Back Row Of The 'Beis

Shavuos Stuff

I wrote a piece for the PMOSE's Torah Sheet (Shema Koleinu) in honor of Shavuos. As I told the editor a few months ago, the sheet would be more interesting if they asked non-Rebbe personalities to contribute. The novelty factor alone would help the sheet's readership numbers (at this point, they are limited roughly to the editors and contributors), it would be good for students to see that non-Rebbe types also have Torah thoughts, and it's always good to get different perspectives on things (presumably, David Deutsch, history teacher, has a different idea of what constitutes relevent Torah observations than, say, Rabbi Mendelson. Anyway, I came up with a relatively frum piece that I think is pretty well-written. It's below, as it runs somewhere over 1000 words (I was told to write "at least 600"). What do you all think?

Shavuos:
Graduation or Summer Assignment?

According to Shimon haTzaddik, the world stands on a foundation of Torah, Avodah, and Gemilus Chasadim (Avos 1:3). The implication of his list is that “Torah” and “Avodah” are distinct entities, and, to be sure, the classic commentators explain their meaning in that way; the former refers to Torah study, and the latter generally is taken to refer to the Temple service, or, in our times, to prayer. While we can certainly understand how the two are each necessary elements of a religious life, and, indeed, even to the maintenance of the world, it is not necessarily obvious that the two have that much to do with each other, at least not on a fundamental level.

There is a later Mishnah, though, that does provides a link between them. Avot 3:9 states in the name of Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosa that “Anyone whose actions are more than his wisdom – his wisdom will endure. Anyone whose wisdom is more than his actions – his wisdom will not endure.” What R. Chaninah ben Dosa does not tell us, though, is the nature of this relationship.

The Rambam, in his Peirush haMishnayos, explains the relationship in terms of conditioning. Someone who arrives at Torah study having already matured his character and personality will find it easier to succeed. He will have a stronger work ethic, be more disciplined, and, most importantly, he will be encouraged as the knowledge he finds will resonate with his lifestyle. If one has, however, not yet broken the grasp of his baser instincts, he will, for all of the obvious reasons, find Torah study that much more difficult. According to this approach, it seems that R. Chaninah ben Dosa is telling us that perfecting and refining one's personality is to better achieve success at his ultimate goal, which is Torah study. A person's behavior outside of the Beis Midrash is important largely because of the direct effect that it has on the quality of one's study.

Rav Yehuda Henkin, grandson of Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, z”l, and an accomplished contemporary posek in his own right, provides a contrasting explanation. He explains that, “Israel's promise, 'We will do and we will understand,' equally means 'we will do in order to understand.' We can understand the Torah only when we observe it. Knowledge detached from practice is ephemeral. (New Interpretations on the Parsha, p.195)” According to this approach, the Mishnah's ultimate goal is the improvement of the quality of a person's actions in “real life”. R. Chanina ben Dosa is telling us that learning Torah is only significant if it translates into practice; otherwise, it is just words floating through the air like a gentle breeze – they might feel nice, but they don't really accomplish anything.

What the Rambam and Rav Henkin share is the charge to achieve success both in terms of personality and intellectual development. For the Rambam, it is difficult to attain intellectual success unless one's personality is properly conditioned. For Rav Henkin, the ultimate guide to character development is the applied study of Torah. Although their emphases are different, they share the concept of a basic link between a person's actions and his Torah study.

This link is manifest as well when discussing Shavuos. When HaShem first speaks to Moshe at the burning bush, he tells him “When you have taken the nation from Egypt, you will serve (ta'avdun) God on this mountain (Sinai) (Shemos 3:12).” At first glance, the words “you will serve (ta'avdun)” seem a little out of place. As we saw from the Mishnah in Avos cited earlier, the word “avodah” generally refers to ritual worship, distinct from the study of Torah. Now, while it is certainly true that the Bnei Yisrael offered korbanos and built the mishkan at Sinai, those are generally not the things that we associate with the mountain. Since it is relatively clear that the primary event that occured while the Bnei Yisrael were camped by Sinai was the revelation associated with Matan Torah, why did HaShem not mention it to Moshe, choosing instead the seemingly secondary events?

The answer, possibly, goes back to the link between action and study. It goes without saying that the essence of the Sinai experience was the receipt of the Torah, to the point where it did not even require mention. What was less clear, though, was the maturation of Bnei Yisrael and the link between that process and Kabbalas haTorah. According to the Rambam, HaShem could have been telling Moshe that the ultimate sign of redemption was the ability of Bnei Yisrael to mature from their old slave mentality, develop their national personality, and perfect their actions through various forms of Avodah so that they would be capable of success in Torah in the first place. According to Rav Henkin, HaShem might have been telling Moshe that the ultimate purpose of Matan Torah would not just be receiving the Torah per se, but, rather, being able to translate the Torah into a life of Avodah, starting with the korbanos at Sinai and continuing through the building of the mishkan and the machanos.

Similarly, many question wonder why the Torah never explicitly states that Shavuos commemorates Matan Torah, or why Simchas Torah is not on Shavuos. Rav Henkin explains that “receiving the Torah is not yet a cause for celebration. Forty days after receiving the Torah, Israel worshipped the golden calf.” Instead, Simchat Torah is celebrated during Succos, the harvest festival, to demonstrate that the proper time for celebrating Torah is only once we have used it to produce something substantive, productive, and lasting (New Interpretations, p. 196). The Rambam might answer, in accordance with his general approach, that we can only truly appreciate and celebrate Torah after a process of maturation and self-development.

We are used to seeing Shavuos as the end of the process of redemption started on Pesach and measured by the counting of the Omer. What the above two answers demonstrate is that Shavuos also marks the beginning of the process of building a Torah-based life. It may not be coincidence that summer vacation effectively begins with Shavuos and effectively ends with Simchas Torah (leaving aside, of course, the two weeks or so in June and September). After a year of (hopefully) intensive and thoughtful study, we end the year with Shavuos, a celebration of the knowledge and insight we gained over the course of the year. However, the fact that Shavuos is not also Simchas Torah tells us that there is still work to be done over the summer. Instead of being a simple vacation, the Rambam and Rav Henkin have assignments that need to be completed – making sure that our characters are improving in step with our knowledge bases, and making sure that we validate our learning by translating it into refined action. Then, when we return in September (well, except for the seniors...?), we will be ready to celebrate Simchas Torah, both to celebrate one year's growth, and to mark the beginning of the next year's.

Posted by Avraham at June 2, 2005 09:28 AM