The Joy of Matan Torah
(The following is from R’ Elimelech Biderman’s Torah Wellsprings)
It is impossible to describe all the good we receive from Matan Torah because the list is endless. Therefore, Chazal (Pesachim 68b) say: “All opinions agree that one needs to enjoy [good food] on Shavuos because on this day the Torah was given to the Jewish nation.” Rashi explains: “He should be happy with food and drink to show that he is happy with this day that the Torah was given.”
The Seder HaYom (Shavuos) writes, “One should be incredibly happy on Shavuos because it's the day the Torah was given to Bnei Yisroel... One's body should rejoice because one uses his body to study Torah and to perform the mitzvos... The neshomah must rejoice. The neshomah rejoices when it understands Torah because the neshomah's joy is solely learning Torah and keeping the mitzvos.”
The Seder HaYom elaborates on all the good we receive even in this world from Matan Torah. He writes, “We aren't fools who don't recognize all this honor that Hashem gave us. The nations of the world turn to their avodah zarahs that can't help them, but this isn't the lot of Bnei Yisroel. Hashem watches over us always. Hashem loves us due to our forefathers and because of His love for the precious, perfect Torah that He implanted in our midst. The Torah is Hakodosh Boruch Hu's daughter... Whoever will marry and love His daughter, Hashem will certainly grant him a dowry and a lot of money, and nothing will be lacking.”
This idea can be compared to a wealthy person conversing with a young man to determine whether he is a suitable match for his only daughter. In the middle of the conversation, the bochur asks, “If I marry your daughter, how much money will you give me?”
The wealthy father replies, “I heard that you are a wise bochur, but truthfully you aren't wise. My daughter is my only child, and I am extremely wealthy. Obviously, I will give my future son-in-law a lot of money. So why do you ask for a dowry?”
The nimshal is that the Torah is Hashem's daughter. Whoever marries, studies, and cherishes the Torah will receive everything he needs. There will be wealth, and nothing will be lacking.
In Kiddush and in Shemoneh Esrei we say: ורוממתנו מכל הלשונות. Rebbe Bunim of Pshischa zt”l translated the words as follows: מכל הלשונות, all expressions of all the languages won't suffice to express רוממתנו, how exalted we became. No language is rich enough to describe the greatness Hashem granted Bnei Yisroel when He chose us from all nations and gave us the Torah.
On Shavuos, we become like the malochim, like the angels in heaven. The Noam Elimelech (Mishpotim, d.h. lo sevashel) writes, “On Shavuos, we have a leniency to eat meat after milk, without waiting the standard shiur (time period). This is because Shavuos is the day we received the Torah, and we show that we are like the malochim [who don't wait between milk and meat]."
During the Holocaust, an elderly, wealthy Yid said to Reb Chaim Kreisworth zt”l, "Tomorrow, I will be sent to the gas chambers. I have a lot of money in a Swiss bank. I will tell you my bank account information. If you survive this war, seek out my children and give them the account number so that they can withdraw the money." Reb Chaim Kreisworth survived but couldn't find that man's children. Twenty years later, Reb Chaim spoke with a poor person in a beis hamedresh in Yerusholayim, and Reb Chaim discovered that he was the offspring he was looking for. He was the son of the wealthy man who went to the gas chambers. Reb Chaim told him the account number and the name of the Swiss bank. This man was so poor he didn't even have money to travel to Switzerland. But he borrowed money and made the trip. Having accrued interest all these years, the value of the account increased. The bank told him that he had $30,000,000 in the account. Reb Chaim Kreisworth said, “He was wealthy for many years, only he didn’t know it.” Reb Chaim Kreisworth explained, “We are also extremely wealthy; we have millions. We have the Torah and mitzvos. Our fortune is endless; only we aren't aware of what we have."
We don't know which leniency the Noam Elimelech is referring to. The meforshim are puzzled by it because, as it appears from halachah, Shavuos is like the rest of the year regarding milk and meat. Some say that the Noam Elimelech refers to those who wait twenty-four hours between milk and meat (see Chullin 105a), and on Shavuos, one doesn’t wait so long. Although we don't know the halachic issue that the Noam Elimelech is referring to, we receive his message that we are like malochim on Shavuos.
The Imrei Emes (Likutim, Pesochim 68) also says we become like malochim on Shavuos. He proves this from the halachah (written Pesochim 68b) that Shavuos should be חצי לכם וחצי לה', half for enjoying good meals and half for Hashem [with Torah and tefillah]. The question is, how does a human being know how to divide a day precisely in half? It states (Shemos 24:6): ויקח משה חצי הדם – “Moshe took half of the blood,” and Rashi asks, “Who divided it [exactly in half]? A malach came and divided it.” And this is because a human being isn't able to divide something exactly in half. So, on Shavuos, how do we divide the day in half? The Imrei Emes says that on Shavuos, we become like malochim, and malochim can divide something precisely in half.
The Imrei Emes added that although the halachah to divide the Yom Tov in half applies to all Yomim Tovim and not only to Shavuos, nevertheless, the primary source of this halachah is discussed regarding Shavuos. One year, after Shavuos, Rav Shach asked Reb Menachem Ziemba “What did the rebbe say?" and Reb Menachem Ziemba told him this vort (written above) that he heard from the Imrei Emes. Rav Shach replied that we can express it this way: After we spend half of Shavuos with חצי לה' we become like malochim, and we will know how to divide the day in half.
