Shavuos as the oath that binds us to Hashem

בענין חג השבועות.

Concerning Chag HaShavuos.

The piece opens its discussion of the festival of Shavuos.

דאיתא מושבעין ועומדין מהר סיני.

For it is taught that we are "sworn and standing" from Har Sinai (Yoma 73b; Nedarim 8a).

Every Jew already stands under an oath taken at Sinai to keep the Torah — a binding that the name "Shavuos" (related to shevuah, oath) itself hints at.

ובמד' שלשה שתקף עליהם יצרן ונשבעו חי ה' כו'.

And in the Midrash: three over whom their yetzer prevailed, yet they swore "as Hashem lives…"

The Midrash names three people who, when their yetzer hara assailed them powerfully, strengthened themselves by taking an oath in Hashem's Name (one of them being Boaz).

דכתיב מגדל עוז שם ה' בו ירוץ צדיק ונשגב.

As it is written, "The Name of Hashem is a tower of strength; the tzaddik runs into it and is set on high" (Mishlei 18:10).

Hashem's Name is a fortress; the tzaddik takes refuge in it and is raised above the reach of his yetzer hara.

וזה בועז שנתדבק בו ית' שנקרא עוז.

And this is Boaz, who clung to Him, may He be blessed, who is called "Oz" (strength).

The very name Boaz hints "bo oz" — "in Him is strength": Boaz overcame temptation by binding himself to Hashem, the source of all strength.

ואורייתא כולא שמהן דקוב"ה.

And the entire Torah is the Names of the Holy One, blessed be He (Zohar).

The whole Torah is, in its inner reality, composed of the Names of Hashem.

ויכולין להתחזק בשמו ית' ולהנצל עי"ז מיצה"ר ולהתדבק בו ית' ע"י התורה שנק' עוז.

And one can strengthen himself through His Name, may He be blessed, and thereby be saved from the yetzer hara, and cleave to Him through the Torah, which is called "Oz" (strength).

Since the Torah is Hashem's Names, immersing in it lets a person draw on divine strength, escape the yetzer hara, and attain dveikus with Hashem.

וע"ז נאמר אשרי אדם עוז לו בך כדכתי' עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה.

Of this it is said, "Praiseworthy is the man whose strength is in You" (Tehillim 84:6), as it is written, "It is a Tree of Life to those who hold fast to it" (Mishlei 3:18).

A person's true strength comes from clinging to Hashem through the Torah, the Eitz HaChaim, which gives life to those who grasp it firmly.

אך לא בכל עת יכולין לישבע בשמו כדאיתא במד' עד שיהי' בך כל המדות הללו ה' אלקיך תירא כו'.

But one cannot at every moment swear by His Name, as the Midrash teaches: only once all these middos (qualities) are in you — "Hashem your God you shall fear…" (Devarim 6:13).

Taking an oath in Hashem's Name (binding oneself wholly to Him) is permitted only when a person has first acquired the prerequisite spiritual qualities, beginning with yiras Hashem.

ובמ"א פרשנו כי כן הי' הסדר בבנ"י ה' אלקיך תירא הוא במצרים שהיו בגלות והיו מתחזקים רק ביראת ה'.

And elsewhere we explained that such was the order in Bnei Yisrael: "Hashem your God you shall fear" was in Mitzrayim, where they were in galus and strengthened themselves only with yiras Hashem.

The pasuk's sequence mirrors Israel's history. In the Egyptian galus, they could hold on only through fear of Hashem — the first step, "Hashem your God you shall fear."

אח"כ אותו תעבוד שנבחרו להיות עבדי ה'.

Afterward, "Him you shall serve" — that they were chosen to be servants of Hashem.

At Yetzias Mitzrayim they advanced to "Him you shall serve," becoming Hashem's avadim (servants).

ובו תדבק תיקון המדות בימי הספירה כדאיתא הדבק במדותיו.

"And to Him you shall cleave" — the rectification of the middos during the days of Sefirah, as it is taught, "cleave to His attributes" (Shabbos 133b; Sotah 14a).

"To Him you shall cleave" corresponds to Sefiras HaOmer, the period of refining one's middos — for clinging to Hashem means emulating His attributes.

אח"כ בשמו תשבע הוא חג השבועות.

Afterward, "and by His Name you shall swear" — this is Chag HaShavuos.

The culmination, "by His Name you shall swear," is Shavuos itself: only after fear, service, and refinement of middos can one bind himself by Hashem's Name through the Torah.

שמתדבקין ע"י התורה ולכן יש ביטול יצה"ר.

For they cleave [to Him] through the Torah, and therefore there is nullification of the yetzer hara.

By cleaving to Hashem through the Torah on Shavuos, the yetzer hara is nullified — just as Boaz, drawing on Hashem's strength, overcame his.

וכמו דאיתא שמשביעין הנשמה קודם שיורדת לעולם.

And as it is taught, that they administer an oath to the neshamah before it descends into the world (Niddah 30b).

Before a soul enters this world it is made to swear an oath — to be righteous and not wicked.

היינו שאז נדבקת בכל כחה בשורשה.

That is, that then it cleaves with all its strength to its root.

This pre-birth oath expresses the soul's total attachment, at that moment, to its source in Hashem.

כמו כן בשבועותיכם הוא שבאין אל השורש ביום הבכורים ולכן הוא מנחה חדשה:

So too "on your Shavuos" (Bamidbar 28:26) — it is that they come to the root on the Yom HaBikkurim, and therefore it is a "minchah chadashah" (a new offering).

On Shavuos, the Yom HaBikkurim, Bnei Yisrael return to their very root in Hashem — just as the soul was bound to its root before birth. Because this is a fresh, renewed bond at the source, the day's offering is called a "new minchah."

Summary: Shavuos (from shevuah, oath) is the day we bind ourselves by Hashem's Name through the Torah, which is itself His Names and a "tower of strength." Like Boaz, who overcame his yetzer by clinging to Hashem, one draws strength from the Torah to nullify the yetzer hara. This binding is the climax of a progression — fear in Egypt, service at the Exodus, refinement of middos during Sefirah, and finally "swearing by His Name" on Shavuos — when Bnei Yisrael return to their root, as a soul is bound to its source, making the day's offering a "new minchah."