Shavuot - Transcending Time
Receiving the Torah requires sincerity and devotion.
Shavuot holds a unique place among holidays as it is the only holiday that does not adhere to a specific calendar date, but instead falls on the 50th day after the start of the Omer count. During the era of the Beit HaMikdash, this could have been one of three potential dates: the 5th, 6th, or 7th of the month of Sivan. The sefer Akeidat Yitzhak explains that Shavuot isn't tied to a particular date because, in contrast to observances like Mother's Day or Father's Day, there's no such notion as designating a single day as 'Torah Day'. Every day is a day of the Torah!
The profound significance of this distinction lies in the idea that the Torah is not confined by our traditional understanding of time. This concept can be seen in how great Torah scholars accumulate such a wide range of Torah knowledge. I once believed that Torah was similar to other subjects -- you study for a certain duration and achieve a proportional amount of expertise. However, Torah knowledge transcends that logic; it does not rely strictly on the mundane limitations imposed by our physical reality.
This principle is illustrated in the story of Rabbi Akiva, a central figure in the Omer narrative leading up to Shavuot. Despite only starting to learn Hebrew at 40, he ascended to the status of a celebrated scholar, perhaps the greatest of all time. As the Talmud relates while Moshe received the Torah on Mount Sinai, he proposed that God bestow it upon Rabbi Akiva instead of him due to his superior knowledge and understanding.
חזר ובא לפני הקב"ה אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם יש לך אדם כזה ואתה נותן תורה ע"י אמר לו שתוק כך עלה במחשבה לפני
Moses returned and came before the Holy One, Blessed be He, and said before Him: Master of the Universe, You have a man as great as this [R’ Akiva] and yet You still choose to give the Torah through me. Why? God said to him: Be silent; this intention arose before Me [Menachot 29b]
God's silence in response to Moshe's argument could be interpreted as agreement, suggesting He acknowledged Rabbi Akiva's superior Torah knowledge, even to Moshe Rabbeinu.
The essential lesson here is that since the Torah transcends time, our accomplishments depend more on the depth of our hearts and our desire to follow the Torah, rather than conventional temporal constraints. Kabbalistic teachings explain that the numerical value of the first 32 days of the Omer aligns with 'lamed bet', spelling 'lev', meaning heart, while the last 17 days correspond to the word 'tov', meaning good.
As we celebrate this special Yom Tov of Shavuot, we must remember that receiving the Torah is not a mechanical process. Rather, it is the process of developing a good heart and a sincere devotion to Torah and Mitzvot that guides us along the true path of Torah.
Chag sameach,
Eliezer Hirsch