How should we prepare for Shavuot, the holiday of receiving the Torah? In my opinion, it’s by taking on something daily. A fixed daily learning session, long or short, alone or with a study partner. The main thing is consistency.

A few years ago, my husband Yedidya’s daily learning became part of the rhythm of our home. Every morning he learns Daf Yomi — one page of Gemara a day. I  interviewed him about it on Zoom in honor of Shavuot, but maybe I’m the one who should have been interviewed, about what it looks like from the side, because it changes everything. Truly. Half an hour of daily learning affects the entire day, for everyone in the home.

Taking his lead, I began a daily learning session of my own, called Chit”at, which stands for Chumash, Tehillim, Tanya. It takes just a few minutes every morning, but I discovered a secret: If you learn the daily portion of the parshah each day, you complete the entire Torah once a year. If you say a few chapters of Tehillim each day, you complete the entire Book of Tehillim every month. And if you read one paragraph of Tanya each day, you finish it once a year.

I never imagined all of this could fit into my lifestyle and schedule. There is only one explanation: making it daily.

On Shavuot, when we receive the Torah anew, we are told to take on one small commitment, one good practical resolution. My recommendation for the holiday of receiving the Torah is to take on something daily. It’s all about commitment and consistency.

What Is the Last Verse in Tanach?

That is the question Emanuel Silberman, head of the Jerusalem Municipality’s Department of Education asked at the opening of the Bible Quiz for elementary schools in the city.

“Even small children know the first verse of the Torah by heart,” he noted. “ ‘ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’ But what is the last verse? Who knows that by heart?”

Thousands of years after the verse that describes the creation of the world, we arrive at this verse, at the end of the second book of Divrei Hayamim (Chronicles): “Thus said Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth Hashem, God of the heavens, has given me, and He has charged me to build Him a House in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all His people, Hashem his God is with him, and let him go up.”

Fascinating. The Torah begins with the most universal and global message: God created the world. But it ends with the most Jewish, national, and personal story: that same God, who gave King Cyrus dominion over all the kingdoms of the world, wants one House in Jerusalem, and wants us, with God’s help, to go up there.

The final word of Tanach is: “Veya’al,” let him go up. May we never stop rising and elevating ourselves, even when we are already here in the Land.

To Want

Most of us are not great Torah scholars, and we certainly do not know the entire Torah. The following story explains the significance of our own small, personal Torah study.

A great rabbi once came to a yeshivah of outstanding students and wanted to know who the best student was. He entered the beit midrash and said he had a serious Torah question, a very complex sugya that only a genius could solve. For a long time, everyone tried to answer the question, but no one succeeded. Disappointed, the rabbi left. All the students went back to their pursuits, except for one young man who ran outside and chased after the rabbi’s wagon.

“Wait,” the student said. “What was the answer to the Rav’s question?”

The rabbi said to him: “You are the one I was looking for. The main thing is not the knowledge. It is the desire to know.”

This story is true in so many areas of life, and certainly when it comes to Torah learning. The main thing is the heart, the aspiration, the thirst, the spark.

A Short Guide to Shavuot

The Great Secret

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, the Ramchal, whose yahrzeit we marked last week, was a rabbi, kabbalist, and poet. Some 300 years ago, in his classic work Mesillat Yesharim, he wrote:

“I will tell you a great secret: Each person receives his portion in Torah, and Mount Sinai is not complete until each person comes into the world and reveals his portion. If so, when someone comes into the world and does not strive in Torah to reveal his portion, how can the Torah be complete?”

There is a “scoop” being revealed here: Every person has his or her own portion in Torah. Each individual has their own connection, their own learning, their own personal and unique point of contact with the eternal Torah. You cannot copy someone else’s homework. You cannot be satisfied with the fact that other people are learning Torah. Each person must add his or her own fingerprint, their one-time light.

Hundreds of thousands will take part in Tikun Leil Shavuot and learn all night. But each person can also simply stretch out a hand, take a book down from the shelf, read, and discover the great secret.

The Ten Commandments

On Shavuot morning, this Friday, it is customary to bring even young children to shul to hear the reading of the Ten Commandments. In Chabad, the Ten Commandments are read at different times in playgrounds, parks, and other places.

I only noticed lately one word that appears most often in this foundational text, which became a basis of world civilization. The word is “lo.” Do not.  It appears there thirteen times, more than the number of commandments. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not commit adultery. Do not covet. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image. Do not do any work on Shabbat. And more.

This is not a charter of human rights, but a charter of human obligations. Not what I deserve, but what I owe another person. The foundation of human existence is boundaries. It is what we do not do.

It seems to me that this message is very relevant to our times, to an era that is becoming increasingly boundaryless. In the liberal world, it sometimes feels as if every advertisement, series, and campaign is broadcasting the exact opposite: Commit adultery! Covet! Make yourself an idol!

Shavuot is an opportunity to remember Mount Sinai, and the simple words “Do not.”

Dairy Foods

Already in the Middle Ages, there are records of eating honey and milk on the holiday, foods that hint to the sweetness and pleasantness of Torah. In Shir HaShirim it says, “Honey and milk are under your tongue,” and Eretz Yisrael is described as “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

It is not a halachah to eat cheesecake on the holiday, but it is certainly an important custom. Other beautiful customs are to decorate homes and synagogues with greenery and to hold bikurim ceremonies, in memory of the pilgrimage to the Beit HaMikdash with the first fruits.

So what is the mitzvah of Shavuot?

It is worth noticing that in this way Shavuot is different from Pesach and Sukkot, the other two holidays that make up the Three Festivals. On Pesach, matzah is the star of the holiday. On Sukkot, the sukkah is the heart of the holiday. What is the tangible mitzvah of Shavuot?

There is no such mitzvah.

Our commentators explain that the essence of Shavuot is simply to connect to the giving of the Torah. Without matzah and without a sukkah. Deep in the heart.