Parsha Talk Shavuot 5786

Rabbi Eliot Malomet, Rabbi Barry Chesler, Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky

This Friday and Shabbat is the holiday of Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, also known as Hag Ha-biqqurim, the pilgrimage of first fruits and z’man matan torateinu, the season of the giving of the Torah. As Jeremy explained the midrash, the rabbis were sensitive to the notion of the giving of the Torah, developing the idea that the Torah was not received until the time of Esther and Mordecai. You will have to listen to the show to find out how we unpacked this! Suffice it to say, our focus was on Shavuot; even though the Ten Commandments figured in our discussion, that passage is read on Friday. We did not get to the Torah Reading for Shabbat, which we last heard on the last day of Pesah. Hag Same’ah and Shabbat Shalom!