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<font size=3>I have posted RSRH's Essay Sivan I at
<a href="http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/sivan_1.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/sivan_1.pdf</a> . It comes from
the Collected Writings of RSRH, Volume I. <br><br>
This essay gives many insights into Shavuous. I recommend it highly to
anyone who wants to gain an understanding of the significance of
Shavuous, what Torah really is, why Judaism is not a religion,
theology, and many other interesting topics. This essay begins
with<br><br>
<b>The Festival of Revelation and the Uniqueness of the Torah.<br><br>
</b>On the sixth and seventh of Sivan we celebrate the Festival of the
Giving of the Law (Zman Matan Torahsainu). Where are the symbols of this
festival? Where is the significance of Shavuoth as the Festival of
Revelation mentioned in the Torah? Why is this festival of Shavuoth so
short and so fleeting? Pessach has its Matzoth, the festival of Succoth
its Tabernacle and its Lulab, Rosh Hashanah its Shofar, Yom Kippur its
Fast. But where are the symbols of Shavuoth?<br><br>
We know how clear and precise is Scripture with regard to the conception
and significance of all the other festivals; but you will search the
Torah in vain for a designation of Shavuoth as the festival of the Giving
of the Law. To the redemption from Egypt we dedicate a festival which
lasts a whole week; it takes a whole month for its preparation and
completely transforms our domestic life. To the miracle of our
preservation in the wilderness we dedicate another week, the whole of
which we distinguish by our living in the Succah. But to the Giving of
the Law, to the Revelation of the Torah, to this most holy transcendent
event from which our whole existence derives its meaning and purpose, to
this festival of all festivals, we devote only one brief and placid day!
Why this brevity and quiet, why this lack of pomp, this paucity of
symbols?<br><br>
Good Yom Tov!<br>
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Yitzchok Levine </font></body>
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