Q: What are some thoughts that we should be having on Shavuos?
A: You have to know that in the yeshivos in Europe, up till not long ago, Shavuos was celebrated as the happiest day of the year – even more than Simchas Torah. It became wild on Shavuos in the yeshivos; a wild simchas haTorah. Why? Because they, the yeshiva men, understood best that how fortunate we are to be able to enjoy the special privilege of being the nation that received the Torah.
That’s the number one thought, that by receiving the Torah, first of all we all became Yisroel. Before Matan Torah even the Avos were called bnei Noach. Our nation became geirim at Sinai – the Gemara says that. We all became geirim at Sinai. We became the Am Yisroel, and once that happened then we were included in all the promises that Hakadosh Baruch Hu made to the Am Yisroel.
Included in those promises was that at Har Sinai everyone received a ticket. Every Jew is given a ticket to Olam Haba. Of course you could lose it. You could lose the ticket. It's a big responsibility. If you have a precious ticket, you have to guard it at all times. You have to hold onto it. You can't take your eyes off of it. Never to be meisiach da'as from this great privilege that you now possess forever and ever.
And that's a foundation of being a Jew, to believe implicitly in that. Because included in guarding that ticket is that you have to believe b’emunah sheleima. A person has to believe in it. If you don't believe in it then forget about it. You have to believe be'emunah sheleima that being a Yisroel gives you the right to Olam Haba.
Now, Avraham Avinu and the kadmonim before Matan Torah when they got Olam Haba, it was not because they were Yisroel; they earned it with a very great merit. Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehudah, they earned it. They were very great people.
But after Matan Torah even if you're not great, you’re holding that ticket. A plain Jew – as long as he doesn’t rebel against the Torah, as long as goes along with the derech haTorah, he is promised Olam Haba. That's why we say, when You gave us the Torah, You planted everlasting life among us.
Now, isn’t that a happy thought? Nothing could be happier because Olam Haba, that's the greatest happiness that even Hakadosh Baruch Hu could invent.
Now, some ask a kasha. How could I say that? Hashem can't make a greater happiness than Olam Haba? And the answer is He can't make anything greater than Himself. And Olam Haba is enjoying looking at the splendor of the Shechinah. And so Olam Haba, that's the greatest splendor there is.
Right now generations of tzaddikim are sitting and looking at the Shechinah, and they're so full of joy. If we had the ability to see for one minute, our nerves, we would be so excited that we would fall apart. Our blood vessels would burst with excitement. That's why you can't see Hashem while you're alive. You'll burst. It's a tremendous excitement! And the longer you sit there, the greater the excitement; the more and more is the pleasure.
And when the Torah was given we were promised, we're given a guarantee, without any exception. Every one of us was given a ticket: “You are hereby entitled to Olam Haba.” All the great happiness with all the pleasures, unlimited and forever and ever and ever is yours because you received the Torah and you're now an entitled Yisroel.
The happiness of Olam Haba that our forefathers are now enjoying is unimaginable; it's infinite. And we achieved all that on Shavuos when we received the Torah and became the Am Yisroel. So how can we not be overwhelmed with everlasting happiness when we celebrate Shavuos?!
We are so happy, so grateful to You, Hashem, that forever and ever You put us on a level far above the rest of the world.
And therefore the first obligation of a Jew on Shavuos is to be full of joy that he has been included in the Klal Yisroel by means of what occurred at Har Sinai when we accepted the Torah. That's pashut sh’bepashut. There are no chiddushim here, no drashos. That’s the happiness of Shavuos.
