Shavuot
by Rabbi Avi Billet
In Parshat Emor, the Torah tells us, “You shall then count for yourselves seven complete weeks after the day following the [Passover] holiday when you brought the omer as a wave offering.” (Vayikra 23:15)
The term “seven complete weeks” is used by the Ta”z (R David HeLevi) and others as proof that Maariv (the evening prayer) on the eve of Shavuot is not to begin until after the stars have appeared. This delay is meant to assure that the Sefirat HaOmer period is over (the weeks are “completed”), so that the holiday of Shavuot can now commence.
Is this a proper argument? Could the Torah’s terminology in this case be used to prevent the holiday from starting earlier? Shabbat often begins early. Sukkot begins early. Even Pesach may begin early, as the Shulchan Arukh states in 472:1: “One’s table should be set when it is still daytime, to be able to eat immediately when it gets dark… However, he should not say Kiddush until it is dark.” The Mishnah Berurah notes there, that one is not obligated to begin eating at nightfall, but if it helps the children stay up, the earlier one starts, post nightfall, the better. Obviously, if the meal can begin immediately at nightfall, Maariv will have been prayed a little earlier.
While synagogues should certainly follow their customs, it is worthy to note that the Magen Avraham (R Avraham Gombiner) uses the same verse from Vayikra to teach us that just like at Pesach, “We do not say Kiddush until the stars have come out.” (Shulchan Arukh 494, Introduction)
The debate is clear – either Maariv or Kiddush must wait until the stars have come out.
But maybe the premise of the argument is based on an error. Or, to say it a little nicer, maybe the reading of the word “complete” is inaccurate.
The Ktav V’hakabalah (Rabbi Yaakov Zvi Mecklenburg) notes that the word used in Vayikra 23:15 to describe the 7 weeks is “Temimot,” which more often means perfect or wholesome. The word the Torah does not use is “Shleimot,” which would more precisely mean “complete” or “full.” He defines “Temimot” as a qualitative form of completion, while “Shleimot” would be the proper term to be utilized for a quantitative assessment of completion. In other words, the way the Torah depicts the completeness of the 7 weeks, using the word “Temimot,” would more accurately be defined as an instruction to make the 7 weeks qualitatively whole.
Quoting a Midrash (Vayikra Rabba Emor 28), the Ktav V’hakabalah suggests that what makes the 7 weeks perfect or wholesome has nothing to do with a timeclock that says the 7 weeks are full or complete only when the stars have come out at the end of the 49th day. The “Temimot” weeks are achieved when the Children of Israel use the time of Sefirat Ha’Omer to fulfill God’s will.
While I personally think it is OK to rely on the Magen Avraham to have Maariv a little earlier as long as Kiddush is after nightfall, it is understood that others will follow the Ta”z and Mishnah Berurah and wait for Maariv to start that late. Certainly this year, with Shavuot starting at the end of Shabbat, it is likely most people would wait anyway.
But let us not lose sight of the the very important lesson the Ktav ve’Hakabalah is teaching us. Our Sefirat Ha’Omer period was meant to be a time of introspection, of qualitative preparation for the celebration of Matan Torah, of reliving the experience of being given the gift of the Torah.
Are we worthy? Did we do our jobs? Did we make the 7 weeks “Temimot,” wholesome and perfect? Do we live our lives yearning and aiming for this kind of completion – a qualitative one?
Or are we living our Jewish lives trying to be “Shleimot?” Do we merely tick off checks and fill in boxes in the proverbial achievement chart of our lives?
Do we measure our Jewish achievements in quantity, or in quality?
Let us let the qualitative interpretation of Temimus be a charge to all of us to make every day count on a much higher level than “another day gone.”
Quantity is easily measured. But quality is the hallmark of a meaningful life.
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