Shavuot - The Giving of the Ten Commandments
Shavuot is the Jewish celebration of a great gift, the law - The Ten Commandments. Without them God only knows where we'd be today; the wild tribes may give us some idea.
The Jewish people celebrate Shavuot these days (8-10 June), which corresponds to a major historical event: the day when God gave the law - the Ten Commandments - at Mount Sinai. Shavuot is celebrated fifty days after the second day of Passover and it is the second of the three foremost Jewish celebrations (Passover being the first, and Sukkot the third).
Translated, the word "Shavuot" means "weeks" representing the seven weeks period between Passover and Shavuot when the Jewish people prepared and purified themselves getting ready to make an eternal covenant with God.
On the Shavuot day, God gave His Holy Law to his elect and celebrating this every year is a reminder and a rededication to the covenant God first made with the Jews.
The actual giving of the law was an event expected with great respect and fear, the people saw the manifestation of God's descend on Mount Sinai and it was rather scary for them to see such a scene.
I will cite the recording of this event from Exodus 19:" On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them."
The whole excerpt is read in the synagogues while celebrating Shavuot; another Biblical passage representative for this day is of course the one that contains the actual 10 commandments:
"'And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."
Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.'"
This was the scene when mankind received the law. Can you imagine the world without it? I will end citing Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Lev of Ger, Sefat Emet : "For thus it is said, 'Face to face did God speak . . .' for the whole of creation was directed upward toward the root of its vitality; and . . . when God said, "I am the Lord your God," every single particle of creation thought it was to itself that the divine word was addressed.
Translated, the word "Shavuot" means "weeks" representing the seven weeks period between Passover and Shavuot when the Jewish people prepared and purified themselves getting ready to make an eternal covenant with God.
On the Shavuot day, God gave His Holy Law to his elect and celebrating this every year is a reminder and a rededication to the covenant God first made with the Jews.
The actual giving of the law was an event expected with great respect and fear, the people saw the manifestation of God's descend on Mount Sinai and it was rather scary for them to see such a scene.
I will cite the recording of this event from Exodus 19:" On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up and the LORD said to him, "Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them."
The whole excerpt is read in the synagogues while celebrating Shavuot; another Biblical passage representative for this day is of course the one that contains the actual 10 commandments:
"'And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."
Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.'"
This was the scene when mankind received the law. Can you imagine the world without it? I will end citing Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Lev of Ger, Sefat Emet : "For thus it is said, 'Face to face did God speak . . .' for the whole of creation was directed upward toward the root of its vitality; and . . . when God said, "I am the Lord your God," every single particle of creation thought it was to itself that the divine word was addressed.
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