SHAVUOT COMPLAINS TO GOD

If Shavuot were blessed with intelligence and a voice, surely it could complain to God that it was being treated unfairly by contemporary Jews.

“Dear God,” it would say, “look at how faithful your people Israel are observing Your holy days and festivals. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur they crowd the Synagogues of the world. They come in such large numbers that overflow services have to be arranged, folding doors pushed aside and many additional seats added.”

“When Simchat Torah comes, parents and children fill the Synagogues to dance with the Torah, waving their flags gaily. Pesach is almost universally observed. Rare is the family that does not eat matzah and have a Seder.

“Even Hanukkah and Purim, only minor holidays, are celebrated with joy and enthusiasm. Everyone makes a big fuss about Hanukkah because of the time of year in which it occurs. All the children come to the Synagogues on Purim to twirl their graggers and drown out the name of Haman.

“But they don’t come to celebrate my holiday anymore. So few people today observe Shavuot. Oh, I know that many come for Confirmation on the First Day. But that is to honor the Confirmands and their families. There are so many people that don’t even know I exist or when I fall. I’ve become the forgotten holiday, the neglected festival.

“I ask You, is it fair? How could this happen to me, of all holidays? Am I not the most important of holidays. Am I not the source of all other observances? Do I not commemorate the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai? And if not for the Torah, if not for my gift, who could have heard of Rosh Hashanah or Pesach? Would it make any sense to celebrate Simchat Torah without me? How can they forget who I am?

“Oh God, dear God, what will become of me? Will I pass out of existence? Will I be cancelled for lack of interest? It’s not fair. The world doesn’t seem to want me, or Your Torah for that matter.”

It must be admitted that Shavuot has a valid complaint. I don’t know what answer God gave the disgruntled holiday. But the truth is that the answer doesn’t rest with God; it rests with us. Only we can remember and observe Shavuot; only we can return it to an honored place among the festivals of the Jewish year.

Our ancestors firmly believe that Torah was their most precious possession. And so they rejoiced on Shavuot because it is Z’man Matan Toratenu — the annual commemoration of the giving of the Torah. May we too rejoice. For Torah is still our most precious possession.