“Every day they [the mitzvot of the Torah] should be like new”. With the exception of Coca-Cola, we like that which is new. We tend to associate new…
Shavuot: An Omer of Kindness
It is the omer, a measure of barley, that unites the Biblical holidays of Pesach and Sukkot. With no calenderic date Shavuot occurs on the day after…
Shavuot: A Long Weekend
This year, Shavuot falls on a Sunday. This rather unremarkable observation is of little import today; but had we been living in Temple times, or even…
Shavuot: An Evolving Torah
“Rav Yossi said: It would have been appropriate had the Torah been given through Ezra, but Moshe preceded him… and even though the Torah…
Shavuot: A Forced Torah?
Our attitude towards Torah is a most fickle one. On the one hand, the Jewish people demonstrated great faith in following Moshe into a barren…
Shavuot: Eating Out
How should one celebrate the receiving of the Torah? The Talmud (Pesachim 68b) quotes a seemingly strange argument as to how to properly celebrate…
Shavuot: Messianic Origins
“And these are the generations of Peretz…. Shalmon begot Boaz…and Yishai begot David" (Rut 4:18-22). So ends the Book of Rut, read on Shavuot,…
Shavuot: Strange Bedfellows
Chanukah and Purim. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret. The aforementioned holidays form natural units. When one thinks of…
Shavuot: Why Were We Chosen?
"It was taught in the name of Rabbi Meir: Why was the Torah given to the Jewish people?" (Beitzah 25a). The simple answer—made famous by a Midrash…
Shavuot: Whose Torah Is It?
The holiday of Shavuot is, outside of the observant Jewish community, a much-neglected holiday. It lasts only one day (two in the Diaspora), comes…
Shavuot: A New Holiday
The shalosh regalim of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot are a celebration of great historic events coupled with the recognition of G-d's role in our…