יד יוסף: Naso \ Shavuos

The holiday of Shavuos commemorates the giving of the Torah. It is in fact the anniversary of the day that the nation of Israel stood at Mount Sinai and heard the Ten Commandments directly from Hashem. The Chumash was not completed until the death of Moshe Rabenu. So to speak the Ten Commandments are the soul of the Torah and the Torah is the soul of Israel.

The description of the giving of the Ten Commandments in the Chumash is read. In it G-d tells the people of Israel if they will carefully listen to His voice and keep the covenant, they will be His treasure from among the nations and will be a nation of priests. The first of the commandments is not so much of a commandment but rather an introduction. In it G-d says that His name is the Tetragrammaton and He is the same power that brought them out of Egypt.

The covenant is a medium for joining Hashem and Israel together. It is similar to a marriage, partnership agreement, or a treaty between nations. However, just like it is difficult to conceptualize Hashem it is difficult to conceptualize this agreement. A key element though is listening to the voice of Hashem. This raises the question as to how do we hear the voice of Hashem?

Maimonides analyzes the fundamental belief systems of the Arabs, Europeans, and the Jews. The Arabs tend to seek G-d through introspection and meditation, whose result is to find the breath of G-d in their soul. The conclusion is that G-d is to be found in philosophy, good character, and belief. The Europeans tend to seek G-d through observation of the physical world, whose result is to see the hand of G-d in nature. Their conclusion is that the face of G-d is to be found in the beauty of science. Sometimes it is in its massive expanse and other times in its elegance. The Jewish approach is to seek G-d through study of the sacred texts. Next this knowledge is applied to introspection and observation, plus the two approaches are bridged and merged.

The text of the giving of the law tends to be difficult. A simple reading of the narrative seems to be that the Ten Commandments were directly spoken by G-d from the cloud on top of Mount Sinai to the entire nation. Immediately following, a large number of mitzvahs are given to Moshe to relay to the nation. After that Moshe is sent by the nation with great joy and ceremony to Hashem who so to speak is in a cloud on the top of Mount Sinai. At the climax of the celebration the nobles of Israel see the G-d of Israel, who was not seen during the giving of the Ten Commandments. Between them and His feet is a vision of sapphire work that is like pure sky blue.

The haftarah for Shavuos expands on this vision. In it the prophet Ezekiel has visions of heaven. At its climax he gets a glimpse of the G-d of Israel. It starts with the semblance of a sapphire which resembles a throne. On the throne is something like a man. He is surrounded by what seems to be fiery electrical sparks (חַשְׁמַל) and a rainbow (קֶּשֶׁת) glow (נֹגַהּ).

Whatever was in these visions of Hashem, they seem to be visions of breathtaking beauty. The thirteenth-century Kabbalist Joseph Gikatilla in his book “Gates of Light” associates the ten names of G-d which may not be erased with the ten sefiros. The Tetragrammaton is matched with the sefirah tiferet (תִּפְאֶרֶת), beauty. This in turn is matched with the torso which is the seat of the heart. There is a tradition to say Psalm 29 as the psalm of the day for Shavuos. The psalm talks about the voice of Hashem saying that it is to be found in splendor. The implication is that through beauty we hear Hashem and get to his heart.

It comes out when searching for Hashem the places to look are in beautiful places. For example a single candle is enough to satisfy one’s obligation for Hanuka. However one is more likely to find Hashem in a beautiful menorah proudly displayed. When one satisfies the mitzvah in this way, it is called “splendid of the splendid”. Likewise it is better to bring the first fruits to the Temple in golden baskets with musical accompaniment than a normal one made from reeds. Generally when a mitzvah is performed in the best way it is called “mehadrin (מְהַדְּרִין).

When learning halacha HaKadosh Baruch is talking to the student. At times there is a debate as to what is the correct practice. Some of the proposals may be more logical than others and some may be more helpful than others. When a side is beautiful in its reasoning and benevolence so to speak this is where we hear the voice of Hashem telling us that this is the correct one.