Shavuot’s Special Mitzvah

Question

Dear Rabbi,

Is there any special mitzvah to be fulfilled on Shavuot like there are on other Jewish Festivals, such as eating matzah on Passover?

Thank you and happy holiday!

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Shavuot is the anniversary of when God communicated the Torah to the entire Jewish People. In so do, God revealed to them their national mission and purpose.

    In our prayers, Shavuot is referred to as “Zman Matan Torateinu” – The Time of the Giving of Our Torah.

    Unlike all the other holidays, no particular mitzvah seems to be associated with Shavuot: On Passover, we eat matzah, on Succot we dwell in a succah and on Rosh Hashanah we blow the shofar, but no specific commandment is related to the giving of the Torah.

    Why not? Because Shavuot celebrates the totality of Torah. It relates to each and every mitzvah of the Torah. The Torah is all-encompassing: it sanctifies and elevates every aspect of life. Therefore, it cannot be encapsulated in any single ritual, or any one experience.

    On all festivals, the spiritual light that originally encompassed the world on the first occasion of that festival (for instance, the very first Passover) flows again every year at that same time. This increased spirituality is available to us if we are attuned to it.

    Happy Shavuot to you as well!

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team