The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Shira Zeliger
York University

Shavuot is one of three pilgrimage festivals celebrated in Jewish tradition. The name of the holiday, meaning "weeks," is derived from the seven week countdown to Shavuot that begins on Passover. One Midrashic explanation for the seven week period between these two festivals (known as sefirat ha-omer, or, "counting the omer") is that it was B’nai Yisrael’s countdown to the much anticipated receiving of the Torah and the revelation of God at Mount Sinai – an unparalleled event in Jewish history and one much to be anticipated.

The Shavuot festival celebrates revelation, or, z’man matan torateinu (the time the Torah was given to the Jewish people). The concept of revelation is one that is much debated among the denominations of Judaism. Whether one believes that the Torah is the literal word of God, or that it was divinely inspired or that it was written by a variety of people throughout Jewish history, it is still a crucial part of Jewish living – one that no major Jewish denomination can function without.

A well-known association in Jewish tradition of the Torah is naaseh v’nishma – meaning "we will do and we will hear" (Exodus 24:70). The order of the verbs in this verse is significant because it shows that Jews are to first accept God’s commandments and then try to understand them. Thus, by adhering to the Torah’s values and commandments, we show our ultimate trust in God.

One example of this idea is seen in Megillat Rut (Book of Ruth), the megillah that is read on Shavuot.

The biblical Book of Ruth is a short story which opens with an Israelite family leaving their birthplace in Bethlehem because of a drought. The man, Elimelekh, his wife Naomi, and their two sons go to settle in the neighboring land of Moab, across the Jordan. The sons eventually marry Moabite women named Orpah and Ruth. Elimelekh dies and not long thereafter, the sons die as well, leaving their wives childless. Naomi, hearing that the famine is over, informs her daughters-in-law of her intent to return to her homeland. They beg to accompany her, but she encourages them to return to their families, for she has little to offer them. Orpah accedes to Naomi’s request, but Ruth insists upon accompanying her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem. Ruth is so adamant and serious about staying with Naomi, not fully aware of what her life will be like back in the Holy Land but fully trusting in Naomi and the God of Naomi’s people.

Ruth is the only convert to have a biblical book named after her – a profound and unparalleled honor. Moreover, she was, with Esther, one of only two women to have this distinction. Several themes in midrash related to her life and character reveal a Ruth possessing the feminine virtues the rabbis want to hold up for emulation. In Biblical verses she is depicted from the start as an exemplary woman – a heroine by the merit of her own actions – even before she enters the Israelite fold. The rabbis of the Talmud felt that they had to halakhically legitimize Ruth’s conversion. Then, having accomplished her acceptance into the fold, they wanted to underscore her merit and extraordinary kindness and valor, making her a suitable figure to stand at the beginning of the Davidic, which is to say messianic, line. Ruth, like Abraham, left the house of her father and mother and went to join a people who, as far as she knew, would not accept her because of her foreign origins. Yet she would not be dissuaded and joined the Israelite nation, with no thought of reward for this act of affiliation. She was the embodiment of the proclamation that the Jews made at Sinai and renew every year on Shavuot: "We will do and we will hear," and that is why the book of Ruth is read in synagogue on Shavuot.

Another well-known association of the Torah in traditional Judaism is the phrase lo bashamayim hee (Deuteronomy 30:12)– meaning that the Torah is not in the heavens. Thus, as much as one believes that the Torah is derived from heaven, the Torah is meant to be followed by humans on a personal and communal level, a way of life, a document that we should be close to and experience hands-on, not something viewed in the distance. The Torah is meant to be a timeless work, one which brings significance and guidance to every generation.

Thus, the festival of Shavuot should not only celebrate the awesome event of revelation itself but also what our study of Torah continues to reveal.

[Posted 5/19/04]