By Dr. Michael Kagan
In the opening verses of the Creation story we read about the daily work load of the Almighty as She creates everything from nothing. A true birthing process requiring a lot of rest at the end. Each period of creative burst concludes with the well known phrase “And it was evening and it was morning the nth epoch (lit.: day)” where n is an integral number from 1-6. The actual count-up reads: day one, second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, THE sixth day. And the question is asked: why the use of the definitive article for the last creative push? The answer that Rashi brings from midrash is that THE sixth day is a reference to a particular six day namely THE six day of Sivan – Shavuot. The idea being that the process of creation actually finally concluded with the giving of the Torah on Sinai.
I like to think of it slightly differently.
Shavuot is the bridge back to the time of the Garden, to the time that animals were not killed for their meat or skins; to the time that relationships in all directions were straight forward, true, and gentle; to a time when the Earth was freely gave of her fruit and humans planted and sowed with care and respect; to a time of greater innocence and joy.
How does this play out on Shavuot?
Traditionally the festival is particular in that it is a milk festival with an emphasis on cheese cake. On Shavuot the synagogues are decorated with greenery. These are both reminders of the Garden. We stay up all night trying to remember the original knowledge (Torah) that we forgot so long ago. And we read the Book of Ruth.
The Book of Ruth? What has this slim volume got to do with the bridge across forever? The Book of Ruth has within it every (or almost every) relationship that we are likely to have in our lives. Look for them yourself. Between the rich and the poor; the insiders and the outsiders; parents and children; in-laws and out-laws; land owners and serfs; managers and workers; lovers and loved; friends and family; life and death; past, present and future; old and young; between nature and humans; humans and God; and finally to the hint of the Healing (Mashiach ben David) that will repair the Great Damage.
And one more piece to hold this bridge in place – Shavuot means Weeks referring to the counting of seven weeks from Pesach to now. This is the period of the Omer in which we count seven times seven plus one Shavuot being on the fiftieth. Eight is the number for beyond, beyond the bounds of normal life where we can reach back to the beginning and reach forwards to the end, in which the end is in the beginning and the beginning is in the end – the Great Spiral of Life ∞.
Hence Shavuot – the Festival of the Great Giving – is the quintessential Green Festival.
Wishing you all a wonder-filled Shavuot.