in Egypt to the height of the experience of Sinai and then began the descent into the depths of idolatry.

The answer to this question is possibly found by contrasting the idea of Eloheim lifting the mountain of Sinai and saying “If you will accept My Torah, well and good; if not, then here will be your grave”. You and I, as the Children of Israel did, would eagerly respond to Eloheim's by saying “We will act and we will obey”. The Covenant was not accepted with a full and confident heart, but rather by the fearsome grandeur of the moment. This seems to be perpetuated today in church services to some extent. Eloheim is presented as a fearsome being whom you either accept and escape the penalties and not as the protector who is offering His Torah as a means of protecting you life.

The Voice of Sinai (Shavu'ot) Still Calls

On Pesach, by means of the Seder and its rituals, the attempt is made to re-experience and not just remember the slavery and redemption. On Chag Shavu'ot there is no attempt to re-experience or re-enact the Sinai Revelation. The Sinai experience or the outpouring of the Ruach HaKodesh, is a continuous event. No date is given because the Voice of HASHEM and the outpouring of the Ruach HaKodesh are continuous. The Revelation continues to occur as the Torah unfolds — if we pay attention to it. Our task is to hear anew and then renew the Torah each day. It is impossible to circumscribe the giving of the Torah to one day. Anytime a person studies the Torah with devotion and holiness is azeman matan Torah — the moment of the giving of the Torah.

To hear the Voice is difficult and can be sustained for only a brief time. The moment of revelation is always brief; thus Chag Shavu'ot lasts only one day. Yet amid the thunder and lightening, the blaring horns and dense smoke of our lives, the Voice can still be heard calling us.

The Sinai Experience

At Sinai, the Covenant is finally sealed and accepted as an agreement binding on both parties. It is there that the Torah is given to us as a guide for life.

Yochanan 20:22
²²And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Sinai, perhaps, can best be compared to the phenomenon of "consciousness-raising" in two respects:

The first response to Sinai and its consciousness-raising is a sense of a heightened perception and understanding, a consciousness that comes from an encounter with the Divine. This is the spiritual/mystical component of the revelation – it makes us aware of the invisible Other (Eloheim).

Sinai is a radical change in self-perception and also in the perception of the world. As the encounter with the Divine becomes a vague memory, the second sense of consciousness becomes more distinct. A process is begun to work out in ethical terms what the new world view means. Concepts of justice and mercy, of doing what is right before HASHEM are infused in the believer when we re-experience Sinai.

The second response to Sinai and its consciousness-raising is embodied in the text of the Torah. The Mitzvot (commandments) are the concrete way in which the Jewish people have reacted to the revelation at Sinai.

Mikhah encapsulates these two aspects of Sinai this way:

Mikhah 6:8
     ⁸He as told you O man, what is good! What does HASHEM require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?

We need to act in the world of justice and injustice and feel the presence of Eloheim as our fellow traveler to fully respond to the Voice of Sinai.

Top