Shavuot

Overview

Shavuos celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. It falls on the sixth of Sivan, exactly fifty days after Pesach, at the close of the Counting of the Omer, in late spring. In Temple times it was also the harvest festival of the first fruits (Chag HaBikkurim). Jews mark it by staying awake through the night learning Torah, hearing the reading of the Ten Commandments, reading the Book of Rus, eating dairy foods, and adorning the home with greenery. It commemorates Israel's acceptance of the covenant and its enduring bond with Hashem.

Themes

• Torah, the life-force of creation
• Yirah preparing for ahavah
• Na'aseh before nishma
• The Torah renewed each year
• Bnei Yisrael complete the Torah
• Self-nullification to receive Torah

Must-read teachings

1. 1Torah as the revealed life-force of Creation"And on the day of the bikkurim (first fruits)… a new minchah (offering)…" (Bamidbar 28:26). The Torah calls Shavuos "the day of bikkurim," when a "new minchah" is brought — language the Sefas Emes will unpack as the theme of renewal throug…תרל"א
2. 2Yirah as the preparation for ahavahIn the Gemara: "The earth feared and was still" (Tehillim 76:9). The Sefas Emes opens with the Gemara's question (Shabbos 88a) on a verse that says the earth both "feared" and "was still" — seemingly two opposite states. If it feared, why w…תרל"א
3. 3Becoming Torah Through Self-SacrificeConcerning the Two Loaves (Shtei HaLechem), as it is written, "Come, partake of My bread" (Mishlei 9:5). The Sefas Emes connects the Shtei HaLechem of Shavuos with the verse inviting one to eat of Hashem's "bread" — alluding to the Torah. A…תרנ"ב
4. 4Bnei Yisrael Complete Creation through TorahOn the pasuk: "And on the day of the Bikkurim (first-fruits)..." (Bamidbar 28:26). The Sefas Emes opens on the Torah's name for Shavuos, "Yom HaBikkurim," and will explain why this day is called the day of "first-fruits." For Chazal explain…תרמ"ז - תרמ"ח - תרמ"ט
5. 5The fiftieth gate and the World of FreedomRegarding "And you shall count for yourselves" etc., "you shall count fifty days." The Sefas Emes begins from the mitzvah of Sefiras HaOmer — counting forty-nine days toward the fiftieth, Shavuos. For it is taught in the Gemara: "Who can pr…תרנ"ח
6. 6Renewal of Bnei Yisrael through Torah and tefillah at Sinai"And on the day of the Bikkurim (first-fruits)..." (Bamidbar 28:26). The Sefas Emes opens from the Torah's name for Shavuos — "the day of the first-fruits" — which he will read as a day of renewal for Bnei Yisrael. For on this day Bnei Yisr…תר"נ
7. 7The hidden inner good revealed at SinaiIt is written, "Face to face Hashem spoke with you" (Devarim 5:4), and our Sages teach: "Let the good one come and receive the good, from the Good One, for the good ones." The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrashic play that the giving of the …תרל"ט
8. 8Recognizing Hashem by direct soul-recognition at SinaiOn the pasuk "and all the people saw the sounds," my grandfather, of blessed memory, explained, similar to what is brought in the Gemara, that there is "recognition by the eye" of a voice (tevias eina d'kala). The Sefas Emes cites his grand…תרס"א