One of the beautiful customs associated with the holiday of Shavuot is decorating the shul and our homes with greenery and sweet smelling flowers. Since this custom is both beyond and more specific than the usual preparations of our homes for theShabbat and the holidays, we must be able to derive some special inspiration from this custom, not only by what we bring into our home, but also by what we specifically leave out, for we are not to bring branches and greenery from fruit trees into our homes for this custom.
On this simplest level, our sages tell us that since Shavuot is the day that the fruit of the trees are judged – what type of produce will be produced – by bringing the greenery into our homes, we remind ourselves to pray on their behalf.
Nevertheless, the Paamei Moed asks a very relevant question: If we are praying for the fruit trees on this day, why, during the time of the Beit Hamikdosh did the offering for this holiday consist of two loaves of wheat bread rather than a measure of fruit? The Paamei Moed, citing Rav Tzadok Hakohain, offers some interesting insights. He cites an opinion that Rashi records, that the “fruit” of the forbidden tree in Eden was in fact wheat growing on a tree. At that primal time, Man’s sole destiny and mission was to establish and maintain an intimate relationship with God. Therefore, explains the Paamei Moed, wheat too grew on trees, making the work of mankind to feed himself and maintain the garden virtually effortless. However, after Adam and Eve sinned, God punished them by forcing them to earn their bread by the sweat of the brow rather than with their previous ease.
When we received the Torah, continues Paamei Moed,we reverted to that pristine state until the sin of the golden calf, and our Sages say that in the time of Moshiach, wheat rolls will [again] grow from trees. When we brought these two loaves of wheat bread to the Sanctuary as an offering, we were concretizing our desire to again have this intimate relationship with our Creator as we once had and as we hope to have again. When Hashem is judging the fruit of the tree, He is also in essence judging us and the strength of our desire for this relationship.
In kabbalistic thought, it is written that we are the fruit of the tree being judged. The judgment of this day determines the spiritual inspiration of our actions throughout the year. In fact, R. Baruch of Mezbioz is quoted as saying, that he is more in awe of the Shavuot Day of Judgment than of Rosh Hashanah, for on Rosh Hashanah we are judged for all things physical and material in a temporal world, while on Shavuot we are judged for all things spiritual which we will carry with us into the world of eternity.
Rav Wolfsonin Emunat Etecha agrees that we must be reminded to pray for the trees on this day. However, because we are specifically bringing in non fruit bearing trees, we are also alluding to our yearning for Moshiach when all trees will again bear fruit as they did at the time of creation. We are asking Hashem to hasten Moshiach’s coming for the benefit of these trees so that they may bear fruit, even if our own merit is lacking. And we want Moshiach to come, as Mizkenecha Esbonen clarifies, not because so many of our problems would be solved either financially or politically, but rather because then “Daddy” would be home with us and we could enjoy the warmth of His presence.
It is not as if we have no ideawhat this feeling would be like, explains the Kedushas Halevi; we eachexperienced this intimacy as we stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and acceptedthe gift of the Torah. It is this relationship that we pray for daily when wepray for the rebuilding of the BeitHamikdosh and for Hashem to give us our portion in the Torah as He did atSinai. We are praying that our particular mission be clarified so that we canfocus on accomplishing it in the moment we are now living, whether it is as ayoung adult, a parent, a neighbor, or a senior citizen. To be a servant of Godrequires understanding of where we are now with a focus on how our currentactions will help us reach that ultimate goal. When we pray on Shavuot, we arepraying that Hashem give us this clarity.
We also traditionally bringflowers into the home, for Shir Hashirimdescribes our nation as a rose among the thorns. In what way is this so? The Bnei Yissacha cites a parable of a king who entrusted his garden toa gardener. After a time, he returned and found that the entire garden was overgrownwith weeds and thorns. He was about to destroy the garden when he noticed abeautiful rose growing within the garden giving off a delightful fragrance. Forthe sake of this rose, he spared the entire garden.
The analogy is simple. Intwenty six generations since the creation of the world, the world becameovergrown with beliefs and behaviors contrary to the beauty Hashem invested andenvisioned for the world. But then BneiYisroel accepted the Torah, the fragrance of the Torah lifestyle could nowspread through the world, again bringing the luxurious order of a beautifullytended garden to the world.
There is an additionaldimension to the rose. Before the rose blossoms, the Alshich reminds us, it is a tight bulb, not pretty at all. But whenit opens up the inside is unbelievably beautiful. So too is the Jew.Externally, he may be nothing special, but deep within his Jewish heart liesthe beauty of his innate relationship with HakodoshBoruch Hu, a relationship he hopes will blossom again and to which he hopesto return. And Hashem is the Shepherd among the roses, to lead us back to Him.This inner essence, says the Paamei Moed,is always connected to God and is as pure as the small flask of oil theMaccabees found through which Hashem performed the miracle for the shoshanim, the people compared toroses. On Purim too we sing about shoshanatYaakov, the rose of Yaakov, Jacob’s descendents, the Jewish people, whohave the ability to change (shonah)through teshuvah, to open up and blossom by turning their inner hearts back totheir Maker. On Shavuot, the Jerusalem Talmud tells us, we have the ability totransform ourselves by doing teshuvah, just as we can on Rosh Hashanah. We canagain take upon ourselves the responsibility of living under the reign on theSovereign of Heaven as we did when we accepted the Torah at Sinai.
On an even more profound level,says the Bnei Yissaschar, the rosesymbolizes this pure essence. When Eve succumbed to sin, all her senses were involvesexcept her sense of smell. She heard the serpent, she saw the fruit, shetouched the tree, and she tasted the fruit. Only her sense of smell remainedundefiled and uncontaminated by sin. Therefore, it is fragrance that has theability to bring us back to that pure state of Eden. We bring fragrant roses into our homes,and at the end of every Shabbat, when the semblance of a miniature Eden is about to depart,we smell a sweet fragrance to prolong the sense of Shabbat/Eden.
There are multiple symbols we could have adopted for Shavuot. We could have sounded the shofar in our homes,or added extra candles, as sound and light were also part of the Sinai experience. Nevertheless, our sages chose to focus on the greenery and flowers.The Ohr Doniel offers a beautiful insight into this choice. He explains that we experienced two emotions during matan Torah, one of awe and dread, symbolized by shofar blasts, thunder and lightning, and an alternate feeling of sweetness, embracing love and gentleness, symbolized by the grass and vegetation on the mountain.
We have a choice as to how we will perceive Torah.We can perceive it as frightening and onerous, but we choose to perceive it as sweet as honey, of greater value than gold and silver. By incorporating the softness of flowers into our observance of Shavuot, we are embracing the softness and beauty of Torah as the focus of our observance.
This is the message, that the Torah is sweet and wonderful, that we must try to imbue in our children. As weperform the mitzvoth, we must express gratitude for the opportunity to serve Hashem, for the privilege of being His people. We must show our children that Torah is a great gift Hashem has bestowed upon us.
Rabbi Zev Leff in Festivals of Life focuses on this idea to explain why Hashem didn’t counter the arguments of the nations of the world for their rejection of the Torah. They asked questions first because they believed the Torah was a favor Hashem asked of them. On the other hand, Bnei Yisroel realized the Torah was a special gift which one accepts with gratitude and asks questions about later. Therefore Bnei Yisroel was worthy of receiving the Torah while the other nations were not.
We are given two distinct holidays in the year to thank Hashem for this wonderful gift, both called Atzeret, Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah and Shavuot, also called Atzeret in the Torah. On Shemini Atzeret, we dance with theTorah, and on Shavuot we put Hashemat the center of our lives. We have no additional mitzvoth associated with Shavuot except to eat a festive meal, to enjoy the holiday and our time with Hakodosh Boruch Hu, the time when we cemented the relationship between us.
Make the seudah meaningful and beautiful, for our Guest is at our table. Let us listen to the silence of a world without distractions, as Rabbi Pincus suggests, as God speaks the ten utterances and we accept them. Better yet, as Rabbi Nachman of Breslov suggests, let us go out to the silence and hear the song of every blade of grass as it sings praises to its Creator, and let us bring that song into our own lives.
(summarized by Hani Koplowitz)