Shavuos 5646 First Ma'amar

How We Transformed from the Deepest Impurity to Receiving the Torah in Fifty Days

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Why We Eat Dairy Foods on Shavuos

When the nation of Israel left Egypt, we were in a state of deep impurity[1].  In a period of a mere fifty days, we made a transformation from this low level to a state in which we were ready to participate in the greatest event in the history of mankind, the receiving of the Torah and direct communication from the Creator.

This transformation is one of the most optimistic and inspiring processes. It teaches us that regardless of the level of our impurity, we should not despair. This process of transformation is enshrined in the counting of the Omer.

How does the transformation work? How can the impure become pure? The answer to this question is based on the concept that everything both pure and impure was created by God and needs God’s constant and continuous attention to exist. Even though the Creation is a mixture of good and bad, of purity and impurity, at the spiritual source there is Unity. In the words of Chazal[2], there are forty-nine aspects or levels of impurity and purity. Levels implies that there is a mix. At the fiftieth level there is Unity. Of course, the unity, the Godliness is inherent even at the most impure level. It is simply revealed at the fiftieth level. Impurity is a barrier that hides Godliness. For impure to become pure, the barrier needs to be removed.

We find this concept in a Midrash[3] explaining a pasuk in Iyov (14:4), “מִי יִתֵּן טָהוֹר מִטָמֵא לֹא אֶחָד/Who produces purity from impurity? No one!” The Midrash translates this pasuk, “Who produces purity from impurity? Is it not the One?” Producing purity from impurity seems impossible. However, it is only impossible if we believe that impurity has an autonomous existence. Once we recognize that impurity is simply God’s concealment, producing purity from impurity is a matter of removing that which conceals God.

We also find this concept in a Zohar[4] explaining the pasuk, “... וְנִטְמֵתֶם בָּם/… and you will become defiled by them” (VaYikra 11:43) referring to one who eats forbidden foods. The usual spelling of “וְנִטְמֵתֶם/and you will become defiled” includes the letter א/alef - וְנִטְמֵאתֶם. Why is it spelled here without the alef? The Sfas Emes explains that the alef, meaning, “one”, alludes to the source – God. According to the Zohar the Torah spelled this word without the alef to teach us that one who has eaten forbidden foods and dies before having repented is so defiled that there is nothing that can heal his soul. He has lost his connection with the source, with God.[5]

This, the Sfas Emes teaches us, is the significance of the forty-nine days of counting the Omer culminating in the holiday of Shavuos on the fiftieth day. Counting is a process of sorting and clarification. During the forty-nine days of the Omer the nation of Israel worked to separate the impure from the pure, the evil from the good. This process ended on Shavuos with the receiving of the Torah and the negation of the evil inclination. For this reason, the Zohar[6] teaches, in addition to the regular holiday sacrifices, two loaves of leavened bread were brought as an offering.  Almost all meal offerings are made from unleavened dough.  Why is leavened bread brought on Shavuos.  The Zohar explains that leavening represents the evil inclination.  We offer specifically leavened bread to show that the evil inclination was nullified on the first Shavuos. 

On Shavuos we reached the fiftieth level of purity and experienced God as the source of everything. To symbolize harking back to the source, the two loaves were made from the first wheat of the year. This wheat is the called the first fruit and Chazal[7] teach us it is called, “רֵאשִׁית/first”, alluding to the Creation – בְּרֵאשִׁית – and ultimately to the source of the Creation – God. Shavuos, in fact, is called, “יוֹם הַבִּיכּוּרִים/Day of the First Fruit.” (Bamidbar 28:26)

The Kohanim offer the first wheat on behalf of the entire nation of Israel. In addition to this mitzvah, it is incumbent on each member of the nation to bring the first fruit produced by his field to the Beis Hamikdash, “רֵאשִׁית בִּכּוּרֵי אַדְמָתְךָ תָּבִיא בֵּית ה' אֱ-לָהֶיךָ ... /… You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your land to the house of God.” (Shmos 23:19) The Sfas Emes explains that, when we clarify for ourselves that God is the source of everything, evil no longer represents a barrier that hides Him. If this is true on an individual level, it is certainly true on the national level of the first wheat that is brought on Shavuos. The meal offering from the first wheat represents God’s revelation on Shavuos and provides the nation with protection for the entire year.

The second half of the pasuk instructing us to bring the first fruit to the Beis HaMikdash is, “... לֹא-תְבַשֵׁל גְדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ/… Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.” What is the connection between these two seemingly unrelated mitzvos? The Zohar[8] explains that once the source is revealed, there is no longer any possibility of a mix of good and bad. The Sfas Emes explains elsewhere that milk represents a clarification of the good from the bad. Chazal teach us that God turns the mother’s blood, which is impure, into milk which is pure. Chazal learn this from the pasuk in Iyov brought earlier, “מִי יִתֵּן טָהוֹר מִטָמֵא לֹא אֶחָד/Who produces purity from impurity? Is it not the One?” Meat, on the other hand, represents a mix of good and bad. The Sfas Emes notes an allusion to this from the quail that God sent to the nation in the desert. The quail was sent specifically in the evening. The word for evening – עֶרֶב – has the same root as the word for mix – עָרֹב. 

Since meat represents the mix whereas milk represents the clarification, milk should not be eaten with meat. For this reason, as well, it is appropriate to eat dairy foods on Shavuos since both dairy and Shavuos represent clarification and a revelation of the source – God.

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[1] Zohar Chadash 39a states that the nation reached the 49^th out of 50 levels of impurity

[2] Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 4:2; Shir HaShirim R. 2, 4:1

[3] Bamidbar R. 19:1

[4] Zohar 3:41b

[5] The gematria of the word טמא – is fifty (9+40+1=50). The gematria of טמ is forty-nine (9+40=49) representing the forty-nine levels of impurity. א/alef represents the fiftieth level on which there is Unity – God is revealed. Purity is only possible because God underlies the impurity. Therefore, if the alef is removed, reaching purity is impossible. This is the deeper meaning of the pasuk in Iyov, “מי יתן טהור מטמא הלא אחד/Who produces purity from impurity? Is it not the One (alluded to by the alef)?” (Nefesh David – commentary on the Zohar)

[6] Zohar 2:183b

[7] Breishis R. 1:4

[8] Tikunei Zohar 14:30:a

Shavuos 5631 First Night

The proper performance of mitzvos requires preparation.  This is such an important concept that God built it right into the Creation.  In Tehillim we find, “מִשָּׁמַיִם הִשְׁמַעְתָּ דִּין אֶרֶץ יָרְאָה וְשָׁקָטָה/From Heaven You made judgment heard; the earth feared and subsided.”  This pasuk contains an apparent contradiction.  How can the earth be both fearful and calm at the same time?  Chazal[1] tell us that first the earth was fearful.  Afterwards it was calm.  Rashi[2] explains that it was fearful before we accepted the Torah.  After we accepted the Torah it was calm.  Why did the earth care whether we accepted the Torah or not?  Reish Lakish explains that God created the world on the condition that the nation of Israel accept the Torah.  If we had not accepted the Torah, the Creation would have lost it raison d’être and would have ceased to exist.  So, before we accepted the Torah, the earth was understandably fearful. 

The Sfas Emes points out that Chazal are teaching us that fear before and calm after go hand in hand.  The fear is a prerequisite which leads to the calm. The universe was apprehensive because its very existence depended upon Israel accepting the Torah.  By making the existence of the world dependent upon our accepting the Torah, God had built into nature, at the time of Creation, a tension that naturally produced conditions which were conducive to accepting the Torah.  This tension can be seen as a preparation for accepting the Torah.

The Sfas Emes teaches us that what was true for nature at the giving of the Torah is true for us with regard to each and every mitzvah.  Ideally, mitzvos are performed with love.  In order to reach the ideal, we need to be concerned about doing them.  We need to care.  One who is concerned about performing a mitzvah makes sure that he is in a state of readiness for when the opportunity presents itself. 

This can be understood from the pasuk, “וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם .../You will keep and you will do …” (Devarim 4:6)  Chazal tell us that “וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם/You will keep” refers to negative commandments.  Negative commandments are generally associated with fear or awe whereas positive commands are associated with love.  The feeling of fear or awe which prevents us from transgressing negative commandments corresponds to the concern which keeps us in a state of preparedness for performing mitzvos with love.  Through this state of preparedness we merit “וַעֲשִׂיתֶם/and you will do”, referring to the positive commandments.  We find this concept in a pasuk in Tehillim as well, “סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה־טוֹב/Turn from evil and do good.” (Tehilim 34:15)  Turning from evil prepares us to do good.
 

The pasuk in Tehillim mentioned earlier uses an earth metaphor to teach us that by being concerned about performing mitzvos and then performing them with love, following the dictum we learn from “... אֶרֶץ יָרְאָה וְשָׁקָטָה/… the earth feared and subsided,” we elevate the physical world as well.

This is the concept of “זָכוֹר וְשָׁמוֹר/Remember and keep.”  The first time the Ten Commandments are mentioned in the Torah at the giving of the Torah, we find, “זָכוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת .../Remember the Shabbos day …” (Shmos 20:7)  Forty years later, when Moshe repeats the story of the acceptance of the Torah he says, “שָׁמוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת .../Keep the Shabbos day …” (Devarim 5:12)  Why the change from זָכוֹר/Remember to שָׁמוֹר/Keep? 

Moshe Rabbeinu certainly did not change what God said.  Chazal tell us that God said, and we heard, both זָכוֹר/Remember and שָׁמוֹר/Keep simultaneously.  The mitzvah of keeping Shabbos actually comprises both a positive and negative commandment.  זָכוֹר/Remember, refers to observing the positive commandment of Shabbos.  שָׁמוֹר/Keep, refers to the negative commandment of Shabbos. 

On a deeper level זָכוֹר/Remember on its highest level is not really remembering at all.  Rather it is a connection to something at such a deep level that it becomes a part of us to the extent that there is no possibility of forgetting.  This is a very high level that not everyone merits reaching.  However, Chazal are teaching us that a person who is careful about שָׁמוֹר/Keep – a person who keeps himself in a constant state of preparedness, whose primary concern is to do mitzvos – God’s will – is included in זָכוֹר/Remember on its highest level as well.   That person will merit achieving God’s will.

This is the deeper meaning of the principle Chazal[3] learn with regard to keeping Shabbos, “מִי שֶׁיֶשְׁנוֹ בִּשְׁמִירָה יֶשְׁנוֹ בִּזְכִירָה/Whoever is in the category of keeping, is also in the category of remembering.”  Chazal use this principal to explain why women are required to keep the positive commandment of Shabbos even though ordinarily they are exempt from those positive commandments that we are obligated to perform only at specific times.  The Sfas Emes explains that there is a deeper meaning as well to this principle.  To reach the highest level of remembering, a level at which one identifies completely with the mitzvos, one needs to nurture a sense of care and concern keeping himself in a state of readiness for those very mitzvos.

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[1] Shabbos 88a

[2] Ad loc.

[3] Brachos 20a

Shavuos 5631 Second Night (leil Shabbos that year)

Note: The Sfas Emes notes that this ma'amar is a continuation of the ma'amar he said on the first night of Shavuos. This ma'amar can be understood independently. To see the ma'amar that he said the first night click here.

The first time the ten commandments are mentioned in the Torah at the giving of the Torah, we find, “זָכוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת .../Remember the Shabbos day …” (Shmos 20:7) Forty years later, when Moshe repeats the story of the acceptance of the Torah he says, “שָׁמוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת .../Keep the Shabbos day …” (Devarim 5:12) Why the change from זָכוֹר/Remember to שָׁמוֹר/Keep? Moshe Rabbeinu certainly did not change what God said. Chazal tell us that God said, and we heard, both זָכוֹר/Remember and שָׁמוֹר/Keep simultaneously. Why, though, did God say both “Remember” and “Keep”, and what is the significance of saying them simultaneously?

The mitzvah of keeping Shabbos actually comprises both a positive and negative commandment. זָכוֹר/Remember, refers to observing the positive commandment of Shabbos. שָׁמוֹר/Keep, refers to the prohibitions of Shabbos. This explains the two wordings, however, it does not explain the significance of God having said them simultaneously.

In order to understand this, we need to reach a deeper understanding of זָכוֹר/Remember and שָׁמוֹר/Keep. In order to refrain from transgressing the admonition against violating the Shabbos, we need to be concerned about it. Negative commandments are generally associated with fear or awe whereas positive commands are associated with love. The feeling of fear or awe which prevents us from transgressing prohibitions corresponds to the concern which keeps us in a state of preparedness for performing mitzvos with love. שָׁמוֹר/Keep, therefore is more than a reference to the prohibition against violating the Shabbos. It implies a state of preparedness.

זָכוֹר/Remember on its highest level is not really remembering at all. Rather it is a connection to something at such a deep level that it becomes a part of us to the extent that there is no possibility of forgetting. It is a connection to our innermost essence. This is a very high level that not everyone merits reaching. In fact, it is a level of Godly revelation.[1] Chazal are teaching us that a person who is careful about שָׁמוֹר/Keep – a person who keeps prepares, can be granted a level of זָכוֹר/Remember on its highest level.

God said them simultaneously because as soon as we reached a level of completeness implied by שָׁמוֹר/Keep, God granted us the revelation implied by זָכוֹר/Remember.

In addition to God saying both words at the same time, Chazal tell us that we heard them as well, something that is impossible in nature. How, then, could this be and what is the significance of it? The answer to this question involves a deeper understanding of what Torah is. As we’ve said elsewhere, Torah is much more than scrolls with words written on them. In fact, Torah is primarily a spiritual force which was enclothed in physical trappings in order to bring it into the physical world. This is what Chazal mean when they say that the Torah is both hidden and revealed.[2] Chazal, in fact, teach us that the Torah’s descriptions of spiritual events or entities in physical terms are not accurate. The Torah is simply using terms to which we, as physical beings living in a physical world can relate more easily.[3]

It follows that on a physical level, we can see only the physical trappings of the Torah, its plain meaning. However, when we recognize that the Torah that we see is only the wrapping, allegories for the spiritual Torah, and subordinate ourselves to that spiritual Torah, not just to the outer wrapping, we can merit hearing the inner secrets of the Torah, things that cannot be heard physically. The nation reached this level at the giving of the Torah. At that time the Torah tells us that we saw sound. This is an allusion to experiencing that part of the Torah which cannot be experienced on a physical level. We were on a level at which the spiritual Torah was being revealed to us.

This also explains the deeper meaning behind, “זָכוֹר וְשָׁמוֹר בְּדִיבּוּר אֶחָד נֶאֱמְרוּ/Remember and Keep were said at the same time (lit. with one speech).” As a watchman – שׁוֹמֵר – guards from the outside, שָׁמוֹר implies keeping the plain meaning of the Torah. זָכוֹר implies understanding and connecting with the hidden mysteries of the Torah. The Hebrew for speech – דִיבּוּר – implies revelation as the Sfas Emes explains elsewhere regarding the עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִיבְּרוֹת/ten commandments.[4] Because of God’s revelation we were able to hear both the physical plain meaning of the Torah and spiritual deeper meaning at one and the same time.

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[1] There are divisions and levels to our souls. At the highest spiritual level our souls connect with all the souls of the nation of Israel to form one powerful spiritual force. All the souls of the nation of Israel at their highest level, form the Shechina. This what the Kabbalists mean when they say that each of our souls is a part of God above. See Nefesh HaChaim 2:17 and 2:18 for a detailed discussion of these concepts and their sources in Chazal and the Arizal’s writings.

[2] Zohar 3:72b

[3] Tanchuma Yisro 13

[4] Sfas Emes Bo 5631 First Ma’amar