Continuing the Giving of Torah

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parshas Emor, the holidays Pesach and Sukkos are listed by name, but Shavuos is only alluded to (after counting seven weeks from Pesach, “bring a new meal-offering to Hashem”-23:16). On Pesach and Sukkos, we know what we are celebrating. As for Shavuos, the Torah does not even say that we celebrate anything. The fact that this was the day of the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, and that this is the cause for celebration, are not mentioned. Why?

The Kli Yakar answers that mentioning the Giving of the Torah would lead to an error: We might think that we are rejoicing every year on Shavuos because the Torah was given on that day, in the year we left Egypt. Instead, we should be happy about receiving the Torah every day of our lives. We should feel as if we have just received it, for the first time.

Harav Aryeh Finkel notes that this is not simply a feeling we are expected to develop, it is a spiritual reality. Every day we literally receive the Torah anew.  Rav Finkel bases this on an insight of the Taz (Orach Chaim 47:5), that in the morning blessings said before Torah study, we refer to Hashem in the present tense as “The Giver of the Torah” and not “The One Who gave the Torah.” Meaning, we can infer from the text of the blessings that Hashem is giving His People the Torah right now, in the present.

This idea, that Torah is being given on a constant basis, finds expression in Chazal’s description of the celebration made by Avuya in honor of his son Elisha’s bris mila (Tosafos, Chagiga 15a). Great Torah scholars were present at that celebration, and when they began engaging in Torah, a fire enveloped the building.

Avuya, alarmed, told the sages: “You’re burning down my house!”

The sages explained: “Just as the Torah was originally given in fire, so too now, as we are engaging in it, the same fire comes down from heaven.” Every time Jews engage in Torah, a new giving of the Torah is taking place, even if we are not on the level of sensing the heavenly fire that accompanies this.

Of course, the actual words of the Torah, even the text of the Oral Torah, are recorded and available to all. Nevertheless, our understanding of Torah, particularly the insights we produce ourselves (“chiddushim“) — are examples of our daily receiving of the Torah directly from Hashem. This is one of Hashem’s great acts of chessed to His People, that He personally gives over His Torah to those who invest the efforts to receive it.

Just as Hashem is always giving us Torah, we are expected to give it over to others as well. One of the 48 ways by which the Torah is acquired (Pirkei Avos 6) is “learning in order to teach.” Rav Finkel cites the Maharal, who notes that this should be one of our main purposes for learning Torah, the idea that we must give over our learning to others.

The very word “Torah” indicates that its purpose is to be taught to others. “Torah” is a derivative of the word “horaah,” which means a “teaching” or “lesson.”

Giving over what we learn is so important, explains the Maharal, that if a Jew decides to learn Torah only for himself, Hashem may not give it to him! It could be that on his own he is not worthy of understanding the Torah, but if he gives his learning over to others, he will be. First, he is now realizing the purpose for which Torah was brought into this world, and secondly, his students will help tip the scale in his favor, making him worthy of understanding in their merit.

Even Moshe Rabbeinu’s Torah was only given to him in order for it to be transmitted to Klal Yisrael. We see this from Rashi (Shmos 32:7), who notes that after the Sin of the Golden Calf, Hashem warned Moshe that if the nation was not worthy of the Torah, there was no point in Moshe’s possessing it.

This does not mean that every Jew has to find for himself a classroom full of students, and if not, he will lack the merit of teaching others. A yeshiva student saying over a Gemara to his chavrusa, sharing an idea in learning with one’s neighbor before davening, or a father teaching his children about the weekly sedra — all these are examples of giving over the Torah. We should look for such opportunities. If we are approached by people whose understanding is less sharp than ours, we should not view this as a burden, but rather as a golden opportunity to continue the Giving of the Torah that began at Mount Sinai.

When Harav Nosson Tzvi Finkel first began saying a shiur in the Mir Yeshiva, he informed his students from the outset that they would have to prepare and present to the group brief analyses of the material (known as “chaburos“) on a regular basis.

The students were taken aback. “What can we prepare?” they asked.

Rav Nosson Tzvi tried to help each one find an appropriate insight to prepare and then say over. “This is the only way that you can grow in Torah, by presenting your chiddushim to others.”

Moreover, he sent older, more experienced students to attend these chaburos and assist in their progress. Some of them objected. “Don’t we have our own learning to do?”

Rav Finkel stood his ground. “Working with these younger students is your way to succeed. Your own learning depends on this.”

May we be zocheh to learn and teach Torah!