Shavuot: A Contemporary Experience

            Shavuot, the holiday of revelation, is not merely a celebration of a historical event which took place more than eighty generations ago, rather it must also be a contemporary day of dedication as our Sages teach:

Every day the mitzvot should be new to you, as though you had received them that day.   Midrash Tanḥuma Deuteronomy 26:16 ]also Sifrei Deuteronomy 11:13]

            Just as our ancestors said “na’aseh v’nishma” (we will do and listen), so too we must accept Torah upon ourselves.

            Seven weeks before Shavuot, we recited our Sages’ admonition: “in every generation, one must see himself as if he left Egypt.” Just as one must see himself as having been redeemed from Egypt, so too, every Jew must see himself as having received the Torah at Sinai.

            The exodus from Egypt was the means for Israel’s arrival at Sinai to receive the Torah. Thus, exodus and acceptance of Torah are two parts of the same process, and it is not surprising that our Sages enjoin us to have the feeling of contemporary experience concerning each.

            Our generation has the advantage of being able to telescope the two experiences, rather than having to wait the fifty days between the exodus and Sinai, we can/must be able simultaneously to appreciate both events as active participants.

            Shavuot celebrates not only the historic event of the divine revelation at Sinai, but the continuity of the People of Israel as well. It is Israel’s acceptance of Torah which guarantees its survival.