Celebrating Ourselves

The Gemarah in Pesachim (68b) discusses a Machlokes between R’ Yehoshua and R’ Eliezer regarding Simchas Yom Tov. R’ Eliezer holds that one can either celebrate Yom Tov with physical enjoyment or by devoting himself to spiritual pursuits. R’ Yehoshua holds that one can combine the two with a formulation of “Chatzi Lashem, V’Chatzi Lachem.” The Gemarah concludes that this Machlokes does not apply to the Yom Tov of Shavuos, because “B’Atzeres, Hakol Modim D’bainan Nami Lachem: On Shavous everyone agrees that there must be an element of Lachem (physical enjoyment.)”

The Ta”z, based on this Gemarah, writes that Shavuos has a special Halacha: whereas on Shabbos and other Yomim Tovim one may fast if he enjoys that more than eating, on Shavuos one must celebrate with food and drink, as it is the day of Kabalas HaTorah and this is reason for even more celebration.

Clearly Halacha is telling us that Shavuos, as the “Yom SheNitna Bah Torah” is a day that demands a very high level of Simcha on our part. In order to put ourselves in the proper frame of mind, and for us to celebrate properly, we must understand what we are celebrating on this day.

Obviously it would be foolish to think that we can properly encapsulate the Simcha that should be felt on the day that we became the Mamleches Kohanim, and experienced Kabalas HaTorah—especially in this space. I would like, however, to focus on one thought that can perhaps help frame our thoughts and approach to this Yom Tov.

At Har Sinai, Bnei Yisroel received the Aseres Hadibros. Out of the entire Torah of 613 Mitzvos, these ten were selected to be given at that time. It would therefore be prudent to study these Dibros in a path to understanding what we received at Mattan Torah.

The Ramban in Parshas Yisro points out that in three out of the first five Dibros, the reward—or punishment—for that Mitzvah is mentioned. For example, with regard to Kibbud Av V’Em, the fifth Dibra, the Torah says “L’man Yarichun Yamecha…” The second five Dibros include no related punishment however; just the actual Mitzvah is listed. The Ramban there explains exactly why there is no specific reward or punishment mentioned for Shabbos or “Anochi Hashem Elokecha,” and so there really is a striking difference between the two halves of the Aseres Hadibros.

The Ramban explains that the reason for this is that the final five Dibros are “Tovas HaAdam,” for our benefit, and therefore the Torah does not need to enumerate a reward within the Aseres HaDibros.

The Ramban seems to be saying that since the second set of Dibros are Bein Adam L’chaveiro, there is an inherent benefit to people keeping these Mitzvos. On one level this is very much understandable: society cannot exist without certain basic laws; theft, murder and the like must be prohibited in order for people to coexist. Therefore, the Torah doesn’t need to tell us a reward for keeping these Mitzvos as the fact that we keeping these Mitzvos is a source of stability for our society—this alone should be enough motivation. I would like to offer a little bit of a different explanation for the Ramban, based on a thought I saw from one of the Magidim in Eretz Yisroel.

If we look at the Aseres HaDibros, another question may be asked: why did Hashem select these Mitzvos specifically for the Aseres HaDibros that were given at Har Sinai? Many of these Mitzvos, especially the second set of five, are fairly common laws in any society, as we pointed out above. Why didn’t Hashem select more unique Mitzvos to include in this representational set?

The Aseres Hadibros appear on almost every Shul’s Aron HaKodesh, they are the “icon” so to speak of Klal Yisroel. One would assume that Mitzvos such as Krias Shema, Teffllin, or Pesach—which are unique to our Torah—would be included. Instead, Hashem chose Mitzvos that can really be found in any nations book of laws. Why is this?

The answer is that while prohibitions against theft, murder, kidnapping and the like can be found in every nation’s law books, those are in no way related to the Mitzvos of Lo Sirtzach or Lo Signov.

Whereas the laws of the Umos Haolam are meant to promote a peaceful society that exists in harmony, the Torah has a higher purpose. The Torah gives us Mitzvos so that we can become better people as a result of our Shmiras Hamitzvos. The point of Lo Signov is not that people should not have their property stolen: the purpose is for us not to be Ganavim.

The Mitzvos teach us how we are supposed to act, and what behaviors we should avoid—our job is to mold ourselves based on these parameters. For example, there are certain Middos that can cause a person to steal, however even if a person never stole anything, he still has to work on these Middos as a path to becoming an Adam Shalem.

This can also be seen in the concept of punishment that exists only in the Torah: Midah Kneged Midah. Contrast this to the concepts of punishment that exist in the secular world, such as jail. A jail sentence is mostly punitive—you did a crime, so now you must do the time, so to speak. There is no inherent connection or correlation between the two. But when Hahsem punishes someone he does so in ways that are related to the Aveirah, or more specifically to the Middos that caused a person to do the Aveirah. This is so that a person learns from his actions, and becomes a better person.

That is the ultimate goal of the Torah: help us become better people.

Chazal tell us (as do our Kindergarten Morahs) that Hashem went to the Umos HaOlam prior to Mattan Torah and offered the Torah to them. Each one refused for a reason of its own. Some refused to accept the Torah because they couldn’t manage with an Issur of Geneivah. Some refused because murder is so central to their existence that they couldn’t bear accepting a Torah that says Lo Sirtzach.

But we know that even non-Jews are required to keep the Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach, which include stealing and murder. If so, what would be the difference if they accepted the Torah or not? They still have the Issur of Geneivah or Retzicha?

The answer is that while they are prohibited from stealing, the Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach are just Issurim, they do not require one to work upon himself to eradicate the Middos that spur a person to such acts. Even if they are forbidden from stealing, the Umos Haolam could not imagine trying to erase that part of their genetic makeup that causes them to steal.

I think that this can be seen from the fact that many Issurim in the Torah are written in with a formulation of “You should not” as in “Lo Sirtzach: You should not kill.” The Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach, however, are learned from more passive and less direct Pessukim. This is because the Mitzvos that we are given are directed at us a people—You—whereas the Sheva Mitzvos Bnei Noach are only general prohibitions.

This is why the Torah specifically chose Mitzvos that could be seen in other sets of laws for the Aseres Hadibros: to highlight the fact that while the prohibition is the same, the purpose is anything but. Our Torah is a tool to self-perfection, not just a way for society to get by.

Maybe this is what the Ramban means when he says that the second set of five Dibros is “Tovas HaAdam.” Not that we benefit as a society from the existence of these Mitzvos, but that we benefit on a personal level, because through these Mitzvos we become better and more complete people.

The Torah chose not to enumerate a reward for these final five Dibros because in choosing these Mitzvos as part of the Aseres Hadibros the Torah is reminding us that Shemiras Hamitzvos is in our best interest as this is the ultimate path to self-perfection—what greater reward could there be?

This too is what we celebrate on Shavuos: on this day we received the Torah. This is not merely a set of laws, or 613 rules to follow. This is our guidebook for life, the Torah is the tool to examine every part of our being and learn how to make the correct decisions. The Torah helps us become closer to Hashem and indeed closer to ourselves, to our own Chelek Elokah Memal.

If we understand this, and try to live these lessons, we can come to Har Sinai, to our personal Kabalas Hatorah and celebrate in true Simcha at the gift that Hashem has given us: the key to ourselves.