The second festival
There are three festivals known as the Sholosh Regolim. These parallel the three Avos. Pesach with Avrohom, Shavuous with Yitzchok and Sukkos with Yakov. These are three different stages in the building of the Jewish Nation. Pesach is the time of birth of the Jewish Nation with the exodus from Egypt. Shavuous is the time of Bar Mitzva when we became obligated with doing the Torah and Mitzvos. Sukkos is the Chasuna when the chosson and kalla have their own house, when the Jewish Nation become intimately connected to Hashem, a time of simcha.
Shavuous – the name
Pesach is called after the action of leaping over the Jewish houses and Sukkos is called after the booths the Jews had in the desert. Why is the festival called “Shavuous” that means “weeks”? How does this reflect the receiving of the Torah? The answer is that the receiving of the Torah is not simply a one step process. Instead it is a culmination of working for seven weeks, the forty-nine days of the Omer.
Shavuous – a separate spiritual nation
All the nations were offered the Torah before the Jews. They questioned its content and did not accept it. Not only did the Jews accept it when offered, but they did so without questions. “Naasa Vinishma“, “we will do and we will hear” was the unanimous response. This was the changing point that separated the Jews from all the other nations. Spirituality is now the pathway of the Jew as the Chosen Nation of Hashem as seen in the acceptance of the Torah and Mitzvos.
Torah comes to strengthen the seichel
The way a person was created means that he has an evil inclination that draws him to physicality. This is seen in a natural urge that his constantly aroused in different ways when interacting with the physical world. To combat this is the seichel, the intellectual tools that speak though the temptations and weigh up the pros and cons before deciding how to act. However, the fight is almost a forgone conclusion since the seichel is fighting an uphill struggle against the natural pull of the world. To strengthen the seichel comes the Torah with laws that assist a person in dealing with the pull of the outside world and get the right balance. (See Rabbeinu BiChai, Shemini 11:44).
Minhogim on Shavuous:
- To read Megillas Rus.
- To eat dairy.
- To decorate shuls with flowers and greenery.