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Lag B'Omer (The 33rd Day of the Omer)
- Around the bonfires - see the sparks rise.
- For almost the whole month between Purim and Pesach Hametz (bread) takes on an almost demonic status. Every effort is made to remove every last trace from our presence. The morning before Pesach the last remnants of Hametz are burnt. During Pesach no Hametz is eaten, seen or owned. Shavuot is the culmination of the Pesach experience. It is connected to Pesach by the Counting of the Omer. Surprisingly though, one of the unique sacrifices that the Torah calls to be offered on Shavuot is none other than Hametz! In fact it is the only time of the year that Hametz was allowed in the vicinity of the alter; at all other times the instructions are very clear - no Hametz can accompany a sacrifice. So how come after having made such an effort to rid ourselves of Hametz (illusion, pride, inflated ego) during Pesach we now celebrate it at Shavuot? A parable: when a Kallah (bride) and Hatan (groom) stand under the Kupah (marriage canopy) we stand in awe at the beauty of the couple and the sanctity of the moment. "She's so beautiful." "He's so handsome." "They look so wonderful together." "How lucky they are to have been brought together." "Surely this is a match made in Heaven." And we dance before the Hatan and Kallah. And how do they feel? Just a day before they were ordinary people and now they are special. How happy they feel. How beautiful they feel. They both swell in pride at how blessed they are to have been chosen for each other. And they offer up a prayer of gratitude. This is the good pride that comes in recognition of their uniqueness. This is the bread of Shavuot. But the moment that they should say (God forbid): "Our wedding was so much better than that wedding." "We are so much more beautiful and blessed than that couple." "We are so much more chosen than they." Then that is arrogance and false pride. That is the Hametz of Pesach that we need to burn.
- In the story of the Creation, at the conclusion of each 'day' the Torah writes: "First day; Second day; Third day; Fourth day; Fifth day; The Sixth day." Why does the definitive article only appear in regard to day six? Because, suggests the Midrash, it's refers to a specific sixth day - the sixth of Sivan - Shavuot. Thus the Creation was not complete until the Torah was given and received. This bridge also links us back to the Garden when we were nurtured with milk, fed by compassion, surrounded by love, still in touch with where we came from. At a certain age, in our own particular way, some violently, some carefully, we were exiled from the innocence of life. We stopped living in present time and began worrying, became embarrassed by our own nakedness. We tasted from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. The ego structure hardened into shells.
- On Shavuot there is a tradition to decorate our homes and synagogues with greenery. This reconnects us back to the Garden of Eden. What does the Garden represent? That time before we lost our innocence, when our connection with the Divine was natural, when we lived in present time, when we lived without mind-fear.
- Shavuot is celebrated through the eating of milk products. This too reconnects us back to the Garden, to the time before we took the life of animals in order to satisfy our appetites.
- The emphasis on milk during Shavuot imbibes the day with the female qualities associated with the nursing mother: love, compassion, bonding, birth, nurturing, relationship. Shavuot is a female festival characterized by the qualities of Naomi and Ruth.
- We are familiar with the word ruthless defined as: lacking compassion, heartless, cruel. So what is a ruth or to be ruthful?
- There is a tradition to purify ourselves in the Mikveh (Ritual Bath) in the hours before sunrise. Before the Giving of the Torah it is stated that the people sanctified themselves. This is understood to mean immersion in living waters. What is living water? A collection of water that is in part or in its entirety untouched and unblemished by the work of Man, as in rain water, sea water or spring water. And how does this spiritually purify? Upon entering virgin waters we touch the Source of all waters, the pure waters that flow from the Source of all life, from the point of origin, from that time of purity. And a river flowed out of Eden to water the Garden. These are the waters that we were suspended in for nine months, that nurtured and protected us, that floated us out into the world. Upon emerging from the Living Waters we are reborn.
- Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah when we heard the voice of God. We remember that once we too heard the voice of God - we didn't have to read about it.
- "And Israel encamped against the mountain." With one heart - unified as individuals, unified as a people. This was a precondition for receiving the Torah. It lasted for about forty days. Two years later, after having repented for creating and worshipping the golden calf and having built the Holy Tabernacle, the princes of each tribe offered gifts to the Lord to anoint the alter in preparation for the descent of the Holy Spirit. The Torah goes to great length to describe these gifts, detail by detail. And they're all the same - exactly. So why are they described in full? To point out once again that at that moment the people were unified - no jealousy, no one-upmanship, no playing out old stuff. And then "He (Moshe) heard the voice talking to him." Unifying mind/body/spirit, aligning the inner Tree of Life opens the channel for the Divine voice to be heard.
- The First Commandment - "I am the Lord thy God that brought you out of the Land of Egypt, out of the House of Slavery." (Exodus 20:2) What is the connection between the statement and the description? God can only be appreciated as the Lord, as the 'I' - the One - upon your coming out of Egypt, from the boundaries of your self-imposed limitations.
- Staying up all night learning Torah is a Tikkun - a healing - for when we were late in our appointment with the Lord at Mount Sinai. Why were we late? Because we were sleeping? Wake up!
It's not a matter of staying awake all night; that's relatively easy! It's being awake; that's the challenge!
- The Book of Ruth is indeed remarkable. It contains within it almost every relationship that you are ever likely to be involved in. Go see! Husband - wife (Elimelech and Naomi); parent - children (Elimelech, Naomi and their two sons); parents-in-law - daughters-in-law (Ruth and Ophra); the special loving relationship between two women (Ruth and Naomi); the individual and the community; people and Nature (the reaping season); the rich and the poor; the outsider and the insiders (Ruth and the People of Israel); between lovers (Ruth and Boaz); the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughter that produced Moab (lit.: from my father) from which Ruth came; the forbidden relationship between Judah and Tamar, his daughter-in-law, from which Boaz came; the individual and the law (the release of Ruth to marry Boaz); the past, present and future (the genealogy of Boaz and his offspring with Ruth, namely King David); a hint of the special relationship between men (David and Jonathan); the Messiah (from King David).{; and above all the relationship with the Divine.}
- Shavuot is the festival of relationships and hence commitment. It emphasizes and celebrates the triangular relationship of Human/Nature/God. What is your commitment to your relationships along these vectors? What relationships need to be recommitted to and what relationships need to be decommitted to?
- Shavuot celebrates the ultimate relationship with the Divine; when the People of Israel said "YES" and committed itself to be Holy.
- Chosenness does not imply exclusiveness. A parable: A King has a number of children. When they have all grown up he calls them before him. One by one they approach the throne. The King bends done to each one in turn and whispers in their ear: "You are very special to me and I love you very much. You have great talents and abilities. It is time for you now to go out into the World and be a Prince. Here is a unique gift for you. It describes the land that you will rule over and the secrets for being a great ruler. It is for you only. Guard them with your life." Thus the King blessed each of his children and sent them on their way each one clutching the unique secret that had been bestowed upon him and filled with the love of their father.
- The Nations of the World are compared to the organs of the body: each organ has a unique role to play in the welfare of the body-whole. Any organ that misfunctions affects the entire body. Ever heard of a kidney wanting to become a liver?
- Slowly at first, then with ever greater momentum the descent into the black hole begins. Faces go unshaved. Joy is kept in check. Boundaries are erected. Festivities are postponed. Weddings are delayed. Wine and meat are withheld. Music is curtailed. Washing is minimized. The smell of death is around the corner.
- Come see how the year rotates: The 17th of Tammuz commemorates the breaching of the Temple walls. It also occurs forty days after Shavuot. Moses was 40 days on the Mountain. Before he came down the people had built and began worshipping the Golden Calf. Upon his descent Moses smashed the two Tablets of commandments written with the finger of God. Then there came the second forty day period in which Moses prayed for forgiveness and mercy on behalf of the people and then another stretch of forty days during which he carved the second set of tablets as a sign that Divine forgiveness was granted. Moses descended on the ninth of the month of Tishre - Yom Kippur - the Day of Forgiveness. The next day he began to give instructions concerning the building of the Tabernacle, the first step of which was to ask for voluntary donations from the people. Four days later the amount collected was so vast that he instructed the offering to cease. The following day the Clouds of Glory reappeared around the camp of Israel. This was on the fifteenth day of Tishre. This is Succot.
- After the peak experience of Shavuot the fall begins. Thus our spiritual immaturity, our confusion over what is True and False, Good and Evil, our hunger for a god, our thirst for meaning can lead us in the wrong direction.
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