This Tuesday evening, June 3rd, Jews will recall the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Torah (Five Books of Moses) while standing at Mt. Sinai. Tuesday evening, Jews around the world will begin the observance of the holiday of “Shavuot: The Day that Shook the World“.
Jewish tradition suggests that at that time not only were the newly released slaves from Egypt there but they were joined by the souls of all Israelites that would be born in the future. This tradition is a powerful concept – the first test of the collectivity and unity of the Jewish people.
In some ways, it is similar to the experience of the Passover Seder when we teach our children to remember when we were slaves in Egypt – as if to say, it was not only generations past that were slaves but we were part of that episode in Jewish history as well. So, on the holiday of Shavuot, we were standing at Sinai – waiting for Moses to come down the mountain and give to the Jewish people the Ten Commandments and the Torah, which were then given to the rest of the world.
Rabbi Hammer suggests that according to certain statements in the Torah, we were not standing “at the foot of the mountain” but rather we were standing “underneath the mountain”. Accordingly, the mountain was held over the Jewish people as a magnificent chupah (wedding canopy) for the wedding between Israel and G-d. The Torah was the ketuba – the marriage contract between G-d and the Jewish people.
The Torah tells us it took precisely forty-nine days for the Israelites to travel from Egypt to the foot of Sinai where they were to receive the Torah. Thus, in Leviticus, we are commanded: “And you shall proclaim that day to be a holy convocation!” The holiday of Shavuot symbolizes the completion of this seven-week journey.