Parashat Bamidbar
May 14, 2021
3 Sivan 5781
Parashat Bamidbar
47th day of the Omer
Numbers 1:1 - 4:20
Dear Friends,
What does it mean to have an identity crisis? The clinical definition is something like this: “a developmental event that involves a person questioning their sense of self or place in the world."
How can one of our most important and least observed holidays have an identity crisis? Not only does the holiday of Shavuot have multiple names, but each name also refers to a different aspect of the holiday. Any marketer would tell you that the holiday lacks focus -- unless the love of blintzes is your focal point!
Many of us have more than one name; Shavuot has five.The first biblical reference is as Hag Hakatzir, the Harvest Feast (Exodus 23:14-19, Leviticus 23:9-22). The second is as Yom ha Bikkurim, the feast of the first fruits (Numbers 28:26). The name Shavuot comes from the counting of seven weeks that marks the end of the grain harvest which began at Passover (Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:9-10). These three names are not that distant in their meaning from Thanksgiving as they are squarely based upon the agricultural cycle. The fourth name is Azeret and is Talmudic in origin -- it means assembly or holding back and refers to the fact that we do not work on Shavuot.
It was only after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE that the nature of the holiday changed and became associated with the events at Sinai. The Talmudists made this connection because they attributed the events at Sinai as happening in the same month as the agricultural holidays. Thus, Shavuot became Zeman Matan Torateinu, the time of the giving of our Torah.
Even if we are able to put these names into two separate categories (agricultural and revelatory), we still have no clear path as to how to observe the holiday. Unlike Sukkot or Pesach, there is no one clear set of rituals associated with the holiday; rather we are faced with a cornucopia of ways in which to observe the holiday. These days, the most popular is the practice of studying all night -- a 16th century innovation meant to bring on the final redemption. (Please join us on Sunday night as we join with Riverdale Temple to both pray and study together).
From the agricultural tradition, we have adapted the practice of blessing the first fruits in our lives, by blessing various aspects of our lives, ranging from new jobs to new homes to new additions to the family. We also recognize the change of season by adorning our homes with flowers. As we recall receiving the Ten Commandments at Sinai, we read that section of the Torah. We also read the Book of Ruth, which brings both agricultural and spiritual dimensions to the holiday. But it still doesn’t fit easily together. Where are we supposed to look? What should we be focusing on? What is this third of a series of pilgrimage holidays meant to teach us?
Given everything that is going on at the moment in the world and in Israel, in particular, this lack of clear identity is an important lesson -- and not an easy one. As we grapple with Shavuot's identity crisis, we ourselves have a conscious choice to make. Each year, we decide where we would like to focus ourselves when Shavuot arrives. Is this the year that we celebrate all that is new in our lives? Is this the year where we step back and wonder at the glory that is nature? Is the year that we wrestle with what happened at Sinai and why it still has meaning for us today? Or is the year that the story of Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi allows us to recognize ourselves in the tale? If we tried to do all of these things, I do not believe we would be wholly successful at any of them.
This year has been challenging and continues to be so. Shavuot is here to teach us through its very complexity that our tradition has many facets. Our task is to take what speaks to us and engage with it, depending on where we find ourselves at this time.
This year, I am not in the mood to wrestle with Torah. Instead, I would like Shavuot to provide me with a path that will help me navigate this difficult time -- in my case, the story of Ruth. I invite you to find what you are looking for and what you need in this multi-layered holiday. I believe that if you look hard enough, you will find it and it will give you strength to go forward.
Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Linda SHriner-Cahn