This past week we celebrated the Yomtov of Shavuos, which commemorates the Giving of the Torah on Har Sinai. In Jewish thought, the Yomim Tovim are not just a remembrance of past events. As each Yomtov comes, we personally re-experience all of the revelations and experiences that were manifest the first time around. And so, we too re-experienced the Giving of the Torah this week.
Even though Shavuos is a one-day Yomtov (which in Chutz Laaretz is observed for two days), the influence and impact of Shavuos is supposed to continue as we carry the inspiration and recommitment to the Torah into the year ahead.
When a person went to the Beis Hamikdash for the Shalosh Regalim, they had to bring certain private Korbanos. If they did not bring these Korbanos on the first day of Pesach or Sukkos, they could make up for it by offering them during the remaining days of the festival. This ‘making-up’ is called Tashlumin.
Even though Shavuos is only a one day Festival, the sages derive that like on Pesach, one could perform Tashlumin and bring the Korbanos for an entire week, concluding on the 12th of Sivan.
For this reason, many communities have the custom of not saying Tachanun up-and-to and including the 12th day of Sivan, as these are the days of Tashlumin for the Yomtov of Shavuos.
However, there is a major difference between the days of Tashlumin for Pesach and Sukkos and those of Shavuos. The Korbanos of Pesach and Sukkos that are brought during the days of Tashlumin, are still brought on days that are part of the Yomtov itself. In contrast, the days of Tashlumin for Shavuos are regular mundane weekdays.
In Torah Ohr, the Alter Rebbe explains that Pesach and Sukkos are seven-day festivals (plus Shemini Atzeres) because they relate to the seven Divine Sefiros. Shavuos is only one day because it is connected to a level of G-dliness that is beyond the divisibility of the seven Sefiros. The Kabbalists refer to this as the Sefira of Kesser.
The spiritual make-up of the soul parallels the spiritual cosmos. This is one interpretation of the Pasuk that Man is made in the Image of G-d.
In the soul, the counterpart of the seven Sefiros are the conscious levels of the soul, specifically our emotional drives, which according to Kabbalah, take seven primary forms.
