Shavuot is called by three names in the Torah: 1) “chag ha-katzir,” 2) “yom ha-bikkurim,” and 3) “chag Shavuot” (=seven weeks “from when you put the sickle to the grain,” Deut. 16:10).

In our present liturgy, following the text of R. Saadiah (10th cent.), the holiday is referred to as “zeman matan Torateinu.” (See Soferim 19:3 for a version without these words.) We also have a statement by a leading third century Amora, R. Eleazar [ben Pedat], that refers to the holiday as “yom she-nitnah bo Torah.” (Pes. 68b). For a statement by another early Amora, see J. Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 4:8.

When and why did Shavuot obtain its Matan Torah theme? This is not an exact science but I have some insights.

The Torah does not give a precise date for God’s appearance at Har Sinai when the Aseret Ha-Dibrot were proclaimed. (That is what “zeman matan Torateinu” loosely refers to.) We do have the statement at Ex. 19:1 that “ba-chodesh ha-shelishi…ba-yom ha-hazeh” the Israelites came to “midbar Sinai.” In Tanach, “Chodesh” sometimes means the first day of the “chodesh.” This is probably one of those occasions. (This may have been the original meaning of that word “chodesh.” See S.D. Luzzatto.)

As to what happened after the initial encampment, precise dates are not given.

Seder Olam (chap. 5), a work composed in the 2nd century, takes the position that the Aseret Ha-Dibrot were given on the 6th of Sivan. But it does not spell out a connection between the Aseret Ha-Dibrot and Shavuot. (Regarding the Aseret Ha-Dibrot date, see also Shab. 86b, Yoma 4b, Tan. 28b, and Mechilta, Va-Yisa, sec. 1 and Ba-Chodesh, sec. 3. There are Tannaim who view it has having occurred on the 7th.)

Now let us discuss the date of Shavuot. It is defined in the Torah as the 50th day from an event in Nissan. But the precise date can vary each year depending on whether Nissan and Iyyar are months of 29 days or 30 days. Shavuot can fall on the fifth, sixth or seventh of Sivan. See Tosefta Arachin, 1st chapter, and Rosh Hashanah 6b. (With our fixed calendar, which started in the 4th century C.E. or perhaps later, Nissan is always 30 days and Iyyar is always 29 days. Shavuot always falls on the 6th of Sivan.) Seder Olam did at least help make known a majority view of the date of the giving of the Aseret Ha-Dibrot. It must have made people more conscious of the date of the Aseret Ha-Dibrot and that the date of Shavuot coincided or almost did.

So how did Shavuot get its new motif? As one source suggests: “The destruction of the Temple in the year 70, and the abolition of the bikkurim ritual and other sacrificial rites, created a need for a new contemporary motif, not related to the agricultural season… By stressing the anniversary of the Law, the rabbis linked Shavuot with the survival of Judaism rather than with the Jewish land, and thus gave the festival a new and broad perspective.”See Rabbi A. Bloch, The Biblical and Historical Background of the Jewish Holy Days, p. 185. He continues: “The publication of the Seder Olam made the date of the Law common knowledge. The linking…with Shavuot was a logical development that followed shortly thereafter.” Also, since Passover and Sukkot were holidays related to the year of the Exodus, it was natural for Shavuot to become associated with an Exodus-related theme.

Can we determine more precisely when this new motif began?

Mishnah Meg. 3:5 tell us that on “Atzeret” (=the rabbinic name for Shavuot) the Torah reading was “Shivah Shavuot” (Deut. 16). (This is part of what we read today, on the 2nd day.)

But we have other Tannaitic sources. (Most of the material in Tannaitic sources dates from 0 to 200 C.E.) At Tosefta Meg.chap. 3, we have: “Ba-Atzeret ‘Shiva Shavuot,’ Ve-yesh omrim ‘Ba-chodesh ha-shelishi.’ “ So our Aseret Ha-Dibrot reading has made into this Tannaitic source, as an alternative reading in some locales. (Even more striking is the statement in the Jerusalem Talmud on Mishnah Megillah 3:6. See there.)

More interesting is what is found in a baraita at Meg. 31a. A baraita is a Tannaitic source cited in the Talmud. This source tell us that there were two different practices for the Torah reading: “Shivah Shavuot” and “Ba-chodesh ha-shelishi.” But this source also records two different practices for the haftorah: “Habakuk,” and “Merkavah.” Both of these relate to the Exodus 19-20 theme! With regard to Habakuk, presumably the reference is to the third chapter, which is what we read today. This chapter is a description of an appearance of God. It also includes language evocative of Ex. 19-20: “God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Har Paran.” As to “Merkavah,” this too relates to God being seen. (Today in the Diaspora, we read “Merkavah” on the first day and Habakuk on the second day.)

So despite Mishnah Megillah 3:5, we have evidence for the Aseret Ha-Dibrot theme in some Tannaitic sources. But perhaps they are post-churban, as is the case more often than not.

In contrast, let us look at Josephus. He is writing in Rome in the nineties C.E., but decades earlier he grew up among the Sages in Jerusalem. (This is before he allied himself with the Romans in 67 C.E.) Many items of the oral law are included in Josephus. When Josephus writes briefly about the theme of our holiday (Ant. 3, 252-254), he knows the rabbinic name for it, “Atzeret” (which he says means “fiftieth”!). But he does not mention any Aseret Ha-Dibrot theme.

Final comments:

There is a statement at Ex. Rab. 31:16: “Chag ha-katzir she-bo nitnah Torah le-Yisrael.” A few lines earlier is a statement by the Tanna R. Meir. Perhaps R. Meir made the above statement as well.

Some try to learn from the Mishnaic name for the holiday עצרת, an allusion to the Aseret Ha-Dibrot theme. Since a widespread meaning of “atzeret” is “gathering,” perhaps it is a reference to the gathering at Har Sinai. This is clever, but the “atzeret” name was probably chosen for a different reason, see the next paragraph—“Atzeret” is used in Tanach to refer to the last day of Sukkot and the last day of Pesach. It is widely agreed that the use of this term for Shavuot is a way of linking it to the Pesach holiday. The suggestion has then been made that the Exodus was not complete until the Torah was given. In this way, the name “atzeret” alludes to the giving of the Torah. This is clever but there are simpler ways to understand the link between Pesach and Shavuot.

I mentioned above that “Merkavah” is included in a Tannaitic source as one of the options for the haftorah of Shavuot. At Mishnah Meg. 4:10, the majority view prohibits reading any haftarot from Merkavah, but R. Yehudah permits it. Perhaps this Tannaitic source was aware of the custom to read Merkavah on Shavuot.

For further reading see: 1) S. Safrai, Ha-Aliyah La-Regel Bi-Yemei Ha-Bayit, p. 189, n. 143, 2) Rav S. Goren, Machanayim 26, pp. 5-10, and 3) Y. Tabory, Moadei Yisrael Be-Tekufat Ha-Mishnah ve- ha-Talmud, pp. 151-54. (As Safrai points out, arguments claiming a link between the book of Jubilees and Matan Torah are not convincing.)

Mitchell First can be reached at [email protected].