In previous articles we made reference to Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) and Yom Haatzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day), both of which are recent, 20th-century additions to the Jewish calendar. Today we turn our attention to a holiday that goes all the way back to biblical times: Shavuot, which literally means ‘weeks’. The Torah commands the counting of the seven-week period leading from the holiday of Pesach to Shavuot, thereby awarding this period special significance. Shavuot is the only holiday mentioned in the Torah for which no calendar date is specified; it falls on the day after the seven weeks are completed.

Aside from its agricultural significance as a celebration of the wheat harvest in the Land of Israel, rabbinical tradition teaches that Shavuot, which falls on the 6th of Sivan, was also the date of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. This imbues the seven week count with additional meaning. It offers a focus on spiritual identity and growth, on both the individual and communal level, reliving the progression from physical liberation from Egyptian slavery (Pesach) to the heights of spiritual endowment with the giving of the Torah (Shavuot) as the covenant with God and the constitution defining the newly-independent nation.  

Taking ourselves back in history to that moment in history when the entirety of the Jewish nation - men, women, and children - stood at the foot of Mount Sinai listening to the word of God, we might ask some questions that open up new possibilities for reflection. What did it mean, at that time, for the entire nation to experience – together - a revelation of God? In what way did this reflect or deviate from the regular power relations in society? Can we identify the impact of this event on Western civilization centuries later? 

Image source: American-Israeli Yael Harris Resnick is a self-taught multimedia artist known for her hand painted silk, acrylic paintings and, most strikingly, integrating silk accents on her canvases. Much of Yael’s work involves Judaic and Biblical motifs. To see her work: https://yaelharrisresnick.com/about/

To understand the degree to which the communal experience of the revelation at Sinai was revolutionary, we might consider, for example, the phenomenon of infanticide in ancient Greece, as described by Lloyd DeMause in The Evolution of Childhood: “Children were thrown into rivers, thrown into dunghills and ditches, "packed" in vessels to starve, and abandoned on hills and roads, 'prey for birds, and food for wild animals' (Euripides, Ion, 504).” Recalling that at that time infanticide was a routine practice, we see how radically different was this situation in which men, women, and children stood together to hear the Ten Commandments. The image speaks of the place of respect and dignity of each human being comprising the society.

In many other respects, too, the Torah introduced a religious and social revolution. The spirit of the Law was totally opposed to the accepted norms of the time. In the words of Simcha Cohen, it spoke of “(...) a God without physical form in opposition to the idols of Egypt; justice and morality as opposed to slavery and tyrannical oppression; the suppression of low instincts in opposition to hedonism (...)” (p. 155).

Historian Yvette Miller lists some of the new ideas introduced by the Torah, including the concept of monotheism; the establishment of a day of rest from labor; the population census; the idea of ​​asylum; equality before the law; animal rights, and more.

With all this said, what does that historical moment mean for our present? A tentative answer to this question might be found in the response of the Israelites to receiving the Law. The biblical account reads (Exodus 24:7), “And [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant, and read in the hearing of the people; and they said: ‘All that the Almighty has spoken will we do, and we will hear.’” Why first ‘do’ and then ‘hear’? Shouldn't it be the other way around? First listen and understand, and then carry out?

For us as educators, this phrase that tradition brings us - "We will do and we will hear" – expresses a fundamental factor that has not been mentioned until now in all this development: commitment, the personal and collective will and readiness to implement and execute the vision. God can appear and tell us what we should do, which revolutionary ideas would be propitious, and which rights and obligations should form the basis of our society - but without commitment on our part to put it all into practice, nothing will come of it. Hence, Shavuot is an invitation to think about where our commitment to the ideas and values ​​of the Torah stands today, and to what degree we are honoring our promise, “We will do and we will listen”.

Bibliographic references

Schlesinger, Erna (1970). Jewish traditions and customs. Publishing Sigal, Argentina.

Shemtov, Eliezer (2013). Let's see what this is about. A guided walk through Judaism. Empiria Publishers, Uruguay.

Bitton, Josef. Abortion and infanticide in ancient Greek culture. https://www.tora.org.ar/el-aborto-y-el-infanticidio-en-la-antigua-cultura-griega/?highlight=civilizacion

Miller, Yvette. 10 ideas that Judaism gave to the world. https://aishlatino.com/10-ideas-que-el-judaismo-le-dio-al-mundo/

Cohen, Simcha (1988). Return to the sources. Editorial Yehuda, Argentina.