Messiah in Shavuot Chapter 5
- The Time of our Receiving Torah
- The revelation of the 6th (and Hidden 7th) day
The Time of our Receiving Torah:
On the first day of the month of Sivan, six weeks after the Exodus, we arrived at Mount Sinai. Six days later, we stood at the foot of the mountain as the Holy One revealed Himself to us and gave us His wedding gift, His Torah. Thus the festival of Shavuot (Sivan 6) is called “The Time of the Giving of Our Torah.” The nineteenth chapter of the book of Exodus describes this final week of preparation for the revelation at Sinai.
Day #1 (Sivan 1). Moses our Deliverer did not say anything to us. For we were weary from our journey. We have some problem recalling what day of the week this was in the Jewish calendar. Rabbi Jose says that he believes that the first of the month was a Sunday (Yom Rishon – יום ראשון), while the other rabbis hold that the first of the month was a Monday (Yom Sheni – יום שני). On Sivan 1 our wearying journey of six weeks had ended. On this special day of rest our works ceased. As one person we became an empty vessel that we might together be filled with the living water—-the eternal consciousness of the heavenly Father. The Holy One’s magnificent will, memory, intellect and emotion were given in symbolic form to us in the Ten Commandments engraved on stone. However, the fulfillment of the promise of Living Torah was actually received by us many years later when the gift of the Spirit of the Holy One was given to us on Sivan 6 (7) in Jerusalem; just Ten days after Ha-Mashiach, Kedosh Ha-Elohim, the Holy One of God ascended up into heaven to acquire from the Father and send to us the gift of the Indwelling Presence of the Spirit of Holiness.
Day #2 (Sivan 2). At dawn, the Deliverer ascended Mount Sinai. Moses brought back the following message from the Almighty: “You have seen what I have done to Egypt, and how I bore you upon the wings of eagles and brought you to Myself. Now, if you will obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My chosen treasure from among all the nations, for all the earth is Mine. You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:4–6). With these words the Holy One expressed His desire to us to become His chosen people. The second day, therefore, was marked in our calendar as Yom HaMeyuchas, “The Day of [our] Designation.”
Day #3 (Sivan 3). Adonai (the LORD) commanded His servant Moses to fence-in (limit access) to Mount Sinai. It was then that Moses marked the boundaries where the people of Israel were to stand when the Most High revealed Himself upon the mountain and gave Moses the Torah. The kohanim (priests) were allowed to approach closer than the rest of the people; and Aaron (the high priest; the Light-bringer) was allowed to approach closer than the rest of the kohanim; while Moses alone was called to ascend the mountain and approach the Presence of Adonai Elohim (Exodus 19:12, 22, 24).
Day #4 (Sivan). On the fourth day we the people of Israel (past, present, future; all time) were instructed to purify and sanctify ourselves in preparation for the giving of the Torah, by suspending marital relations and immersing ourselves in a mikvah (Exodus 19:14).
Day #5 (Sivan5). The Deliverer built an altar at the foot of the mountain and sealed the covenant between Adonai (the LORD) and us. All of us (for all time) proclaimed (Exodus 24:4–8):
“All that Adonai commands, we shall do and we shall hear, understand, and obey Him inall that He says.”
Day #6 (Sivan 6). On day six we received the wedding gift of the Torah. “When morning came, there was thunder and lightning, and a thick cloud upon the mountain. The voice of the shofar sounded, growing stronger and stronger. Adonai descended upon Mount Sinai and He spoke the following words to us, saying: “I am Adonai your Mighty One who took you out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 19:16–20:2).
Day #7 (Sivan 7). As you recall we have some problem recalling what actual day of the week we received our wedding gift of Torah from Adonai. Rabbi Jose says that the Torah was given to us on the seventh day of the month. He believes that there was an additional day that was added that was revealed to him but ”hidden” to the other rabbis. This hidden day was when Moses added a third day of sanctification out of his own understanding. If Rabbi Jose has spoken truth in this matter of ‘remembrance’ and we believe he has, then Moses added an additional “third day” of sanctification. And if the other rabbis spoke truth that the first of the month was a Monday, and we believe they have spoke truth on this matter (cf. Talmud, Shabbat 86b) then the wedding gift of the Torah was given to us on the first day of the week on Yom Rishon (יום ראשון).
The revelation of the 6th (and Hidden 7th) day:
The revelation of the 6th (and Hidden 7th) Day of Sivan at Sinai was the culmination and fulfillment of our exodus from Egypt. Many months earlier, also at Sinai, when Adonai first appeared to Moses our Deliverer in a burning bush He commanded Moses to lead us out of Egypt. He said (Exodus 3:12):
“This is your sign that I have sent you: when you take this nation out of Egypt, you will serve (worship) God on this mountain.”
In his remembrance on these six (and hidden seven) days of Sivan, Rashi notes our encounter of the Divine reality was a singular one. We camped together before the mountain as a “singular” individual rather than as a plural host of persons. In the Torah there is the singular use of “vayichan” (“he camped“) rather than “vayachanu“ (“they camped”). Therefore, the Torah speaks of us as one man, one person, one body who is awaiting the Divine encounter with Adonai (one God). On the first day of Sivan we camped before the holy mountain as a single body, “with a single heart.” This forty-second encampment was unlike all our other (41) encampments in the desert; all of which, regretfully, were accompanied by dissent and dispute; instead of unity.