Shavuos is NOT About the Giving of the Torah

This article, originally published on 5/30/17, is one of the few I've written about Shavuos. It deals with a basic question: What is the theme of the holiday?

Jun 11, 2024

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Shavuos is NOT About the Giving of the Torah

The Question

Ask your average Jew, "What is Shavuos about?" and you are bound to hear, "Shavuos is about Matan Torah (the Giving of the Torah at Sinai)." That's what I thought until I delved deeper into the issue.

There is a significant problem with this common explanation: the text never explicitly identifies "Matan Torah" as the theme of Shavuos. While one can argue that there are allusions to this theme in Torah she'bi'Chsav (the Written Torah), and numerous supports in Torah she'baal Peh (the Oral Torah) and in halacha, it is noteworthy that the pesukim (verses) themselves do not mention Matan Torah in connection with Chag ha'Shavuos (the Festival of Weeks).

The aim of this article is to summarize the approaches of three meforshim (commentators): Ralbag, who agrees with the conventional explanation, and Abravanel and Rav Hirsch, who disagree. As is the case in any machlokess (disagreement), each theory has its own strengths and weaknesses. I will leave it to readers to decide which explanation is most compelling.

Ralbag: The Traditional Theory

Ralbag (Shemos 19:1, Beur ha’Milos) acknowledges the difficulty mentioned earlier but insists that Shavuos commemorates Matan Torah:

"In the third month from the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt, on this day, they arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai" (Shemos 19:1). This refers to the day of Rosh Chodesh (the first of the month) itself ... And since this indicates that, at the very least, Matan Torah occurred on the third day of the third month, which is close to the time of Chag ha'Shavuos, which is on the 6th of Sivan, and it is possible that Israel camped there for three days before Moshe said to them, "Be prepared after a three-day period" (ibid. 19:15), therefore, it is proper for us to believe that the day of Matan Torah was on the 6th of Sivan. Furthermore, it would be erroneous [to claim] that the Torah left for us a sign and a commemoration for the time we left Egypt by making a Chag ha'Matzos (Festival of Unleavened Bread) but didn't leave for us a sign and commemoration of the time that the Torah was given in this wondrous manner. For this reason, it is clearly evident that Chag ha'Shavuos is at the time of Matan Torah, to remind us of the wondrous phenomenon of Matan Torah to firmly establish our conviction in the words of Torah forever.

Ralbag makes two arguments to support his assertion that Shavuos commemorates Matan Torah: (1) since Shavuos is on the 6th of Sivan, and the pesukim can be read in a way that indicates the Torah was given on or around the 6th of Sivan, it follows that the 6th of Sivan is the day of Matan Torah, and Chag ha'Shavuos is its commemoration; (2) it would be absurd for the Torah to commemorate the day of Yetzias Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt) and not commemorate the day of Matan Torah.

In Parashas Emor, Ralbag (Vayikra 24, at the end) supports his theory with his explanation of the Shtei ha'Lechem (Two Loaves), which is the unique korban (offering) of Shavuos. He explains that we bring loaves of chametz (leavened) bread as a korban to reflect the Torah-regimen, which brings man to perfection. He writes:

Before man’s actions and concepts are perfected through the Torah-regimen, his actions and concepts are deficient – just like matzah-bread, which lacks the perfection of leavening. But afterwards, man’s actions and concepts become perfected, like chametz-bread, which has the greatest degree of perfection.

(For a full treatment of this subject, see my article, Torah as Melachah.)

The strength of Ralbag's theory lies in its intuitiveness, and its alignment with other sources and halachic practices. The strongest proof is that in our tefilos (prayers) we refer to the holiday as: "zman matan Toraseinu” (the time of the giving of our Torah). Additionally, the krias ha'Torah (public Torah reading) of the moadim (festivals) corresponds to the theme of that moed. On Shavuos, the widespread minhag (custom) is to read the Torah's account of Matan Torah in Shemos Chapters 19-20. Other minhagim also support Ralbag, such as the reading of Megilas Rus (which deals with Rus's personal acceptance of Torah), the reading of Akdamus (which deals with the theme of Torah), the minhag to stay up all night learning Torah, and more.

The weakness of Ralbag's theory is the lack of support in Torah she'bi'Chsav. It is awkward, to say the least, that Ralbag relies on inferences to establish both the date of Matan Torah and the theme of Shavuos, and uses each one to support his argument for the other. Ultimately, Ralbag must contend with the fact that the pesukim don't say anything about Matan Torah in conjunction with Shavuos.

Abravanel: The Scriptural Theory

Abravanel's argument (Vayikra 23:21) hinges entirely on the Torah she'bi'Chsav's treatment of Shavuos. He begins by expressing the view that forms the title of this article:

Behold! The Torah didn't give as a reason for this chag that it is a commemoration of the day of Matan Torah because this chag was NOT established as a commemoration of the giving of our Torah. This God-given Torah and this nevuah (prophecy) we possess are their own witnesses, and there is no need to sanctify a day to remember it.

Right away, we see that Abravanel's view is the polar opposite of Ralbag's. Ralbag argued that it would be absurd for there not to be a holiday commemorating the day of Matan Torah, whereas Abravanel says that there is no need for such a holiday! (As much as we would like to take up this point in this article, it will have to wait for another time; feel free to suggest an explanation for this disagreement in the comments.)

Abravanel continues by stating what he holds to be the real theme of the chag:

But the reason for Chag ha'Shavuos is that it is the beginning of the wheat harvest. Just as Chag ha'Sukkos (Festival of Booths) is at the end of the gathering of the produce, so too, Chag ha'Shavuos is at the beginning of their gathering. For Hashem desired that at the start of the gathering of the produce that sustains man - of which wheat is the primary species, and which is first harvested at Chag ha'Shavuos - they should make a chag to give thanks to "He Who provides sustenance to all flesh" (Tehilim 136:25). And at the end of the produce [gathering season] they should make another chag.

In Abravanel's view, Shavuos and Sukkos are both harvest festivals: Shavuos occurs at the time of the first major harvest, and Sukkos occurs at the very end of the harvest. These two moadim may be compared to brachah rishonah (the blessing of praise we make before partaking of our food) and brachah achronah (the blessing of thanks we make after partaking of our food). We thank and praise Hashem at the beginning of the harvest to enter "harvest mode" with the right mentality, and we thank and praise Hashem at its conclusion to ensure we don't get caught up in exaggerated views of our own success.

At this point one might ask, "Wait a minute - does Abravanel deny that the Torah was given on the 6th of Sivan?" The answer is no. Abravanel explains that the overlap of the day of Matan Torah and the day of this harvest festival is (for lack of a better term) a coincidence! He writes:

Without a doubt the day of Chag ha'Shavuos is the day that the Torah was given, but we were not commanded in this chag in order to remember [Matan Torah]. The same is true of Yom Teruah (i.e. Rosh ha'Shanah). It is stated [in the Mussaf of Rosh ha'Shanah]: "This day is the beginning of Your works, a remembrance of the first day" - but despite all this, it doesn't say that the reason why He commanded us to observe Yom Teruah is for the sake of this remembrance; rather, [He commanded us to observe the Yom Teruah] as the Day of Judgment. The same is true of Chag ha'Shavuos: it occurs at the time of our Matan Torah, but we weren't commanded in it for this remembrance; rather, [He commanded us to observe Chag ha'Shavuos] as the beginning of the wheat harvest.

It should be noted that while Abravanel does explain some connection between Yom Teruah and the initial act of creating the universe (as we wrote about in our article, Yom ha'Din and Yom Teruah), he does not offer any explanation of a thematic connection between the wheat harvest and Matan Torah - at least, not that I have seen. We will return to this point later.

Abravanel concludes his explanation of Shavuos by citing ample evidence for this theory from Torah she'bi'Chsav:

Likewise it was stated in Seder Mishpatim: "and Chag ha'Katzir (Festival of the Harvest) of the first fruits of your labor that you sow in the field, and Chag ha'Asif (Festival of the Ingathering) at the close of the year, when you gather in your work from the field" (Shemos 23:16). And in Seder Ki Sisa: "and Chag ha'Shavuos with the first offering of the wheat harvest, and Chag ha'Asif shall be at the changing of the year" (ibid. 34:22). And in Seder Pinchas: "On the day of the first-fruits, when you offer a new meal-offering to Hashem, on your [Festival of] Weeks" (Bamidbar 28:26). And in Seder Re'eh: "You shall count seven weeks for yourselves, from when the sickle is first put to the standing crop shall you begin counting seven weeks. Then you shall observe Chag ha'Shavuos" (Devarim 16:9-10). Behold! You see that this chag is only called by the name "Shavuos" and that we were only commended in it because of the first fruits, not as a remembrance of Matan Torah.
This is why it was stated by Chag ha'Shavuos: "[You shall convoke] on that very day" (Vayikra 23:21), since [its identity as a holiday] it is because of the day itself, in that it is the first wheat harvest - not because it was [the day of] Matan Torah ...
And since this Chag indicates the beginning of the wheat harvest, as I explained, therefore the Torah commands us in its purpose immediately after this, saying: "When you reap the harvest of your land, [you shall not remove completely the corners of your field as you reap and you shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest; for the poor and the convert shall you leave them; I am Hashem, your God]" (ibid. 23:22). In other words, just as the beginning of the harvest is for the kavod (honor) of Hashem in Chag ha'Shavuos, so too is the purpose of His service in leaving peah (the corners of your field) and leket (gleanings) for the poor.

The evidence marshaled by Abravanel is compelling! Literally every pasuk in the Torah which discusses the theme of Shavuos supports his theory. The anomalous use of the term "on that very day" to describe Shavuos is consistent with his explanation that Shavuos celebrates a phenomenon associated with the day itself (i.e. the harvest that we begin at that time of year), rather than a historical event which the holiday was established to commemorate (i.e. Pesach). Last but not least, Abravanel's theory answers the question of why the Torah follows its discussion of Shavuos by reminding us of laws of the harvest. If the theme of Shavuos were Matan Torah, this reminder would be a non-sequitur. But once we see that the theme of Shavuos is thanking Hashem for the harvest, it naturally follows that this recognition should reinforce our observance of the tzedakah-mitzvos which govern the manner in which we harvest.

The strength that Abravanel's theory derives from Torah she'bi'Chsav is matched by the weakness of his theory from the standpoint of our halachic practice. What does Abravanel do with the phrase "zman matan Toraseinu" in our tefilos? What does he make of the many minhagim which support Ralbag's assertion that Shavuos is about Matan Torah? Is he really not bothered by the fact that the day of Shavuos and the day of Matan Torah just happen to coincide? Unfortunately, I am not aware of any place where Abravanel addresses these difficulties with his theory.

Rav Hirsch: The "True Commemoration" Theory

All three of the meforshim discussed in this article are undoubtedly original thinkers. Yet, Rav Hirsch's explanation of Shavuos is, to my mind, the most creative of the three. Unlike Ralbag and Abravanel, Rav Hirsch begins with the premise - taken from Torah she'baal Peh - that Shavuos has something to do with Matan Torah. With that in mind, he begins by taking up the same question as Ralbag: when did Matan Torah actually happen, and what is the relationship between the day of Matan Torah and the day of Chag ha'Shavuos? Rav Hirsch (Vayikra 23:21) writes:

As is well known, in accordance with our definite tradition, in our prayers, we designate the bikkurim-day, called Chag ha'Shavuos in Shemos 34:22 and Devarim 16:10,16, as "zman matan Toraseinu," as the time of our law-giving. And in fact, a careful reading of Chapter 19 in Exodus shows that the day of the Revelation at Sinai was on the 6th or 7th day of the third month, accordingly on or about the 50th day of the day-and-month counting which began on the 16th day of Nisan, as explained in detail in Shabbos 86b.

At this point, Rav Hirsch parts ways with Ralbag. Whereas Ralbag relied solely on the pesukim in Torah she'bi'Chsav to infer the relevant dates, Rav Hirsch openly consults the sources within Torah she'baal Peh and takes them as his foundation. According to the Gemara in Shabbos 86b, Matan Torah happened on either the 6th or the 7th day of the month of Sivan. Rav Hirsch goes on to explain, in contrast to Ralbag, that the day of Chag ha'Shavuos cannot commemorate the day of Matan Torah:

According to the tradition generally firmly held in the Nation, the Day of Matan Torah was on a Shabbos; the day of the Exodus from Egypt, the 15th of Nisan, was, according to the [midrash] Seder Olam, on a Friday, but according to the Talmud (Shabbos 87b) it was on a Thursday. According to that, taking the reckoning from the Seder Olam, Matan Torah would actually have been on the 50th day from the 16th of Nisan - but according to the Talmud, which is authoritative for us, it would only have taken place on the 51st, which the Magen Avraham on Orach Chayim 494 remarks as being striking; so that the 50th day after the Omer would be, not the anniversary of the day of Matan Torah, but of the day before it!

Without going into the complications and proofs discussed in the Gemara and the meforshim, the upshot is like this: we know from the pesukim that Shavuos takes place on the 50th day after the 16th of Nisan; we also know from the Talmud that the 15th of Nisan was on a Thursday, and that Matan Torah happened on Shabbos. Accordingly, it turns out that the day we celebrate Shavuos is 50 days after the 16th of Nisan, but the day of Matan Torah is 51 days after the 16th of Nisan. Thus, Chag ha'Shavuos is celebrated on the anniversary of the day before Matan Torah. As such, it is difficult to say that Shavuos commemorates the day of Matan Torah!

Rav Hirsch then provides a second reason why Chag ha'Shavuos cannot commemorate the day of Matan Torah:

Now we have only to realize that, according to the Torah, the fixing of the beginning of the months is dependent on the observation of the new moon, kiddush al pi ha'reiyah, to see that the 50th day after the omer is by no means definitely attached to a particular day of the month of Sivan. This is remarked on in [the Gemara] Rosh ha'Shanah: that the festival of Shavuos starting on the 50th day after the omer can fall on the 5th, the 6th, or the 7th of Sivan. Had the Torah intended the recurrence of the Matan Torah to be a day of remembrance of that event, it would have given us that historic date with the same precision that it gave us the 14th and 15th of Nisan to be days of remembrance for the Exodus from Egypt. But the idea of such a festival of remembrance may be so far from the intention of the Torah that it expressly wanted to ward off such an erroneous conception by saying "u'krasem b'etzem ha'yom ha'zeh" ("you shall proclaim [a holiday] on that very day itself"). For, so we believe, this wants to say: not on the day of the month on which the event of Matan Torah took place, which lies so near, but on the 50th day after the omer which is fixed for the bringing of the bikurim-bread, are you to celebrate this festival, without any consideration of the day of the month ...

In other words, if Shavuos were intended to be a historical day of remembrance of the day of Matan Torah, as Pesach is a historical day of remembrance of the day of Yetzias Mitzrayim, then the Torah would have assigned it to the same calendar date that the event of Matan Torah actually took place, just as it assigned Pesach to the same calendar date that the event of Yetzias Mitzrayim took place - but it didn't! Instead, the Torah assigned Shavuos to the 50th day after the 16th of Nisan, which - depending on when the witnesses report seeing the new moon - can fall out on the 5th, 6th, or 7th of Sivan. Thus, the Torah clearly didn't intend Shavuos to be a festival of historical remembrance!

After establishing these facts, the central question remains:

But the fact that the day which is elevated to a festival should be just not the day of the revelation at Sinai, but the final day of the counting which leads up to that, the greatest event in our history; that it should be, according to the generally accepted reckoning, the day before Matan Torah, which did not occur on the 50th but on the 51st - that fact should surely have a deep and important meaning for us.

Rav Hirsch now presents his theory:

It is not the fact of the revelation of the Torah, but our making ourselves worthy to receive it, that our Matan Torah festival celebrates. It is the day before the Matan Torah, the last day of the hagbalah (fencing off of boundaries around Sinai) and prishah (separation of man and wife in preparation for the Revelation), the day on which the nation finally presented itself as ready and worthy for the great mission to the world, to be the receivers and bearers of the Law of God, it is that day which the 50th day of the counting of the omer represents.
As we have remarked elsewhere, this festival, differently to all the others, is not called after that which characteristically has to be done on it, but "Shavuos," after the counting of the weeks which preparatorily lead up to it. The Lawgiving, too, was in no wise concentrated on the day of Sinai. The Lawgiving and the receipt of the laws lasted during forty years [1], and the ten commandments received at Sinai have no greater divinity or holiness than any of the other 613 commands and prohibitions which God gave through Moshe. Quite clearly God Himself has explained the meaning and importance of the revelation on Sinai as being only an introduction to the laws which were to be transmitted through Moshe. The Sinai-day was to be a proof by personal experience that God can speak to Man and had spoken to Moshe, so that we would receive the whole Torah from the mouth of Moshe with full confidence that it was the Word of God. "Behold! I come to you in the thickness of the cloud, so that the people will hear as I speak to you, and they will also believe in you forever" (Shemos 19:9). [2]

According to Rav Hirsch, Shavuos is a celebration of our readiness and preparedness to receive Torah - not a commemoration of the Revelation at Sinai or Matan Torah itself. It is for this reason that we celebrate Shavuos on the day before Matan Torah rather than the day of Matan Torah. It is also the reason why the holiday is called "Chag ha'Shavuos," based on the weeks during which we prepared to receive the Torah, rather than something like "Chag Matan Toraseinu" or "Chag Maamad Har Sinai." And since, according to Rav Hirsch, the entire Torah was not received on the day of the Revelation at Sinai, it would be somewhat misleading to make that day into a Matan Torah holiday.

Summary

In summary, all three meforshim were confronted with the problematic fact that Shavuos occurs around the same time as Matan Torah - and yet, the Torah never explicitly identifies Matan Torah as its theme.

Ralbag maintains that Matan Torah is the theme of Shavuos, and Chag ha'Shavuos is a historical commemoration of the day of Matan Torah. His main argument is that it would be absurd to commemorate Yetzias Mitzrayim and not commemorate Matan Torah. The strength of his theory is its intuitiveness, and the many halachic practices which point to Matan Torah as the theme of the holiday. The weakness of his theory is the complete absence of explicit evidence in Torah she'bi'Chsav.

Abravanel maintains that the theme of Shavuos is the beginning of the wheat harvest and that Chag ha'Shavuos and Chag ha'Sukkos are designed to bracket the harvest season, thereby giving us the opportunity to give thanks for the bounty we have received. He argues that there is no need for a "day of remembrance" for Matan Torah, since the Torah itself bears witness to the event of its giving. The strength of Abravanel's theory is that Shavuos is exclusively presented in Torah she'bi'Chsav as a harvest festival. The weakness of his theory is that it is difficult to say that the overlap of Matan Torah and this harvest festival is a mere coincidence, and that one has nothing to do with the other - especially in light of the halachic practices cited above.

Rav Hirsch posits that the theme of Shavuos is a celebration of the worthiness and willingness of Bnei Yisrael to receive the Torah. This is why Chag ha'Shavuos is celebrated on the day before Matan Torah, and why the date of the holiday is not fixed to the historical day of Matan Torah but is entirely dependent on the counting of the omer - a mitzvah which signifies the preparatory period leading up to Matan Torah. This is also why we call it "Chag ha'Shavuos," after the weeks leading up to Matan Torah. The strength of Rav Hirsch's theory is his explanation of the peculiar manner in which the Torah legislated the date of Chag ha'Shavuos. The weakness of his theory is that it relies on a number of premises that emerge from details and inferences within the Talmud, rather than the plain pshat of Torah she'bi'Chsav and Torah she'baal Peh.

In conclusion, we see how each of the meforshim were confronted with the same question, and used the available data to develop a theory about the theme of this holiday. Neither theory is perfect, but each allows us to appreciate a different aspect of chag.

And, as a bonus, here is a little Venn diagram to depict where these three meforshim agree and disagree.

[1] There is a machlokess as to whether the entire Torah was given at Sinai when Moshe went up to receive it, or whether he only received some of the Torah there, and the rest of the mitzvos throughout the forty years in the Wilderness. Rav Hirsch clearly holds by the latter, and this view happens to support his theory about the purpose of Shavuos.

[2] Rav Hirsch adds an additional possibility as to why Hashem avoided making a holiday based on the day of Matan Torah. Since it touches upon a whole different topic, and is not essential for Rav Hirsch's theory (by his own admission), I have decided to relegate it to this footnote instead of including it in the main body of the article. Rav Hirsch writes:

So that as "the Ten Commandments" received no special place in the order of the daily public services (due to the beliefs of the heretics), so as to give no support to the non-Jewish idea that the "Ten Commandments" form the whole of God's laws, or even that they had only a greater degree of godliness and holiness (see Berachos 12a), in the same way probably a similar consideration is the motive of the Torah in not raising just the day of "Revelation of the Ten Commandments" to a national festival.

What theme of Shavuos do YOU have in mind most when you celebrate it? Have YOU heard any other theories about the theme of Shavuos?

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