“Until the day after the seventh week, you should count 50 days, and bring a new Minchah Korban to Hashem.” (Vayikra 23:16)
It’s interesting to note that Pesach and Succos are listed by name in the parshah, but Shavuos is only alluded to. The Torah doesn’t even tell us we’re celebrating the giving of the Torah. Why not?
Answers the Kli Yakar: We might think we’re rejoicing yearly on Shavuos to commemorate receiving the Torah the year we left Mitzrayim. But in fact, we must rejoice about receiving the Torah every day, as if we’ve just received it for the first time.
Every time Jews engage in Torah, a new Matan Torah takes place. The insights we produce ourselves, our chiddushim, are examples of how Hashem is continuously giving us the Torah. It’s a chesed of Hashem that He personally gives over His Torah to those who invest the efforts to receive it. (Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Bircas HaTorah)
For close to two decades, I used to be A Teacher, and I loved every minute in front of the classroom. But as life grew busier and the kids grew older, I realized that while I might be reaching many neshamos, there were other neshamos at home who could only be reached by their mother.
So I bid goodbye to the classroom, packed up years of notes, ideas, and worksheets, and concentrated on being A Mommy.
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, stating that this is one of our main purposes for learning Torah. The word “Torah” is a derivative of “hora’ah” — i.e., “teaching” or “lesson.”
The Maharal goes so far as to say that if a Jew decides to learn Torah only for himself, Hashem may not give it to him! He may not be worthy of understanding on his own merit, but if he shares his Torah with others, that adds to his zechus. Even Moshe Rabbeinu’s Torah was only given to him in order for it to be transmitted to Klal Yisrael (Rashi, Shemos 32:7).
This doesn’t mean that everyone has to find a classroom full of students. Discussion with a chavrusa, sharing an idea, and teaching our children are all examples of hora’ah.
This past Shevii shel Pesach was a storming, hailing, howling day. Coming on the heels of a week of Yom Tov, it was a challenge to keep a bunch of boys occupied and relatively calm in the daled amos of their siblings, with no possible escape outdoors.
