When is Shavuot and when was the Torah received?

On what day was the Torah given? On what date do we celebrate the festival of Shavuot? Seemingly simple questions, yet ones for which the Torah’s text provides no clear answer.

In a fascinating passage, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch notes that Shavuot is unique among all biblical festivals in that no calendar date is prescribed for it – rather, it is observed seven weeks from the omer offering which was brought on the second day of Pesach. Combining a selection of Talmudic traditions and calculations, Rav Hirsch demonstrates that the Torah was most likely to have been given on the 51st day after the Exodus. As noted by the Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 494) the 50th day from the omer is in fact the day BEFORE the Lawgiving – which the Torah identifies as having taken place on the sixth or seventh day of the third month.

On this basis, the day that is elevated to a festival is NOT the day of the Sinai revelation, but rather the final day of counting leading up to that great day. This indicates that the ‘festival of Matan Torah’ does not relate to the actual giving of the Torah; it celebrates our making ourselves worthy of receiving it.

This insight into the nature of the festival of Shavuot provides us with a greater understanding of the commandment of Sefirat HaOmer, through which we count the days each year in between Pesach and Shavuot. Jewish tradition depicts the nation as having undergone a significant transformation during this seven-week period – from the 49th level of impurity to a level on which they could nationally perceive God’s communication to Moshe at Sinai. This process of purification is indicated by the number seven, which is the number of days which the Torah always requires in order to regain purity. (The Torah emphasises that the count consists of 7x7 – seven weeks not just 49 days). As well as achieving this national purity, we are also taught that the Israelites reached a level of perfection in their interpersonal relationships. Rashi comments that they encamped at the mountain “like one person with one heart” – a highly-impressive display of national unity.

This transformative process, which culminated in them camping, pure and united, at the base of Mount Sinai, it what we celebrate as a festival. It is the conclusion of this same seven-week period which both determines the date of the celebration, and accounts for the name “Shavuot” by which the festival is commonly known.

The period of Sefirat HaOmer, meanwhile, instils within our consciousness that such a national achievement is not reached without considerable work. Traditionally, the 49 days of the Omer are associated with the 48 ways in which the Torah is acquired (Avot 6:6) – prompting us to re-enact our ancestors’ religious awakening during these weeks in the desert. And the Omer period is also a reminder for us of the importance of maintaining mutual respect for one another as we seek to learn from the fate of Rabbi Akiva’s students who died during this period.

These ideas should be at the forefront of our consciousness as we count the final night of the Omer and prepare to recall the historic national covenant and revelation at Sinai.

First posted to Facebook 24 May 2023, here.