deaf to the maggid shiur and blind to what's on the page

The Mechilta comments on the pasuk וְכָל הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת הַקּוֹלֹת:

 רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: לְהוֹדִיעַ שְׁבָחָן שֶׁלְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁכְּשֶׁעָמְדוּ כֻלָּן לִפְנֵי הַר סִינַי לְקַבֵּל אֶת הַתּוֹרָה, מַגִּיד שֶׁלֹּא הָיוּ בָהֶן סוֹמִין, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: (שמות כ,יד) "וְכָל הָעָם רֹאִים"; מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹּא הָיוּ בָהֶן אִלְּמִין, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: (שמות יט,י) "וַיַּעֲנוּ כָל הָעָם יַחְדָּו"; מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹּא הָיוּ בָהֶן חֵרְשִׁין, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: (שמות כד,ז) "כֹּל אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יי, נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע." מְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹּא הָיוּ בָהֶן חִגְּרִין, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: (שמות יט,יח) "וַיִּתְיַצְּבוּ בְּתַחְתִּית הָהָר." וּמְלַמֵּד שֶׁלֹּא הָיוּ בָהֶן טִפְּשִׁין, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: (דברים ד,לה) "אַתָּה הָרְאֵתָ לָדַעַת".

 

I don't think the point Chazal want to make here is to amplify the miracles that took place at mattan Torah or to amplify the greatness of G-d, as only He can perform miracles like those recorded here.  As far as the first point, mai d'hava hava, and as far as the second, peshita, mai kah mashma lan.  Chazal here (and as a general rule) have a didactic aim in mind.  There is something we are supposed to learn from this midrash that we can implement.

 

You might be thinking, "How can this Chazal have anything to do with me?  Do I work in a home for invalids?  And even if I do, can I cure them?" 

 

I submit to you that if you go to any shiur or listen to any derasha and look around the room, you will see plenty of examples of the "invalids" Chazal are speaking about.  Or better, yet, most of us need only look in the mirror.  How many times have we been חֵרְשִׁין, deaf to anything a rebbe or Rabbi is trying to tell us?  Or סוֹמִין, blind to the words on the page in front of us because our attention is on our phone or elsewhere?  Haven't we been אִלְּמִין, silent and afraid to speak out for Torah values, or חִגְּרִין,  slow-walking doing what we are supposed to be doing instead of acting with zerizus.  And last but not least, טִפְּשִׁין -- this one needs no explanation.

 

Ramban learns that there is a mitzvah to remember maamad Har Sinai derived from the pasuk  “rak hishamer lecha.. pen tishkach es ha’devarim asher ra’u einecha.”  That same pasuk is quoted in Avos (3:8) as the source for the issur of forgetting words of Torah.  How can the same pasuk be used for both halachos? 

 

As we once explained Ramban learns that the two ideas go hand in hand.  If you truly remember and appreciate maamad Har Sinai in all its awesomeness, your learning is as different learning -- it becomes something that sticks in your mind and is unforgettable.

 

Tiferes Shlomo writes that this is what the gemara means when it tells us

 

רב יוסף ביומא דעצרתא אמר עבדי לי עגלא תלתא אמר אי לא האי יומא דקא גרים כמה יוסף איכא בשוקא

 

If there was no day of Shavuos, there wouldn't be other Yosef's in the shuk?!  There wouldn't be other Yosefs, period!  How would there be a Klal Yisrael?

 

What Rav Yosef meant is that if not for his awareness of that day of maamad Har Sinai every day, every single time he opened his gemara, he would never have become who he is.  His learning would have been a different learning. 

 

Chazal in the Mechilta are giving us a similar message.  When you truly experience kabbalas haTorah and feel yourself as if you were standing at Sinai this Shavuos or any Shavous, then you're no longer deaf to the maggid shiur, you no longer slow walk your way to shul, you no longer are mute and can't answer when someone asks you what sugya you are holding in.  And last but not least, you no longer go through your day and your life as a טִפְּשִׁ. 

making a kabbalah for the future

Rashi comments on (3:1) וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת אַהֲרֹן וּמֹשֶׁה בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר ה׳ אֶת מֹשֶׁה בְּהַר סִינָי that even though the pasuk is speaking about Aharon's children, they are called Moshe's תּוֹלְדֹת because לפי שלימדן תורה, מלמד שכל המלמד את בן חברו תורה, מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו ילדו.  Netziv explains at length that לימדן תורה in this context means specifically חכמת התלמוד.  Moshe taught Torah to all of Klal Yisrael, but they are not called his תּוֹלְדֹת because he did not (at least at this point in time) give over to them that added level of pilpul that he shared only with the Bnei Aharon. Netziv then asks on himself: the pasuk is talking about what took place בְּהַר סִינָי, at the moment of kabbalas haTorah.  At that moment, Moshe was not being mi'palpel with the Bnei Aharon.  At that moment Moshe was not sharing חכמת התלמוד with the Bnei Aharon.  Why then already at that moment are they called Moshe's תּוֹלְדֹת? 

Netziv answers that even though on that day the Bnei Aharon had not yet started learning from Moshe, nonetheless באותו יום קבלו עליהם ללמוד ממנו אח״כ, on that day they made a kabbalah and accepted upon themselves to become his students.  Therefore, it was from that moment that their status changed.

Netziv proves his point from the story (BM 84) of Reish Lakish, who started out as a bandit/robber.  One day he jumped into the river to chase after R' Yochanan, but R' Yochanan turned the tables on him and was able to convince Reish Lakish to take his great strength and dedicate his kochos to learning Torah.  The gemara then says that Reish Lakish found himself unable to jump out of the river he had just jumped in to. Rashi explains: ולא מצי. לקפוץ כבראשונה דמשקבל עליו עול תורה תשש כוחו  Reish Lakish hadn't learned a single daf yet or spent a single day in the beis medrash, but once he was mekabel upon himself to learn Torah, he became a changed person.

 

This is what Chag haShavuos is all about.  Even if you stay up both nights of Shavuos and manage to not sleep a wink in the day as well, you are not going to finish shas or Shulchan Aruch in 2 days.  But the point of the holiday is not to have a cram session.  The point is to make a kabbalah.  It's not how much you cover during those 48 hours that will make a difference, but rather what you are mekabeil upon yourself in those 48 hours to accomplish during the next days, months, years ahead that will make the difference. 

 

We celebrate 6 Sivan and not just 7 Sivan, which was the actual date of kabbalas haTorah.  Moshe added an extra day so Hashem gave us the Torah on the seventh, but we still celebrate on the 6th because that is the day when we were already ready to receive it, when our kabbalah to accept it was made.  That is as worthy of celebration as the actual giving on the Torah b'poel that took place on the next day.

The Midrash on the pasuk in Rus (2:12)  יְשַׁלֵּם ה׳ פׇּעֳלֵךְ וּתְהִי מַשְׂכֻּרְתֵּךְ שְׁלֵמָה מֵעִם ה׳ אֱלֹקי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר בָּאת לַחֲסוֹת תַּחַת כְּנָפָיו comments אָמַר רַבִּי חָסָא אֲשֶׁר בָּאת לַחֲסוֹת תַּחַת כְּנָפָיו.  All the sifrei dersush ask what R' Chasa adds to what the pasuk already tells us.  The Sanz Klausenberger (5733) explains that the Midrash is coming to justify Boaz's promise to Rus of  מַשְׂכֻּרְתֵּךְ שְׁלֵמָה, a complete reward.  Even though in point of fact Rus had not yet done anything yet as a Jew  to earn reward, she deserved it anyway because she took upon herself a kabbalah. The decision to make a commitment and throw one's lot in with Klal Yisrael, אֲשֶׁר בָּאת לַחֲסוֹת תַּחַת כְּנָפָיו, irrespective of what might happen going forward, is itself a life changing act.  Shem m'Shmuel similarly writes that we have a principle that mitzvah goreres mitzvah.  Good deeds create their own inertia, their own snowball of positive energy that keeps going. Reward is not given for following that path of inertia, but rather for the initial kabbalah that set things in motion. 

 

This also explains R' Yosef's cryptic remark that, "If not for this day [of Shavuos], there are many other Yosef's in the marketplace."  R' Yosef forgot his learning due to illness. He went from being Rosh Yeshiva to knowing no more than any other Joe on the street.  If all that mattered was what you know -- how many sugyos, how many blatt -- then Rav Yosef was washed up.  But it's not just what you know that counts, but what you aspire to know, the kabbalah to try and know.  Rav Yosef could not remember his learning, but he still had the desire to remember, the desire to learn, the kabbalah to do better if he could.          

 

I've written before that I am not a big fan of staying up all night on Shavuos and then the next day of Y"T or next Shabbos going right back to davening at 9:15.  (I think last time I wrote I said 9:00, but now shuls have pushed the starting times even later.)  Doing that is a one night stand.  Mattan Torah is "yom chasunaso."  When you get married, hopefully it is a lifelong commitment, not a one night celebration.  It's a kabbalah about how you intend to live your life going forward.  That's what we should be striving for.

Rus and Shavuos -- kabbalas haTorah and redemption of Eretz Yisrael

1)  וכל העם ראים את הקולת ואת הלפידם ואת קול השפר ואת ההר עשן וירא העם וינעו ויעמדו מרחק (Shmos 20:14). Once the reisha of the pasuk tells us that the people saw the thunder and lightning, why does the seifa add וירא העם?  I think I've mentioned in the past the diyuk of Sefas Emes that  ראים is present tense.  It was not just the generation who was physically present at Sinai who saw קולת ואת הלפידם ואת קול השפר ואת ההר עשן, but every generation sees the same as well.  The experience of mattan Torah is one that takes present in the here and now, not sometime in the past.  

The Sefas Emes (5640) writes that וירא העם is not talking about seeing the smoke and thunder of Sinai, but it's talking about seeing this fact that mattan Torah is  experienced by each and every generation, right down to ours.  The reaction was therefore וינעו ויעמדו מרחק.  Not because the dor de'ah could not handle having front row seats, but because our generation is ראים as well, and we can't handle it.  We don't have the kelim to absorb such an experience, and at best can absorb what we take in at a glimpse from the distance.

Our job, says Sefas Emes, is to rectify that -- to earn the right to be able to have have front row seats.

2) Sefas Emes (5658) writes: ענין מגילת רות בשבועות. לבקש הגאולה.  The Torah tells us two different end goals for yetzi'as Mitzrayim: תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה and  וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂאתִי אֶת יָדִי לָתֵת אֹתָהּ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב.  The truth is that these are one and the same, as Torah can only be fully realized in Eretz Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael requires us to obey the Torah or we will have no kiyum in the land.  Chazal therefore instituted reading Rus on Shavuos so as to pair the story of Boaz's redemption of the land, the redemption of Naomi's fields, with the story of kabbalas haTorah.  Boaz = Bo oz, the oz of Torah was part of the essence of who Boaz was, which is why he succeeded as the גואל .  My SIL sent me a program planned for leil Shavuos in Netzarim, in Gaza.  The land is being redeemed once again.  We had a tremendous nefila on Simchas Torah, a chag of Torah, but we can have a tremendous aliya on Shavuos, the zman of kabbalas haTorah.  Says the Sefas Emes:  לכן בעצרת צריכין לבקש על הגאולה בכח התורה to pray for redemption through the descendent of Boaz, of David, with the coming of Mashiach.

seeing Hashem's goodness

 המאכילך מן במדבר למען ענותך  What kind of suffering could there be in having mon to eat?  The gemara in Yoma (74b) comments  אמר אינו דומה מי שרואה ואוכל למי שאינו רואה ואוכל אמר רב יוסף מכאן רמז לסומין שאוכלין ואין שבעין If you thought of steak when eating the mon, you tasted steak, but the food still looked like mon; therefore, a person was never fully satiated or satisfied.  From here, says the gemara, we learn that a blind person who cannot ever see his food never really feels satiated either.

I saw quoted in the name of the Damesk Eliezer that this is why we daven on Yom Tov שׂבּענו מטובך.  We don't just want Hashem to give us טובה, all that is good for us.  He does that all the time.  The problem is that we don't see His goodness for what it is, as we live in a world of hester.  שׂבּענו מטובך -- we want to be able to see the goodness, not just believe in it, as only then will we feel satiated from Hashem's blessing.

הפּסח נאכל על השׂובע.  The korban pesach was eaten only after one was satiated and full, as a desert.  We have to be satiated and full from Hashem's goodness to truly take away the message of Pesach with us.

writing torah shebaal peh / reciting torah sheb'ksav by heart

The gemara (Gittin 60b) darshens that one is not permitted to write down torah sheba'al peh and one is not permitted to recite by heart torah sheb'ksav:

רש רבי יהודה בר נחמני מתורגמניה דרבי שמעון בן לקיש כתיב כתוב לך את הדברים האלה וכתיב כי ע"פ הדברים האלה הא כיצד דברים שבכתב אי אתה רשאי לאומרן על פה דברים שבעל פה אי אתה רשאי לאומרן בכתב 

Rash in a few places (e.g. Shabbos 6b, B"M 92) writes that the Tanaim/Amoraim would keep private notebooks of chiddushim that they heard and wanted to remember because the din of not writing torah sheba'al peh applies only to torah that is read b'tzibur, not to one's private notes:

מגילת סתרים. שהסתירוה מפני שלא ניתנה ליכתוב וכששומעין דברי יחיד חדשים שאינן נשנין בב"ה וכותבין אותן שלא ישתכחו מסתירין את המגילה

Why should that be true?  Why should the context or the use being made of the text make any difference?  

Rav Wahrman in his She'eiris Yosef vol 3 (siman 4)quotes a Yerushalmi in Meg 4:1

רִבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר רַב יִצְחָק עָאַל לַכְּנִישְׁתָּא. חַד בַּר נַשׁ קָאִים מְתַרְגֵּם סְמִיךְ לָעֲמוּדָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ. אָסוּר לָךְ. כְּשֵׁם שֶׁנִּיתְנָה בְּאֵימָה וְיִרְאָה כָּךְ אָנוּ צְרִיכִין לִנְהוֹג בָּהּ בְּאֵימָה וְיִרְאָה. רִבִּי חַגַּי אָמַר. רִבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר רַב יִצְחָק עָאַל לַכְּנִישְׁתָּא. חֲמָא חוּנָה קָאִים מְתַרְגֵּם וְלָא מֵקִים בַּר נַשׁ תַּחְתּוֹי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ. אֲסִיר לָךְ. כְּשֵׁם שֶׁנִּתְנָה עַל יְדֵי סִרְסוּר כָּךְ אָנוּ צְרִיכִין לִנְהוֹג בָּהּ עַל יְדֵי סִרְסוּר. עָאַל רִבִּי יוּדָה בַּר פָּזִי וְעָֽבְדָהּ שְׁאֵילָה. אָֽ֠נֹכִ֠י עוֹמֵד בֵּין־י ֨י וּבֵֽינֵיכֶם֙ בָּעֵ֣ת הַהִיא לְהַגִּ֥יד לָכֶם֭ אֶת־דְּבַ֣ר י ֨י. רִבִּי חַגַּיי אָמַר. רִבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר רַב יִצְחָק עָאַל לַכְּנִישְׁתָּא. חֲמָא חַד סְפַר מוֹשִׁט תַּרְגוּמָא מִן גַּו סִיפְרָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ. אֲסִיר לָךְ. דְּבָרִים שֶׁנֶּאֶמְרוּ בַפֶּה בַפֶּה וּדְבָרִים שֶׁנֶּאֶמְרוּ בִכִתָב בִּכְתָב. 

Rebbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac went to a synagogue. A man stood up to translate while leaning on a pillar. He said to him, this is forbidden to you; just as it was given in trembling and fear so we have to treat it in trembling and fear. Rebbi Ḥaggai said, Rebbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac went to a synagogue. He saw Huna standing up translating without putting up another person in his stead. He said to him, this is forbidden to you; just as it was given by an agent, so we have to treat it by an agent. Rebbi Jehudah bar Pazi went and turned it into a question, I was standing between the Eternal and you at that time to tell you the Eternal’s word. Rebbi Ḥaggai said, Rebbi Samuel bar Rav Isaac went to a synagogue. He saw a teacher delivering the translation from a book. He said to him, this is forbidden to you; matters which were said orally orally, matters which were said in writing in writing.

The Yerushalmi lumps together three halachos: the turgeman is not allowed to lean when translating; there has to be a turgeman; our halacha that torah shebaal peh must be said only baal peh and not from a text.  The first two halachos are based on how Torah was given at Sinai.  Just as Moshe acted as an intermediary, so too, a turgeman is needed as an intermediary; just as the Torah was given with awe and trembling, so too, we must be in a state of awe when it is read.  Rav Wahrman suggests that the third halacha of our sugya, that torah shebaal peh cannot be written, is also rooted in the same idea.  The text and the oral explanation have to be preserved as-is so that the transmission of Torah is done in a way that is consistent with how Torah was given at Sinai.  Therefore, the issur of writing torah sheb'ksav applies only when giving over Torah b'tzibur, as occurred at Sinai, but not to recording notes for private use.

Rama (Shu"T 34) writes that the Rishonim created what we call "ksav Rashi" because the issur of writing torah sheb'ksav only applies when done in ksav ashuri.  Based on Rav Wahrman's hesber, this fits perfectly.  Since Torah was given in ksav ashuri, the issur of writing torah sheb'ksav only applies if done in ksav ashuri.

Rav Wahrman further suggests that the din of כל פסוקא דלא פסקיה משה אנן לא פסקינן ליה (Meg 22), that one is not allowed to read half a pasuk, only applies b'tzibur and not b'yachid, as it also is based on the model of how Torah was given at Sinai.  Some begin kiddush with "Vayehi erev...yom ha'shishi...," which is not a whole pasuk.  If the issur of not breaking a pasuk applies only b'tzibur, this would not be a problem (same issue with saying "v'zos haTorah" during hagba, but that is said by the tzibur.)  

The gemara (Tamid 32) records that the kohanim would read aseres hadibros has part of their davening in the mikdash.  The gemara (Brachos 12) writes that they wanted to institute the same practice even outside the mikdash, but abandoned the idea lest people think the aseres ha'dibros was all that mattered.  אף בגבולין בקשו לקרות כן אלא שכבר בטלום מפני תרעומת המינין There is a debate in poskim (see Rama OC 1 and Shaarei Teshuvah) whether an individual can recite aseres ha'dibros on his own.  It may be that the Chachamim opposed the idea b'tzibur, imitating maamad Har Sinai, but a private recitation would not be a problem.

David's lineage - Moavi v'lo Moavis

One of the reasons we read Rus on Shavuos is because Rus is the great...grandmother of David, who was born and died on Shavuos.  The gemara (Yevamos 76-77) writes that the question of David's lineage came before Shaul.  Doeg opined that David was pasul because a Moavis is not permitted to marry into Klal Yisrael.  Just as the Chachamim were on the verge of being swayed to agree with his position, Amasa stepped forward and said he had a kabbalah from the Beis Din of Shmuel that a Moavis was OK:

מִיַּד ״וַעֲמָשָׂא בֶן אִישׁ וּשְׁמוֹ יִתְרָא הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִי אֲשֶׁר בָּא אֶל אֲבִיגַל בַּת נָחָשׁ״, וּכְתִיב, ״יֶתֶר הַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִי״, אָמַר רָבָא: מְלַמֵּד שֶׁחָגַר חַרְבּוֹ כְּיִשְׁמָעֵאל, וְאָמַר: כׇּל מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ שׁוֹמֵעַ הֲלָכָה זוֹ — יִדָּקֵר בַּחֶרֶב. כָּךְ מְקוּבְּלַנִי מִבֵּית דִּינוֹ שֶׁל שְׁמוּאֵל הָרָמָתִי: ״עַמּוֹנִי״, וְלֹא עַמּוֹנִית. ״מוֹאָבִי״, וְלֹא מוֹאָבִית.

Apologies if this is obvious, but for some reason I never took note of it until this year.  Amasa's mother was Avigael, the daugher of "Nachash."  Rashi on Shmuel II 17:25 quotes the gemara that Nachash here refers to Yishei, David's father:

בת נחש – הוא ישי אבי דוד. רבותינו אמרו: שמת בלא עון, בעטיו של נחש

If so, Amasa himself had a vested interest in the kabbalah that he was testifying about.  If a Moavis was unacceptable, then his own lineage, not just David's would be tainted!

The gemara challenges Amasa's report because it came only after the fact, after the question of David's lineage was before the court:

וּמִי מְהֵימַן? וְהָאָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא אָמַר רַב: כׇּל תַּלְמִיד חָכָם שֶׁמּוֹרֶה הֲלָכָה וּבָא, אִם קוֹדֶם מַעֲשֶׂה אֲמָרָהּ — שׁוֹמְעִין לוֹ, וְאִם לָאו — אֵין שׁוֹמְעִין לוֹ! שָׁאנֵי הָכָא, דְּהָא שְׁמוּאֵל וּבֵית דִּינוֹ קַיָּים.

But the gemara does not seem to have any problem with Amasa being noge'a b'davar to this whole issue.  

Parenthetically, that same pasuk in Shmuel tells us that Avigail was אֲח֥וֹת צְרוּיָ֖ה אֵ֥ם יוֹאָֽב׃.  That would make Yoav ben Tzuru'ya, who was David's general, also his cousin.  

a piece of infinity is infinity

We learn in Pirkei Avos 6:3

הַלּוֹמֵד מֵחֲבֵרוֹ פֶּרֶק אֶחָד אוֹ הֲלָכָה אַחַת אוֹ פָסוּק אֶחָד אוֹ דִבּוּר אֶחָד אוֹ אֲפִלּוּ אוֹת אַחַת, צָרִיךְ לִנְהוֹג בּוֹ כָבוֹד, שֶׁכֵּן מָצִינוּ בְדָוִד מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁלֹּא לָמַד מֵאֲחִיתֹפֶל אֶלָּא שְׁנֵי דְבָרִים בִּלְבָד, קְרָאוֹ רַבּוֹ אַלּוּפוֹ וּמְיֻדָּעוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים נה) וְאַתָּה אֱנוֹשׁ כְּעֶרְכִּי אַלּוּפִי וּמְיֻדָּעִי. וַהֲלֹא דְבָרִים קַל וָחֹמֶר, וּמַה דָּוִד מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁלֹּא לָמַד מֵאֲחִיתֹפֶל אֶלָּא שְׁנֵי דְבָרִים בִּלְבַד קְרָאוֹ רַבּוֹ אַלּוּפוֹ וּמְיֻדָּעוֹ, הַלּוֹמֵד מֵחֲבֵרוֹ פֶּרֶק אֶחָד אוֹ הֲלָכָה אַחַת אוֹ פָסוּק אֶחָד אוֹ דִבּוּר אֶחָד אוֹ אֲפִלּוּ אוֹת אַחַת, עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה שֶׁצָּרִיךְ לִנְהוֹג בּוֹ כָבוֹד

Someone asked me on Shabbos why we don't say the principle of "dayo" here.  We should only be able to learn from the kal v'chomer that you have to honor someone that teaches you two halachos.  How do we see that you owe kavod even if someone teaches you just one letter?

A piece of infinity is also infinity.  You can't speak of differing quantities in that context.  Two halachos, one halacha, one letter -- Torah is infinity, so they are all the same, says the Maharal.

Nice thought to take us into Shavuos.

the special meaning of Shavuos for Rav Yosef

(I presented a version of these divrei Torah [took out personal references and some other stuff] at the shloshim siyum for my FIL, Dovid ben haChaveir Yosef.  They should be an aliya for his neshoma)

The gemara (Pesachim 68) writes that Shavuos was Rav Yosef’s favorite holiday:

רב יוסף ביומא דעצרתא אמר עבדי לי עגלא תלתא אמר אי לא האי יומא דקא גרים כמה יוסף איכא בשוקא

We all would be nothing without mattan Torah. What did Rav Yosef have more of an appreciation and make a greater celebration of the day than anyone else’s? And if Rav Yosef was celebrating mattan Torah, why does he not say “mattan Torah?” Why does the gemara refer to “hai yoma,” the day?

The gemara at the end of Horiyos tells us that Rav Yosef was called “Sinai” because he had an unbelievable memory and could recall braisos as if they had been dictated to him word for word from Sinai.

However, at some point Rav Yosef's condition changed (Nedarim 41):

רב יוסף חלש איעקר ליה למודיה אהדריה אביי קמיה היינו דבכל דוכתא אמרינן אמר רב יוסף לא שמיע לי הדא שמעתא א"ל אביי את אמריתה ניהלן ומהא מתניתא אמריתה ניהלן

Rav Yosef forgot his learning. This is why throughout shas we find Abayei reminding his rebbe, Rav Yosef, of sugyos that Rav Yosef had taught him but had now forgotten.

In light of Rav Yosef’s condition, we can appreciate his comment (Menachos 99a)

אשר שברת ושמתם בארון תני רב יוסף מלמד שהלוחות ושברי לוחות מונחין בארון מכאן לתלמיד חכם ששכח תלמודו מחמת אונסו שאין נוהגין בו מנהג בזיון

Rav Yosef himself was the shivrei luchos! He proved that even after he could no longer function on the level he once was able to, his life still had meaning, and his life could still be lived with dignity and respect. Broken luchos can be cherished as much as whole ones.

Rav Yosef celebrated not just the giving of the luchos, mattan Torah, like we all do, but he in particular celebrated the fact that Torah was given through shivrei luchos, through that would be broken, and that even these luchos too would have a place in the aron.

A second reason why the Shavuos had particular meaning for Rav Yosef:

The gemara (Kid 30a) writes that someone who teaches Torah to his grandchildren is as if he received it directly at Har Sinai, like at Shavuos.

אמר ריב"ל כל המלמד את בן בנו תורה מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קבלה מהר סיני שנאמר והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך וסמיך ליה יום אשר עמדת לפני ה' אלהיך בחורב

This idea of ensuring that Torah is passed down to children, and grandchildren as well, is reflected in another statement of Chazal (B”M 85):

ר' יוחנן כל שהוא תלמיד חכם ובנו תלמיד חכם ובן בנו תלמיד חכם שוב אין תורה פוסקת מזרעו לעולם שנאמר ואני זאת בריתי וגו' לא ימושו מפיך ומפי זרעך ומפי זרע זרעך אמר ה' מעתה ועד עולם מאי אמר ה' אמר הקב"ה אני ערב לך בדבר זה מאי מעתה ועד עולם אמר ר' ירמיה מכאן ואילך תורה מחזרת על אכסניא שלה

Rav Yochanan said it, but Rav Yosef lived it. The gemara continues:

רב יוסף יתיב ארבעין תעניתא ואקריוהו לא ימושו מפיך יתיב ארבעים תעניתא אחריני ואקריוהו לא ימושו מפיך ומפי זרעך יתיב מאה תעניתא אחריני אתא ואקריוהו לא ימושו מפיך ומפי זרעך ומפי זרע זרעך אמר מכאן ואילך לא צריכנא תורה מחזרת על אכסניא שלה

(Parenthetically, why does the gemara say that R”Y fasted 40 days for himself, 40 for his children, but 100 [others change the girsa, but this is how the printed text reads and how Maharasha has it] for his grandchildren? I am admittedly a newbie in the role of grandparent, but it seems to me that by the time one’s children are grown and one gets to be a grandparent, one realizes that however many tefilos, fasts, etc. one thought would be enough to ensure the mesorah continues to the next generation, in reality even twice as much is not even enough.)

Rav Yosef’s life was Shavuos, was mattan Torah, because he established that bond across generations.  That's why the day had such special meaning for him.

Shavuos is the time we are judged on “peiros ha’ilan.” It's a time to take stock of one's efforts to pass the mesorah on to the fruits of one’s family tree, children and grandchildren.  Hopefully the effort bears spiritual fruit.

Shavuos - holiday of Torah she'baal peh

Sefas Emes (5633):

ענין קריאת רות בשבועות. שהוא ענין תורה שבע"פ

How is Rus about Torah shebaal peh, and if that is indeed the takeaway from the  book, why do we read it on Shavuos, which at first glance is a celebration of the written Torah, a celebration of receiving luchos which were engraved and written by G-d?

My wife wrote on her blog:

This year, I was thinking about parallels between Megillat Esther and Megillat Ruth. In both, the heroine for whom the book is named has a parental figures who is not her actual parent as a guide. This figure advises her about how to behave in a new environment for her -- Mordechai directs Esther to remain silent about her identity, and Naomi instructs Ruth about halachos and social norms in Jewish society in general and told to stick with the maids working in Boaz's field

Subsequently, though, that same authority figure turns the tables on the heroine due to what has come to light to change her tactics and take a great risk. The heroine then has to act contrary to her nature and take action that would be considered rash and dangerous. She must subjugates her own views to that of the wisdom of the parental figure.

She refers to Mordechai's instruction to Esther to go to Achashveirosh even uninvited in order to thwart Haman's plot, and Naomi's instruction to Rus to go to Boaz and meet him in the field in the middle of the night, seemingly unsuitable behavior for a bas yisrael. My wife ends off:

Interestingly, both heroines thus prove themselves worth of royalty, for the middah of malchus in Jewish thought is not of self-assertion but of receiving. I'd venture to say that Esther (descended from the line of Rachel) may represent the role of Moshiach ben Yosef while Ruth clearly establishes the line leading to David and the Moshiach born of that dynasty.

How does Rus express her commitment to Judaism?   She doesn't pull out a kitzur shulchan aruch, or some other guidebook that tells her how to behave and pledge to follow it.  She tells Naomi, "Ba'asher teileichi eilech, ba'asher taluni alin" -- "Where you go, I go," etc.  It is Naomi's behavior and practice that is her guide.  It is Naomi's instruction that she follows, irrespective of the risk to her reputation, or in Esther's case, to her life. 

These heroines prove worthy of the midah of malchus because "man malchi -- Rabbanan."   Without a concept of mesorah, without Rabbinic interpretation, without role models and tradition, Torah could not endure.  It is the mesorah, the Rabbis, who rule over the text, not the text which rules over the mesorah. 

Even though the Torah says an Amoni may not intermarry into Klal Yisrael, Boaz came along and revealed that an Amonis is excluded from that law.  Boaz = Bo Oz, the Torah was embodied within him, his interpretation and mesorah defined what the rules of the game were.  

That's why the parallel to Rus is the story of Esther, which we read on Purim.  "Hadar kiblu'ha b'ymei Achashveirosh..."  Purim is also a celebration of kabbalas haTorah, and therefore, this same theme of a living, breathing mesorah is a focal point of the megillah story.

The tachlis of mattan Torah, what we celebrate on Shavuos, can be summed up in three words: Lo BaShamayim Hi.  Mattan Torah is in fact all about Torah shebaal peh because at that moment of mattan Torah G-d turned over the reins to us and Torah became more than just words on a page.  

kabbalas haTorah b'simcha

Hashem told Moshe while he was up on Har Sinai that the people below were worshipping the eigel, but that did not stop Moshe from bringing the luchos down with him.  Once he saw what was going on, however, he smashed the luchos.  M'ikara mai ka'savar u'l'bsof mai kasavar?  If he thought Bn"Y did not deserve the luchos, why did he bring them down?  If they did deserve them, why did Moshe smash them?

Seforno (32:19) answers:

וירא את העגל ומחלת, ויחר אף משה – כשראה שהיו שמחים בקלקול שעשו, כענין ״כי רעתכי אז תעלזי״ (ירמיהו י״א:ט״ו), ובזה התקצף ונואש שיוכל לתקן המעוות באופן שיחזרו לתמותם ויהיו ראויים לאותן הלוחות.

Moshe thought that even if the people were worshipping avodah zarah, it was a mistake he could correct.  Ohr she'hah machziran la'mutav once they got the Torah.  

However, once Moshe saw that it was not just that the people had gone astrary, but that they were filled with simcha at their situation, they were rejoicing in the worship of avodah zarah, he lost hope. You can't compare stam an aveira to an aveira done with simcha and hislahavus.

Rav Tzvi Shteinberg points out the Seforno's comment (23:14) on  שָׁלֹ֣שׁ רְגָלִ֔ים תָּחֹ֥ג לִ֖י בַּשָּׁנָֽה:

תחג לי – כענין ״ישמח ישראל בעשיו״ (תהלים קמ״ט:ב׳), על היפך ״וירא את העגל ומחלת״ (שמות ל״ב:י״ט).

 It's not enough to stam do the mitzvos ha'chag.  You have to have the same simcha and hislahavus that you showed when Aharon declared "chag la'Hashem machar" and you worshipped the eigel.

B'frat, this is true on Shavuos.  It's not enough to have a kabbalas haTorah, but it has to be b'simcha, just like the simcha of the eigel which thwarted the initial kabbalah.   

Rav Yosef - Sinai

Rav Yosef said, "If not for this day [of Shavuos] I would be like any other Yosef in the marketplace."

Last year we discussed the Ramban, who learns from the pasuk of "pen tishkach es ha'devarim asher ra'u einecha" that there is a lav of forgetting maamad Har Sinaui.  The Mishna in Avos uses that same pasuk to derive that there is a lav of forgetting Torah.  How does Ramban learn the Mishna?

Achronim answer that if a person learns Torah with the understanding that this is the dvar Hashem given at Sinai, then that learning will stick with him.  Forgetting Torah comes from learning without that appreciation and awareness.  The lav of forgetting Torah stems from forgetting about maamad Har Sinai.

The gemara at the end of Horiyos contrasts Rabbah, who was a tremendous mechadesh, with Rav Yosef, who the gemara calls Sinai, because he remembered all the braysos and Torah shebaal peh that he studied.

The Tiferes Shlomo explains that this is what Rav Yosef meant: If not for his constant awareness of this day of maamad Har Sinai, he would not appreciate and retain Torah the way he did, and he would be like any other Yosef in the marketplace.

Anochi Hashem Elokecha -- Anochi Anochi hu menachemchem

 Sefas Emes (5650) quotes the Pesikta that links "Anochi Hashem Elokecha" to "Anochi anochi hu minachemchem" (the haftarah for parshas Shoftim):

בפסיקתא ארשב"י אין אנכי אלא לשון ניחומים אנכי אנכי כו' מנחמכם. לולי תורתך שעשועי כו'. ע"ש. כי הנה בתחילת ירידה למצרים כתיב אנכי ארד עמך כו' ואנכי אעלך. וגם משה רבינו ע"ה שאל מי אנכי והשיב לו הקב"ה זה לך האות כי אנכי שלחתיך כו' תעבדון את האלקים על ההר הזה. וע"ז נאמר אנכי ה' אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך. פי' זה האלקות שנתן השי"ת בבנ"י זה הי' לנו למושיע ויהי' לנו למושיע בכל הצרות. כי מצרים שם כולל על כל מיצר. וכ"כ עמו אנכי בצרה. ועתה אין לנו שיור רק התורה הזאת.

The answer to Moshe's question of "Mi anochi?...," how can a geulah come, is "taavdun es ha'Elokim al ha'har ha'zeh," it comes through accepting "Anochi Hashem Elokecha..." of mattan Torah.  

Sefas Emes elsewhere (5660) explains that mattan Torah had the potential to be the moment of complete geulah, but things did not work out that way.  The kabbalas haTorah of "Anochi Hashem Elokecha..." that was supposed to be awaits being realized through the ultimate redemption promised through the "Anochi... menachemchem."

The piece from 5650 ends as follows:

ובאמת הפי' שאין לך בן חורין כו' הוא מיוחד לבנ"י שכן ניתן להם בקבלת התורה שלא יהי' לנו עזר ומושיע וגאולה בשום כח אחר רק בכח התורה. וכפי מה שבנ"י מאמינים מזה ואין סומכין על שום הצלה רק בכח התורה אז החירות בא בכח התורה. וז"ש אנכי כו' אשר הוצאתיך שאין לנו גואל אלא ה' אחד. וכ"כ ואנכי ה"א מארץ מצרים ואלהי' זולתי לא תדע. 

The yeshua of Klal Yisrael can come only through Torah.  The greater our belief in that fact, the greater the redemption we will merit.

No, learning a blatt gemara without Iron Dome is not going to stop the rockets pouring out of Gaza.  

But the Iron Dome without belief that the blatt gemara beings yeshua is not going to stop the rockets either.  

Rashi comments on Anochi Hashem Elokecha:

דבר אחר לפי שנגלה בים כגבור מלחמה, ונגלה כאן כזקן מלא רחמים, שנאמר (שמות כד י) ויראו את אלוהי ישראל ותחת רגליו כמעשה לבנת הספיר, זו היתה לפניו בשעת השעבוד, (שם) וכעצם השמים, משנגאלו, הואיל ואני משתנה במראות אל תאמרו שתי רשויות הן, אנכי הוא אשר הוצאתיך ממצרים ועל הים.

Hashem can appear to be a warrior, Hashem can appear as a loving grandpa.  The chiddush of mattan Torah (again, see Sefas Emes 5663) is that Hashem is Elokecha, our G-d -- the way his presence is manifest in the world is a direct response to our behavior and belief.  It's up to us to believe that Torah can bring us yeshua and geulah for it to actually happen, for the "Anochi Hashem..." to be the "anochi anochi menachemchem..."

We read the story of Rus on Shavuos that talks about Elimelech leaving Eretz Yisrael in a time of crisis, a time of famine, and thanks to his journey Rus came to be megayeir and her lineage leads to David and Moshiach.  Wow, Elimelech deserves a medal!  Even if that was not his intent, look at what came out of his actions.  But that's not how Chazal view it.  Elimelech is considered a sinner, not a hero, because whatever he accomplished by going out to the land of Moav could have been accomplished in Eretz Yisrael through the koach of kabbalas haTorah:

. ונראה שלכן נחשב אל אלימלך לחטא מה שהלך לחוץ לארץ הגם שנבנה מזה מלכות בית דוד ומלך המשיח. אך שהי' צריך לתקן כל זה ע"י התורה ולא ע"י הליכה בגלות ואז הי' התיקון בשלימות יותר

The Ohr haChaim writes that had we been zoche and not have gone into galus, all those geirim that we have picked up along the way in our wanderings in exile over the centuries would have come to us, to Eretz Yisrael, attracted by the gadlus of Torah.  Rus has a happy ending in spite of Elimelech's shortcoming, not because if it.

I could pound the message in more, but enough.  Enjoy the cheesecake.

the shalom zachor before the bris of mattan Torah

Sefas Emes writes that the shabbos before mattan Torah is a preparation for chag haShavuos.  In Dayeinu, before we get to "ilu keirvanu lifnei Har Sinai" we talk about "ilu nasan lanu es ha'Shabbos."  One is a prelude to the other.  Just like when a baby is born you have a shalom zachor and the baby needs to go through a shabbos before the bris, so too, this shabbos is our shalom zachor before we enter the bris of mattan Torah.

וַיִּסְע֣וּ מֵרְפִידִ֗ים וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ מִדְבַּ֣ר סִינַ֔י וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ (Shmos 19:2) Rashi comments:  אלא להקיש נסיעתן מרפידים לביאתן למדבר סיני, מה ביאתן למדבר סיני בתשובה, אף נסיעתן מרפידים בתשובה.

Why does Klal Yisrael need teshuvah when they come to Sinai if they already did teshuvah when they left Refidim?

The Shem m'Shmuel explains there is teshuvah that comes when you realize how bad things are and you need to escape, and then there is teshuvah that comes when things are so good that you ask youself with regret what took you so long to get there.  

Chasidim haRishonim, the gemara says, would prepare for davening for an hour, then daven for an hour, then take another hour before moving on.  After you've davened for an hour, whatever preparations you made beforehand, whatever thoughts you had going into davening, suddenly seem so insufficient and paltry then you need another hour to reassess and reflect.  

The teshuvah that happened when leaving Refidim to get to Sinai is not the same teshuvah as what took place after getting to Sinai.  The escape from what once was, leaving Refidim, is not the same as the re-assessment that takes place once you come close to Sinai, to mattan Torah, and realize just what that means.  

Ramban points out that the word used for counting in our parsha,שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ , can mean two very different things.  It can mean to lift up a person's head and give them confidence, or it can mean a person's head is literally on the chopping block: 

והלשון שכתב רבינו שלמה: כמו שאומרים לקוסטינר ארים רישיה דפלן, לא נתברר לי למה דרשו אותו לגנאי, אם מפני שמתו במדבר, ובמטה לוי נאמר: פקוד (במדבר ג׳:ט״ו), לפי שלא היו בכלל גזרה, והלא במנין שני של באי הארץ נאמר כן: שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל (במדבר כ״ו:ב׳). אבל בהגדה של ויקרא רבה דורש לשבח: אין שאו אלא לשון גדולה, כמה דכתיב: ישא פרעה את ראשך והשיבך על כנך (בראשית מ׳:י״ג). אמר הקב״ה לישראל: נתתי לכם תלוי ראש, ודמיתי אתכם לי, כשם שיש לי תלוי ראש על כל באי עולם, שנאמר: לך י״י הממלכה והמתנשא לכל לראש (דברי הימים א כ״ט:י״א), אף לכם עשיתי תלוי ראש, שנאמר: שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל, לקיים מה שנאמר: וירם קרן לעמו (תהלים קמ״ח:י״ד). וכן הוא אומר: ונתנך י״י אלהיך עליון על כל גויי הארץ (דברים כ״ח:א׳).

R' Shimon Sofer writes that there is no contradiction.  When a person is raised up to new heights, it is a mechayeiv -- a person has to grow and carry more responsibility.  Hashem holds those close to him to even greater account than those who are far away.  

The teshuvah of Refidim sufficed before you got to Sinai, but now that you got there, now that you are lifted up by the place and the moment, that much more is required and expected.

כְּ֜צִפּ֗וֹר בּוֹדֵ֥ד עַל גָּֽג

שָׁקַ֥דְתִּי וָאֶהְיֶ֑ה כְּ֝צִפּ֗וֹר בּוֹדֵ֥ד עַל־גָּֽג (Teh 102:8)

The Yalkut writes:

א״ר אלכסנדראי אמר הקב״ה שקדתי להכניס בני לארץ ישראל מיד ואהיה כצפור בודד, מה צפור זה מתבודד מגג לגג מגדר לגדר מאילן לאילן משובך לשובך, כך כשיצאו ישראל ממצרים היו נוסעים במחלוקת וחונים במחלוקת שנאמר ויסעו ויחנו, וכיון שבאו לסיני נעשו הומניא אחת, ויחנו אין כתיב כאן אלא ויחן שם ישראל, באותה שעה אמר הקב״ה הרי שעה שאתן תורה לבני.

Hashem wanted to bring Klal Yisrael into Eretz Yisrael right away, but when we left Egypt we could not get along and each encampment was marred with machlokes.  Finally, when we reached Sinai we came together as one.

It's an amazing Yalkut -- mattan Torah is presented not as the end goal, but as a necessary stop on the road to Eretz Yisrael.  Without mattan Torah there cannot be Jewish unity and without Jewish unity we cannot build a country.  

I cannot think of a more appropriate or timely idea to walk into Shavuos with.

shavuos leftovers

1) Interesting Masechet Sofrim that says Meg Rus is read in two parts, half on the first night of motzei Y"T and half on the second.  I have a hunch motzei here actually means the night on Y"T, not the night after.  In any case, I would also assume that the Mes Sofrim means that there is one chiyuv to read the book in its entirety over the span of the two days of Y"T, not that there is a chiyuv of kri'ah on 2 perakim the first night and a separate chiyuv on the second night.  The reading at night part makes sense -- we read megilas Esther by day only because we have a derasha that says that in addition to the chiyuv at night, there is a chiyuv "l'shanosa," to repeat it by day.  According to some Rishonim, the ikar chiyuv is in fact at night.  There is no such chiyuv "l'shanosa" with respect to Rus.  There are some sefardim who follow this minhag of mes sofrim, but I am not aware of any ashkenaz practice like it.

2) The Chok Yaakov (OC 473) has a chidush din that if you did not say she'hechiyanu on Shavuos, you may say it during the tashlumin days up to a week after the chag.  It is very difficult to understand how this can be the case when those days are regular weekdays.  Maharil Diskin tries to muster a defense of the Chok Yaakov by suggesting, also a big chidush, that you can fulfill the mitzvah l'hakbil pnei rabbo ba'regel during those tashlumin days and therefore they have some vestige of Y"T to them.  He then rejects this as sufficient basis for reciting she'hechiyanu, as there is no mitzvah if the rav is mochel.  This implies that the chiyuv l'hakbil pnei rabbo is a din in kavod ha'rav (Rashi in Chagiga 3a says this explicitly), and hence is subject to mechila, not a din in talmud torah (the Rambam quotes the din in Hil Talmud Torah), to visit your rebbe in order to learn something from him on Y"T.  My son pointed out that R' Chaim Kanievsky says it is a din in the kedushas ha'yom of the Y"T, part of how you celebrate the day.  Don't know where he got that from in Rishonim.

3) The Mishna in Bikurim 3:4 writes that once the procession bringing bikurim reaches Har haBayis, even someone as important as a king has to personally take his basket in hand and carry up to the Mikdash.  In our parsha (Naso) the Torah tells regarding the wagons donated by the Nesiim, "Va'yavi'u es korbanam... va'yakrivu osam lifnei haMishkan." (7:3)  Why the need to mention "va'yakrivum" after "va'yavi'u?"  Rashi explains that Moshe was hesitant and did not want to accept the gifts of the Nesiim, so they had to wait at the entrance to the Mishkan until Hashem gave the go ahead to take their gifts.  Netziv, however, explains that the pasuk is telling is that the Nesiim themselves were the ones who brought the wagons -- they did not send them by wagon driver or with a servant.  Similarly, the gemara (Pesachim 65b) writes that after the korban pesach was shechted, each person would personally carry his korban home with the hide -- they did not give it to a servant or anyone else to shlep for them.  Kavod for a mitzvah means taking a personal interest in seeing that it is done, not delegating the task to someone else. 

4) In previous years I wrote that staying up all night and learning while half awake does not accomplish much.  To be meyasheiv the minhag, it seems that staying up all night is not a kiyum of talmud torah, but is a kiyum of the mitzvah to remember ma'amad Har Sinai.  (Similarly, I heard R' Aharon Kahn shlit"a explain that the reason according to many shitos we read the dibros with ta'am elyon only on Shavuos is as a kiyum of the mitzvah to remember ma'amad Har Sinai, which is when we got the 10 dibros.  All the other times we read the parsha as a regular krias ha'torah = a kiyum of talmud torah b'rabim, and therefore we read with the regular trop that divides the sentences into pesukim, not dibros.) 

join the party even if you can't hear the music

(Skip down to #4 if you just want a vort.)

1) I wish I could take credit for saying this because it is so simple and yet so true, but it's not my words, it's the words of a Rav in the community: if only people were afraid of cheit and looked after their neshoma as much as they are afraid of the virus and care about their guf; if only people fulfilled mitzvos with as much attention to hidur as they are careful about every detail the health authorities demand.  Ha'levay. 

2) I am not a posek or a Rav, so my opinion is meaningless.  I just throw it out there to provide entertainment and something to think about : )  With that caveat out of the way...maybe this goes without saying, but I see so many emails about outdoor minyanim that maybe it's a good idea to say it anyway.  Unless you intend to daven in a near silent whisper, it is really NOT (again, only l'fi aniyus daati) a good idea to make a minyan in your driveway, on your porch, on your lawn, at ha'neitz on Friday morning.  People (non-Jews, wives, children, neighbors) are asleep at 5:00AM.  They probably don't want to wake up to the sound of your hallel, as beautiful as it may be.  As someone in favor of tefilah btzibur despite the lockdown, in this case I would say it is better to make an exception since if you are making noise outdoors you risk violating issurei d'oraysa for the sake of a maybe kiyum derabbanan.  (Of course, if your shul is open and you have a minyan indoors then you avoid the issue, but I wont get into that again.)

3) Along the same lines, it is easier to stay up all night when you have someone giving you a shiur, when you can go out to the lobby to chat with a friend for awhile, when you can  go from m'chayil el chayil, from course to course all night, from the fruit platter to the ice cream to the sushi, etc.  When you are sitting alone at home with just a gemara, a cup of coffee, and whatever snacks your wife left out, you are in for a hard battle.  For those who can do it, kol ha'kavod.  I've written in previous years that it may be smarter to just go to sleep, get some rest, and learn b'hasmadah with a clear head all morning the next day when everyone else is napping.  Kal v'chomer this year when the odds are stacked against you it may be better to learn well a few hours next day rather than be misnamnen all night. Again, ask you LOR. 

4) V'kol ha'am ro'im es ha'kolos... va'yanu'u va'yamdu meirachok (Shmos 20:15)  Rashi quotes from Chazal that Bnei Yisrael were literally blown back by the experience of mattan Torah 12 mil, but the malachim came and brought them back, as it says in Tehilim (68:13), "Malchei Tzivakos yidodun yidodun."   

B'pashtus, the pshat in the pasuk in Tehilim is that "yidodun" is referring to the movement of the malachim (or milachim = kings, to be precise) themselves, and Chazal are interpreting it derech derush to mean that the malachim moved Bnei Yisrael.  Degel Mahaneh Ephraim, however, quotes a pshat from the Besh"T that reads the derash and pshat as perfectly in line with each other.  He gives a mashal: imagine a party where the best band in the world is playing.  As soon as the band starts, people can't help but to get up and start dancing.  The closer you are to the band and the better you hear the music, the more you want to dance.  Enter one poor deaf guy who takes a look around, sees all these people making movements and gyrations, and decides they must be crazy, as he has no idea what is going on.  If only he were a little smarter he would realize that it's the music that he can't hear that is bringing all these people simcha, and he would rush and join in with them as well.

Torah is the most beautiful music, the greatest shirah.  It is beyond any human being to take it all in.  We came to mattan Torah like deaf people to the party.  Nonetheless, we see the angels "yidudon yidodun," dancing like crazy -- they are the one's moving, dancing, filled with unbelievable simcha.  We are "ro'im es ha'kolos," we see the party even if we don't hear the music, and we know something special is going on.  So we push ourselves forward in the hope that we can maybe catch some of the notes, some of the music, and be uplifted as well.

There are a lot of people who comes into Shavuos (and who come into the beis medrash all year) who are ro'im es ha'kolos.  They don't hear the music -- they don't hear the sweetness of a R' Chaim, they don't hear the beauty of a Rashba.  They may not hear, but they see the joy of those who are zocheh to be yoshvei safsalei beis ha'medrash and they recognize that there is something important going on here.  They too want to be part of it.  So they come to the beis medrash, even if it is just this one night, and they hope maybe something will rub off, that maybe they will hear some of that joyous melody and maybe something of the tune will stick with them.  If we walk away with even that, we've accomplished something.

kedushas ha'yachid and kedushas ha'tzibur

Boaz tells Rus “…U’t’hi maskurteich shleima” –- your reward will be complete.  Of course it will be complete -– Hashem doesn’t short change people.  What did Boaz mean?

 

The TIferes Shlomo explains that when it comes to other holidays, there are specific individual mitzvos that we have to do.  On Pesach you fulfill the mitzvah of matzah and you get schar for eating matzah.  On Sukkos you shake a lulav or eat in sukkah and get schar for those specific mitzvos.  It is like taking individual vitamins -– one holiday is your B12, another is your vitamin D, etc.  Shavuos is different.  Shavuos is the multivitamin holiday.  There is no one specific mitzvah associated with it, but rather Shavuos is about accepting the Torah = accepting all mitzvos.  It is just like geirus; the gemara in fact learns hil geirus from what Klal Yisrael did in preparation for kabbalas haTorah.   The reward of Shavuos, of geirus, is therefore a complete reward, as it encompasses the totality of all mitzvos together.

 

Even though we learn halachos of geirus from mattan Torah, there does seem to be a slight difference between the way the Rambam formulates the geirus of maamad Har Sinai and the way he formulates what happens in an individual geirus.  In Hil Issurei Bi’ah 13:1 the Rambam writes:

 

בשלשה דברים נכנסו ישראל לברית במילה וטבילה וקרבן:

 

A few halachos later the Rambam continues with respect to an individual ger:

 

וכן לדורות כשירצה העכו"ם להכנס לברית ולהסתופף תחת כנפי השכינה ויקבל עליו עול תורה צריך מילה וטבילה והרצאת קרבן.

 

R’ Bakshi-Doron z”l (sichos on Moadim) points out that the Rambam add those extra words ולהסתופף תחת כנפי השכינה ויקבל עליו עול תורה when speaking about the individual, but not when speaking about  the geirus of ma’amad Har Sinai.  There, the Rambam merely mentions entering a bris.  It is this bris which necessitates milah, tevila, etc.  If the bris the Rambam is speaking of is not kabbalas hamitzvos, not kabbalas ol, then what is it?  And why is it the first ingredient on the list, taking precedence even over kabbalas miztvos and kabbalas ol, which would seem to be the essence of what defines a Jew?

 

I want to frame what is going on in the Rambam (and this is essentially R’ Bakshi-Doron’s answer in different words) using a hesber of R’ Aharon Soloveitchik to a famous machlokes Ramban and Chachmei Tzorfas.  Chazal tell us that the mikalel mentioned at the end of parshas emor had a Jewish mother but a Mitzri father and was megayeir.  Ramban and Chachmei Tzorfas disagree as to why geirus was needed.  Chachmei Tzorfas held that pre-mattan Torah membership in “Klal Yisrael” (or whatever you want to call the entity that existed) was based on patrilineal descent, just like all  halachos of yichus for bnei Noach.  It is only post-mattan Torah that we follow matrilineal descent.  Therefore, the ben Mitzri mikalel needed geirus to become a Jew.  Ramban disagrees and writes that from the time of Avraham Avinu membership in Klal Yisrael was based on matrilineal descent and the mikalel was a J  from birth.  The geirus Chazal were speaking of is the geirus of mattan Torah that all of Klal Yisrael underwent, not some special requirement unique to him.

 

What is the neukdas ha’machlokes?  Parashas Derachim (as we’ve discussed before) explains the issue here revolves around the question of whether the Avos had the status of bnei Noach, or whether they were already considered Yisraelim.  According to Ramban, the Avos were Yisraelim; therefore, lineage follows matrilineal descent.  According to the Chachmei Tzorfas, the Avos were bnei Noach; therefore, the standards of yichus followed dinei ben Noach, which looks at paternal descent

 

R’ Aharon offered a different hesber.  He explained that there are two overlapping elements to kedushas Yisrael –- there is the kedusha of the individual and there is the kedusha of the tzibur.  Avraham Avinu established kedushas yisrael as an individual; kabbalas haTorah at Har Sinai established the kedushas yisrael of the tzibur.  The machlokes Ramban and Chachmei Tzorfas is whether matrilineal descent is a din in passing on the kedushas yisrael of the tzibur, and therefore applies only post matan Torah, or whether it applies to passing on even the kedushas yisrael, and applied from the time of Avraham Avinu.

 

Longtime R’ Aharon talmid R’ Josh Hoffman z”l suggested that this is the meaning behind the oxymoronic term “b’mispar sheimos” used in the count in parshas bamidbar.  Mispar= you’re just a number, a small unit in a larger whole; sheimos = unique identity  of the individual.  This is the overlap of the kedushas ha’klal and the kedushas ha’prat.

 

This distinction gives us a new perspective on the Rambam in Peirush haMishnayos in Chulin who writes that we don’t keep the mitzah of milah or gid ha’nasheh because it was given to one of the Avos; we keep these mitzvos because they were given to Klal Yisrael at mattan Torah.  What the Rambam is saying is that mitzvos are not a function of the kedusha of the individual, but rather are a function of the kedushas ha’tzibur that we took on at mattan Torah.

 

We also now better understand what in fact we are celebrating on Shavuos.  Didn’t the Avos already do mitzvos and learn Torah?  Didn’t they pass that on to their children?  The answer is that their observance was the observance that stemmed from the kedusha of the individual.  Mattan Torah marks the creation of a kedushas ha’tzibur, and ties observance to being a member of the community.

 

Coming back to the Rambam, the Jewish people at Har Sinai already had a tradition of mitzvah observance and had accepted the yoke of the Shechina when they left Egypt.   The ingredients of ולהסתופף תחת כנפי השכינה ויקבל עליו עול תורה were not lacking.  What was lacking was becoming a tzibur = entering a bris as a collective unit, attaining kedushas a a klal, not just kedusha individuals.   That is what happened at Sinai.  The first step for any ger has to be choosing to throw his lot in with the collective unit of Klal Yisrael -– deciding to enter that bris.  

 

And to come back to the Tiferes Shlomo: how can we ever have “maskurteich shleima,” complete reward for all mitzvos, when we can’t ever do all mitzvos?  The Shem m’Shmuel asks this question in a few places.  His solution is that we as individuals can’t do all mitzvos, but we as Klal Yisrael can.  “U’t’hi maskurteich sheleima” because througg geirus you will no longer be just a righteous individual, getting reward for his/her individual deeds, but you will be part of the community of Klal Yisrael.  You will have the kedushas yisrael of the tzibur, not just kedushas yisrael of a yachid.  That’s why the Rambam mentions ולהסתופף תחת כנפי השכינה ויקבל עליו עול תורה only after he mentions entering the bris.  What is required of the ger is not just kabbalas mitzvos and kabbalas ol as an individual, but kabbalas mitzvos and kabbalas ol as a member of the collective unit of Klal Yisrael -- a qualitatively different thing entirely.  This is what our kabbalas haTorah, our kabbalas hamitzvos of Shavuos is all about -– not our individual commitment to Torah, but our commitment as a nation.

 

Torah as a mitaheir

Imagine you are going out to a great steak restaurant.  You are looking forward to that delicious steak, but decide to start with an appetizer to whet your appetite.  You ask the waiter to recommend something, and he suggests... a steak.  You want a first course before the main dish?  The waiter recommends more steak.  By the time you get to the main dish, you don't even want to see a steak!

We want to appreciate kabbalas haTorah that takes place Shavuos morning, so what do we do?  We stay up all night learning.  Steak before the steak!  By the time the baal koreh gets to aseres hasibros half the shul is asleep, not sitting in excitement and anticipation.

The Zohar writes that on the night of Shavuos the goal is l'natra dachya ila'ah -- one can have great taharah on this night (see post from 2013).  How does one achieve tahara?  Sefas Emes answers: through torah. There is limud hatorah that is done for the sake of knowledge, and there is limud hatorah which purifies and elevates the person.  

Our first course is limud hatorah which is a mitaheir.  That meal, that experience, is completely different than the limud hatorah of the rest of the year.  It transforms a person and makes the rest of learning possible.

Make it a habit

I am not such a big fan of Shavuos all nighters. Rambam writes in Peirush Hamishnayos that it's better to give $1 to tzedaka 100 times than to write one check for $100 because the former inculcates giving as a habit while the lattter does not.  If Shavuos is one and done, then its value (there certainly is some value to spending hours learning even once) is minimized.  If it is something done to be mechazek a regular learning routine, then it makes more sense.

Let's be real: how many shuls have a vasikin minyan on day one of Yom tov, but on the second day davening is scheduled for 9:00, too late to even make zman krias shema?  And how many people show up at 9:15 or 9:30 or later for that minyan?  

And how many shuls get a crowd to sit and listen to lectures for a few hours Shavuos night, but next day and next Shabbos afternoon etc there is not even a minyan (and maybe not even a zimun) of people who have a seder in beis medrash on these long shabbos afternoons?

The spiritual energy of Yom Tov is something that has to be incorporated into everyday life, part of a consistent  routine, not be an oasis in a desert.  

"Yom chasunaso -- zu mattan Torah," the mishna in Taanis tells us.  Imagine a chassan and kallah who have a great wedding, are so happy for a few hours, but then don't talk to each other for weeks afterwards except for maybe a few sentences.  Shavuos is the chassunah and Torah is the kallah.  You can have a great wedding party Shavuos night, but if you then ignore your kallah, if you don't connect with Torah but instead go back to your pre-chasunah routines, what kind of marriage is it?

kabbalas haTorah and mesorah

The Pnei Yehoshua points out a seeming contradiction between the following two gemaras:

1) The gemara (Megillah 2) writes that nevi'im instituted using final letters mem-nun-tzadi-pey-kaf that are different than the regular letters.  Asks the gemara: we have a principle that a navi is not allowed to create a new law; how could they invent this new din?  Answers the gemara: the concept of final letters existed in the past but was forgotten.  The nevi'im were not instituting a new law, they were just re-establishing past practice.  (See Sukkah 46 for a similar idea.)

2) The gemara (Temurah 16) writes that 3000 halachos were forgotten in the days of mourning following Moshe's death.  Asks the gemara: why didn't Yehoshua or Shmuel use nevuah to rediscover those lost laws?  Answers the gemara: a navi has no right to be mechadesh new halachos.  The laws were only restored through the brilliant pilpul of Osniel ben Knaz.

The sugya in Megillah allows for a navi to use the power of prophecy to re-establish laws that were previously known and forgotten, yet the sugya in Temurah tells us that nevuah could not be use to rediscover the halachos forgotten upon the death of Moshe.  How do you resolve the contradiction?

Rav Wahrman in his She'eiris Yosef vol 4 suggests that the two sugyos are addressing two different problems, as the principle of ain navi rashay l'chadesh davar is two dinim in one: 1) the navi cannot use prophecy to rule on halacha; 2) prophecy is not a cheftza shel Torah, but is in a category of knowledge all its own. The gemara in Megillah is addressing the second problem only.  Since final letters existed in the past as a cheftza shel Torah, the navi is not creating new law.  The gemara in Temurah is addressing the former issue, and dealing with the right of the navi as a gavra to pasken using nevuah.  Whether or not these halachos existed in the past is irrelevant to this question, as it is an issue of process, not outcome.

Rav Wahrman (link) in a few parenthetical lines snuck into the middle of the piece offers a possible second answer, which is the one I want to focus on.  He writes  that in order for something to be a cheftza shel Torah it is not enough for it to have simply been received by Moshe Rabeinu.  Torah = mesorah.  For something to become a cheftza shel Torah it has to be passed on to future generations.  The nevi'im who lived generations after kabbalas haTorah were restoring a tradition that had existed once upon a time, but been lost over the years.  However, the halachos that were forgotten immediately upon the death of Moshe were too new, too fresh, to have yet been incorporated into the mesorah.  They were lost right out of the starting gate, at generation 1 after kabbalas haTorah.  When there is no mesorah to start with, a navi has to right to create a new one.

In light of this chiddush I would suggest that the Mishna in Avos that tells us "Moshe kibeil Torah m'Sinau u'mesarah l'Yehoshua" is not telling us about two events, namely 1) kabbalas haTorah and 2) its transmission to Yehoshua, but rather is telling us about one event only: kabbalas haTorah.  What the Mishna is telling us is that a kabbalas haTorah is a true kabbalah only when there is a "mesarah..." that follows -- when the kabbalah impacts and effects the future.

Rashi in Pesachim (68) writes that the chiyuv simcha of Shavuos is  "...l'har'os she'noach u'mekubal yom zeh l'Yisrael she'nitna Torah bo."  R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (posted here) was medayek from Rashi that the simcha of Torah that we celebrate on Shavuos is something that we have to show to others, to demonstrate.  Perhaps if kabbalas haTorah is complete only if Torah is given over to others, the simcha of kabbalas haTorah is complete only if we give it over to others as well.