Rabbi Benjamin Yudin Discusses Shavuos (5786)

Good morning, Nachum. Good Yom Tov everybody, and good Shabbos. Wow. We are about to embrace the Yom Tov of Shavuos, and there literally are not enough words to try to explain the significance of Shavuos. I'll try. And the first thing that I'd like to share with you is going back to the very beginning of creation. You'll note that the Torah tells us by the era of the day in describing what was created on each and every day, Yom Sheni, Yom Shlishi, Yom Chamishi. By all the days, it is that very simply a second day, a third day. And when it comes to the sixth day, the Torah doesn't say a sixth day. Doesn't say Yom Shishi. It's Yom Ha Shishi, the sixth day. How many extra letters are there in the Torah? So, Rashi says the reason why there's a hey here by the sixth day, big mar, ma'aseh bereishis, at the end of creation, lomar, to teach shehistana immohein, God made a condition to creation, al menas, on condition, sheyikablu Yisrael chamisha chumshi Torah. The hey is to remind us of the five books of Moses that God put a condition into creation. If the Jewish people are going to accept it, wonderful. If not, the world goes back to so vavo. Davar acher, Yom Ha Shishi, kulam tulyim, literally, everything is suspended, ve'omdim, ad Yom Ha Shishi, the sixth day. So in immediate context it's the sixth day of creation. Barashi goes on to say that it's the sixth day of Sivan. Why should be Yom of the Sivan on the sixth day of Sivan Shakibu Israel at Torah once the Jewish people receive the Torah this has cool zeros beracious. Uh the creation itself became solidified. And that's what it means that Yom Hadasha the sixth day. The Nefesh Hachaim says Hashem created the world in such a way that there's always someone studying Torah. When it's day in one place it's night in the other. When the first place stops studying the next one is studying. Amazing. Now the next point that I'd like to do and share with you is the Gemara in Pesachim which is 68B. And the Gemara talks about Machlokes between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua how one is to observe Yom Tov in general meaning the Yom Tov of Pesach day Sukkot how does one to observe of those days? So Rabbi Eliezer says you can either or. You can spend it either uh by eating and drinking or one can study Torah all day without having to eat and drink. However, even Rabbi Eliezer and by the Rabbi Yehoshua argues and says we split the day half for God half for man. But even Rabbi Eliezer who says that the all holidays can just with studying Torah except for Shavuot. Why? Because Yom she nitanu bo Torah, this is the day that Torah is given and listen carefully, Rashi says, "She yismach bo, we celebrate b'machar umishter with eating drink she Noah umakubo. We are so happy that this day has been a day of acceptance l'Yisrael she nitanu Torah bo. We're celebrating that we received the Torah. We're celebrating Asher bocharbanu. The Vilna Gaon explains Ato bochartonu mikol amim, you Hashem chose us from all the nations. That refers to what we're going to say tonight in our davening, Ato bochartonu, that refers to Yitziat Mitzrayim. Ahavta osanu, whoa, you love us. How does Hashem demonstrate his love? Shavuot, by giving us the Torah. And ki ratzisa banu, this is the celebration of Sukkot after the holiday of Yom Kippur that is ritzui, Hashem wants us back. But the idea is that Shavuot represents the love between God and the Jewish people. Our rabbis tell us so many of the minhagim of a wedding are based on Maimat Har Sinai because and forgive me that many have stolen so much from us, but literally we became wedded to Hakadosh Baruchu on Shavuot. Now, I'd like to discuss the following. That on Shavuot, there is no particular mitzvah on the individual. Sure, there's the collective mitzvah that we are not to do work on Shavuos as we're not to do work on Pesach and Sukkos. And there is one unique mitzvah for the Yom Tov, which is the Shteim Alechem, which was a korban that was brought in the Beis Hamikdash on Shavuos. However, what we don't have in terms of a lulav or a sukkah, right, a matzah, what we don't have a shofar, we don't have any of these mitzvos, we do have minhagim, customs. I'd like to suggest that our having minhagim that we do on Shavuos demonstrates our love for Hakadosh Baruch Hu, that we don't only accept Na'aseh v'Nishma. Okay, count me in. I'll take all 613, which is what we said at Sinai, whether I know them, I don't know them, etc. So, the answer is no. Not only do we accept 613, but we accept minhagim as well, the customs. And therefore, there are three primary customs that we participate in in conjunction with Shavuos. The first one is, and this is brought down in the one siman in Shulchan Aruch for Shavuos, and it's even called at the top, it's part of Hilchos Pesach, Seder Tefilos Chag HaShavuos in chapter 400 and 94 in the Shulchan Aruch, and we have the following. The Rama writes, one, that nohegim there's a minhag l'shtoa'ach asavin b'Shavuos to spread a literally grass, greens, flowers on shavuos in the base of kinesis in the synagogues and in the homes. Zaycher the simchas matan Torah to remember the joy the happiness at matan Torah meaning that God bedecked the mountain with green. With grass and therefore if you ask me this is following the pasuk in Yeshayahu. Vayosam midbara k'eden. Hashem made the midbar the desert like a garden teaching us that with Torah the desert blooms and without Torah a blooming field and blooming environment unfortunately wanes to a desert. So the pasuk says that the animals were not to graze on the mountain teaching us that there was green and therefore we remember Hashem's love for us at Sinai by providing us with this environment. The second custom we know is that of staying awake on the night of Shavuos and studying Torah. Now the Magen of Rome gives an explanation that this is a kind of makeup for our nation that overslept the morning of matan Torah and therefore we stay up to show our zeal to receive the Torah. In zaycher in a kabbalah if that is a reason I accept it however it seems very hard to imagine that the Jewish people would oversleep on such an event which they knew was coming. Wow, this is the first and only time in world history that Hakadosh Baruch Hu spoke not only to a prophet but Hakadosh Baruch Hu spoke to millions of people. Remember that. No other religion makes that claim that their prophet heard God speak and so did more than 2 million people. But we know this. We heard this from our fathers who heard it from their fathers all the way back. Now, I heard from Rav Shach zt"l another beautiful explanation as to why uh and how they could even quote oversleep on the morning of Kabbalat haTorah. Now, remember, if you look in Parshas Yisro, right? Where the Torah tells us the Jewish people received the Torah and chapter 19 is the prelude and telling us about the environment and what was to happen at Matan Torah. Chapter 20 are the Aseres Hadibros, which we're going to read tomorrow morning, chapters 19 and 20. Now, if you look carefully in chapter 19, there was a plan A and a plan B. The plan A was that >> [clears throat] >> Hashem says to Moshe in chapter 19, pasuk nine, Vayomer Hashem el Moshe, Hinei Anochi ba elcha b'av he'anan. Behold, I will come to you in the thickness the cloud, bavur, in order that yishma am, the people will hear, bidavri imach, when I speak to you, and as a result of that, gam b'chol y'mei olam, they will also believe in you forever, period. So, what were the Jewish people to be? They were to be spectators. They were to hear Hashem speak to Moshe. And then the pasuk continues, vayaged Moshe, as the re'um el Hashem, the people go and they relate to Moshe their response to this. Now, the Torah doesn't tell us what their response is, but Rashi, in pasuk nine, where it says, as divrei am, Rashi says, tzuva davar she shamati mehem, Moshe says, I have their response. And you know what that is? They don't want to hear Hashem speak to me, she'er itzo lishmo'a mimcha, they want to hear from you directly. Ein adam yachol l'hashvi'a, hashoma'am mipi shaliach, they're going to hear it from me, who's an emissary, who's an agent of yours, v'lishmo'am mipi ha'melech, no, they want to hear it directly from Hashem himself. Ratzoneinu, it's our desire, lir'ot es malkenu, to see Hashem himself. Ah, they want a plan B. So, Hashem says, if that's the case, look further in the psukim, v'kidash'tem l'yom hamachar, umach, now you got to go to the mikvah. And, as a result of this, you have to separate from your wives for three days. Ah, now we go to plan B. So, listen carefully, what was plan B? They were going to experience nivu'ah. Now, the Torah teaches us at the end of parshas Yisro, that there's a marked difference between the prophecy of Mosha and all other prophets. Mosha spoke to Hashem Panim el Panim, literally face to face, okay? But all other prophets, how did Hashem speak to them? The Torah says that bamara elav es vador. How in a vision will I make myself known to them and bachalom adaber ibo. In a dream shall I speak with them. Ah, so they thought they were going to get prophecy in a dream, which is why they slept and slept and slept, woke up, went back to sleep, woke up, went back to sleep because they wanted to get prophecy in a dream. Mosha comes to them and says, "No, guys, guess what? You're not going coach, you're going first class. You've been elevated to hear directly from Hashem." So they didn't only hear directly from Hashem, whoa, there was an incredible elevation. Just as at Sinai, the Jewish people said, "We want more." Our having been hugging on Shavuos is our demonstration of we want more. We're not satisfied with the fact that Mosha heard and we got the Torah through Mosha. No, we want to be participants and not spectators. We want to show more and therefore we show more by having our customs, by staying up all night. Under normal conditions, we have the the concept that man is to sleep. He needs sleep for his health. He needs sleep. However, we go beyond and we give up a night of sleep to show how dear Torah is to us. And finally, we have third custom of having dairy on Shavuot. And the Mishna Berurah brings the traditional answer that they come down and they say, "Let's celebrate." Wow. But Moses says, "Wait a second. You can't use your pots, pans. We can't make a What's it called when you go outside and you grill? That's right. You can't do that. Why not? Because of barbecue. You can't do that because your grill is non-kosher. It absorbed non-kosher. They didn't know the laws of kashrut. They didn't know how to do shechitah properly. So, because they had all of a sudden now learned new halachos, therefore they had dairy and we reenact because the Ramban says that our reading tomorrow of chapter 19 is uh which is the preparation and the excitement and the environment of um kabbalas haTorah, the Ramban says that this is actually a biblical mitzvah as we find in parshas Va'etchanan where the Torah says, "Wow." And this is you are to remember and pass on to your children and grandchildren chapter 4 in Va'etchanan, pasuk 10. Yom asher amadeta lifnei Hashem Eloqecha b'Chorev, the day that you stood before God at Sinai. Now, remember who was there at Sinai? Not just that website saw you at Sinai, but remember all of us were there at Sinai. As we're told in the beginning of Parshas Nitzavim, that the bris that was made, and there's a bris of Sinai, and a bris of Arvos Mo'av, and the bris, as we're told in chapter 29, verse 13, is not only for those that were there present, but rather those who are there, the ace asher einenu po imanu hayom, and those who are not yet here, those in the future. Because we believe the Torah is, quote, the best diz ach, Torah is the best thing, so our ancestors at Sinai were able to accept the Torah, not just for them, but accepting it for us. And that's what we are saying as the world concludes in Pesachim, Samach Ches, that we quoted before, the Gemara concludes by saying that Rebbe Yossi said, "Oh my goodness, ilav hayuma, were not for this day of Shavuos, kama Yosef ikar bashukra, how many Jews there would be out there in the marketplace, I would be no different than them, but now, wow, look how privileged I am, how different I am from everybody else." And finally, Reb Ruderman explained this beautiful teaching of Rebbe Yossi in the following way. Individuals get up in the morning, and they wash, they pray, they go to work, they have lunch, they're in business, they come home, they do this, they do that. There are 20 different parts of the activities that they do, representing 20 different persons in the same body, doing different chores. But now with Torah, all these 20 different things that the person does, they're all united cuz they're all being done in conjunction with Torah. Wow. Ashreinu, Matan Torah U'Kevelato. I hope and pray that everybody enjoys the Yom Tov of Shavuot. Remember, it's not just cheesecake. Yes, we have some dairy, but your the should be Yom Tov meals are meat, Shabbat meals are meat, okay? And you'll find a way to get some dairy in as well. Shabbat well, get you a Yom Tov and a Shabbat Shalom to all.