The following is excerpted from the sefer Let My Nation Serve Me by Rabbi Yosef Deutsch, Shlita, (Artscroll) a wonderful work which provides both depth and feeling to the events in the Midbar leading up to Mattan Torah, and to Mattan Torah itself, as culled from Chazal in the Medrash and Gemara, and from the Rishonim. It is highly recommended for all in proper preparation for Shavuos. Rabbi Deutsch writes as follows:
“There is a special significance to the Torah being given in the month of Sivan. The astrological sign for Sivan is Gemini, twins. The gentile nations would one day have to give an accounting for their rejection of the Torah when Hashem offered it to them, and Hashem wanted to anticipate the arguments they would offer in their own defense and refute them from the very beginning. He knew that the gentile nations would say that they thought that the Torah did not relate to them. It was designed for the Jewish nation, a nation with which they has no kinship or connection.
“Therefore, Hashem chose to give the Torah in the month of Sivan, a month characterized by the sign of twins, as if to say, “The Jewish people are not, from their origin, a nation apart. They are descended from Yaakov, who had a twin brother Eisav, and the gentile nations, at least those descended from Eisav, cannot claim that the Torah is not destined for them.
“The sign of twins is also especially propitious for the Giving of the Torah. Hashem did not want to give it in Nissan, whose sign is Aries, the sheep, because the Egyptians worshipped sheep. He did not give want to give the Torah during Iyar, whose sign is Taurus, the bull, because the Jewish people would worship the Golden Calf, a young bull. Hashem did not want an everlasting association between the idol and the Torah. Therefore, he chose to wait until Sivan, whose sign is the twins, a symbol of fraternal love and solidarity. These are virtues that qualified the Jewish people to receive the Torah.
“There is also a special symbolism in the Torah being given on the sixth of Sivan rather than any other day of the month. The original creation of mankind took place on the sixth day of Creation. The Giving of the Torah would be the act of national creation for the Jewish people, and therefore it, too, was to take place on the sixth day. Furthermore, that year, 6 Sivan fell on a Shabbos, which was also significant. Just as Shabbos provided the spiritual protection of the newly-created Adam, so did the Shabbos on which the Torah was given provide the spiritual protection for the newly created Jewish nation.”
These thoughts help us focus on the profundity of Mattan Torah. When one has an audience with the King, he prepares well in advance for the occasion. Unlike other audiences, where the commoner gives the King a gift, on Shavuos, Hashem will be giving us a remarkable, life-giving and life-sustaining, infinite and irreplaceable gift. We would do well to begin preparing for this incredible event--at least by studying about it from a beautiful sefer such as this--or from the original sources--today!
Important Numbers
