Just Like the First Time - 5 Stages of Preparation for Matan Torah in Light of Chassidus

00:00 How do we prepare for the days of the Giving of the Torah? We find something interesting: Shavuos has several names, as is well known, but one of the central ones is “the time of the Giving of our Torah.” In the siddur, in our prayers, we call it the time of the Giving of our Torah. On the other hand, there is also the expression “the days of receiving the Torah.” For example, in the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, when he presents the laws of Shavuos in section 494, he uses the expression “the days of receiving the Torah.” What, seemingly, is the difference between saying “Giving of the Torah” and “receiving the Torah”? There is an interesting story about this from the time of the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya and the Shulchan Aruch. Chassidim had come for Shavuos. It was one of the major festivals when hundreds and thousands of chassidim would come to be with the Rebbe for the receiving of the Torah, and they held a farbrengen in the days before Shavuos. This very question came up at their farbrengen, though they put it differently: Since Shavuos is the time of the Giving of the Torah, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us the Torah, why do we need preparations for receiving it? In other words, we can begin to see that these are two different things. When we speak of the Giving of the Torah, we mean a gift. Usually, a gift is something you receive even if you have done nothing special to earn it. On the contrary, if a person gets something because they have earned it and truly deserve it, that is something else entirely. The giving of the Torah is a gift: “He gave us His Torah.” We always say in the blessing over the Torah, “Blessed are You, Hashem, Who gives the Torah,” because the Torah is so extraordinary that nothing a person could do would make them worthy of receiving it on their own. As the Gemara says

02:28 in Tractate Shabbos, in the well-known discussion of the Giving of the Torah: it is a “hidden treasure” kept in the heavenly treasury—Shabbos, sorry, the Torah—the most wonderful and exalted thing, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave it to us as a gift. So what is meant by receiving the Torah? This question was raised at the farbrengen and conveyed through the Mitteler Rebbe to his father, the Alter Rebbe. He explained that although the Giving of the Torah is a gift from Above, a person must be a vessel for it. That is, a person must prepare themselves to be a vessel capable of receiving this extraordinary gift. Being a vessel means truly refining and preparing oneself, so that when the gift is received, it has somewhere to reside, somewhere to reveal itself, and the person can feel connected to it and receive the Torah. To illustrate what it means to be a vessel with an example from our physical world: suppose someone prepares a very special drink or food. Afterward, they need somewhere to put it and keep it. If you have made wine, you put it in a bottle; if you have prepared food, you put it in a container. But if the container is very dirty, everything you did, all the effort you invested, goes to waste. Preparing the vessel means ensuring that the place where you store that special food or sweet drink is secure and suitable, somewhere it will keep well. That, in general, is the point of receiving the Torah: how do we become worthy vessels for the great and extraordinary gift that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us on Shavuos? Every year the Giving of the Torah happens anew. The whole giving of the Torah is renewed, and so there must also be preparation

04:56 specifically to become a vessel for the Giving of the Torah. Now, the preparation for the Giving of the Torah is what we are going to discuss today: what it involves, and how we prepare to receive the Torah. We will look at what the Torah itself tells us and learn from there how to prepare. Shavuos was on the sixth or seventh of Sivan, according to the dispute between the Sages and Rabbi Yosi in the Gemara in Tractate Shabbos, in its discussion of the Giving of the Torah. But before then, there were several preparations. Beyond the general matter of counting the Omer, the main preparations for the Giving of the Torah began on Rosh Chodesh Sivan. So if we look at what the Torah says, and at what our Sages explain in the Gemara, Tractate Shabbos, page 87, about the sequence of preparations for receiving the Torah, we can draw lessons and guidance from it. What exactly should a Jew’s work be during these days, from Rosh Chodesh Sivan until the day of the Giving of the Torah? How does a Jew prepare, day by day, to receive the Torah and become a worthy vessel for its light? First, in general, the most obvious thing is that since we are talking about the day of the Giving of the Torah, the greatest preparation is Torah study. Clearly, when a person prepares for something, the preparation should resemble what they hope to receive. If I am preparing to receive the Torah, then certainly my preparation should involve studying Torah. So it is obvious that these are days for Torah study. Indeed, the works of great Torah sages, including leading early and later authorities, say that these days of preparation for the Giving of the Torah are auspicious, holy days for studying Torah—and not only for studying it, but for attaining insights into Torah, developing new Torah insights, and even reaching the Torah’s secrets. This is brought in several books in the names of great Torah sages. But here we will discuss

07:18 the more specific preparations that we find in the Torah in connection with the Giving of the Torah, and through them we will understand something very interesting. When the Alter Rebbe teaches the laws of Shavuos in his Shulchan Aruch, he begins by discussing why we do not say Tachanun during the first days of Sivan. He explains why we do not say Tachanun throughout the first week of Sivan, giving the details: On the first day, Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the Jewish people arrived at Mount Sinai. On the second day, Moshe told them, “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” That was the second of Sivan. On the third day, he gave them the commandment to set boundaries: “Set a boundary around the mountain and sanctify it.” On the fourth day, he instructed them to separate from their wives and wash their garments—the days of separation. Then came the eve of Shavuos, the day when, as the Gemara relates, the Jewish people said, “We will do and we will hear.” Only after that came the special, great day of the Giving of the Torah, when Hashem descended upon Mount Sinai. Now, this is interesting: why does the Alter Rebbe spell out what happened on each day? He could have said briefly, as other halachic authorities do, that we do not say Tachanun during the first days because they are days of preparation for the Giving of the Torah. That would have been enough. By giving the details, he teaches us this point: Every year, when we want to receive the Torah anew, Shavuos is the day when Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us a new light, the Torah anew, with fresh vitality and a new revelation. So the preparation must match. We must learn from the account of the first Giving of the Torah how a Jew prepares today

09:29 To receive the Torah. So we’re going to discuss the points of preparation, day by day, and how they are expressed in our service of Hashem in everyday life. On the first day, the Jewish people arrived in the Sinai Desert. What happened that day? On Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the Torah says, “And Israel encamped there opposite the mountain.” “Encamped” is in the singular. Rashi says—citing the Gemara, or rather, the Midrash—that they encamped “as one person with one heart.” The Midrash says that Hakadosh Boruch Hu said all their other encampments had involved disputes and complaints. Throughout the Jewish people’s forty-two encampments in the desert, there were always stories, politics, disputes and complaints. But on the day they arrived at Mount Sinai, they were as one person with one heart. They hated strife and loved peace. Hakadosh Boruch Hu said, “Now is the time for Me to give the Torah.” Since the Jewish people stood together as one person with one heart, that was the greatest preparation. Hakadosh Boruch Hu was now about to give us the Torah. So that is the first foundation. A Jew needs to know that the first prerequisite for receiving the Torah is being as one person with one heart. But what is the connection? Why must we be as one person with one heart before receiving it? Of course Ahavas Yisroel is very important, but why is it the first preparation for receiving the Torah? There are several explanations, but one point is what we say in prayer: “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants to bless the Jewish people. His blessing can be revealed among the Jewish people when we are all as one. Unity, peace, Ahavas Yisroel and the unity of the Jewish people are the first vessel—indeed, the only vessel—in which

11:46 Hashem’s blessing rests. As the Mishnah tells us, in the final Mishnah of all six orders of the Mishnah: “Hakadosh Boruch Hu found no vessel that holds blessing for Israel other than peace.” For there to be a vessel that holds blessing for the Jewish people, there must be peace. Unity is a vessel for blessing. When there is a lack of unity among the Jewish people, it is like a damaged vessel: blessing cannot enter it. When there is unity among the Jewish people, there is a vessel, and the Divine Presence can rest there. Hakadosh Boruch Hu dwells only in a place of oneness. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is one and His name is one, and His oneness can be revealed in a place of oneness. Therefore, we need to be one people, as one person with one heart, so that we can receive the one Torah from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, who is one and whose name is one. That is the first point. It also explains something very interesting. The Gemara in Shabbos says that when the Jewish people arrived on Rosh Chodesh Sivan, Moshe Rabbeinu said nothing to them. Why? Because they were weakened by the journey. They were weak, so Hakadosh Boruch Hu did not tell them anything. But that raises a question: What does that mean? The Jewish people were longing for and awaiting the moment of the Giving of the Torah. The Midrash tells us that the whole idea of counting the Omer was that the Jewish people were counting the days. And suddenly they arrive with no strength, weak and tired? Besides, what had tired them out? They traveled with the Clouds of Glory. As the Midrashim describe it, they traveled in a way that involved no exertion at all. So where was this weakness from the journey? What weakness did the Jewish people experience when they arrived in the Sinai Desert on Rosh Chodesh Sivan? Rather, the Rebbe gives us a deeper explanation, explaining beautifully

13:43 that this is not talking about physical weakness from the exertion and difficulty of the journey. There was no physical hardship or exertion; that was not an issue at all. Rather, it means weakness from the spiritual journey—the journey each person takes to connect with another. It is a journey. By nature, every person has their own way of thinking, their own character and their own perspective. As our Sages tell us, people’s opinions are not alike. Just as their faces differ, so do their opinions. So each person has their own way of thinking and looking at things. How, then, can we connect? Naturally, it’s impossible for there not to be differences. We are not talking about disputes born of quarrels and politics, G-d forbid, but simply the fact that each person has their own opinion. After all, we are a wise and understanding people. Two Jews, three opinions—that’s human nature. One Jew says one thing, and the other says the opposite. One says “Shalom aleichem,” and the other replies, “Aleichem shalom.” That’s the Jewish character. So the fact that Jews have different opinions is not a problem; it is a reality. Nor is it a bad thing. On the contrary, that is how a wise and understanding people should be. A Jew needs to think and have an independent mind. But here, in preparation for receiving the Torah, something special had to happen. Suddenly the entire people, with all its different groups and tribes, became as one person with one heart. That is the weakness from the journey. Finding the way to reach another person and unite with them despite all our differences, so that we can become one single entity, takes a great deal of inner and emotional strength. That is why this

15:34 is considered the first task of the first day, and it is precisely why Moshe Rabbeinu said nothing to them. This was not a time for words; it was a time to set ourselves aside for one another so that we could all unite, becoming one person with one heart. That is the first preparation for the Giving of the Torah. Then comes the second day, 2 Sivan. Moshe Rabbeinu gathers the Jewish people and tells them those special words. It is Yom Hameyuchas, as it is called in many sefarim. The second of Sivan is Yom Hameyuchas, the day we received our special distinction. Moshe Rabbeinu tells us those wonderful words. What exactly is that distinction? What exactly defines us? What makes the Jewish people unique? “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” There are other things said there, but let us pause at least on these central words, which express the inner point of 2 Sivan. The second preparation for receiving the Torah is that a Jew must recognize their identity. A Jew needs to know what makes them unique. Before you begin to do something, you need to know: Who am I? A person needs to know the special strengths they have and their unique identity in order to know what they are doing. If I’m a doormat, I can’t do anything. If I’m nothing, who am I? What am I? What am I worth? If I’m worth nothing, I can’t do anything. Before a person begins working on themselves, they must know that they have wonderful, special strengths. They have a unique identity and a special role. They need to be able to define exactly what that role is. And this is what Moshe Rabbeinu tells the Jewish people: “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”—that if we

17:34 Let’s be precise: there are three points here. First, “You shall be Mine”—the Jewish people. We are Hashem’s people. Before getting into the details, the first thing a Jew needs to know is: “You shall be Mine.” This is the wonderful thing Hashem tells the Jewish people. On 2 Sivan, Moshe Rabbeinu tells them: Remember, first and foremost, “You shall be Mine.” A Jew belongs to Hashem. He is devoted to Hashem. He belongs to Him. Then, second and third: “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” What is a kingdom of priests? A priest’s role is like that of the kohen in the Beis Hamikdash. He is someone who must be set apart. The idea of a kohen emphasizes separation from the life of this world. As we know, the kohanim and Levi’im, the tribe of Levi, were set apart from the ways of the world. They had no share in the Land of Israel. They were to be entirely devoted to serving Hashem, receiving the terumos and maasros from the Jewish people. That, as we know, was the role of the kohanim. If we apply this to the entire Jewish people, “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests” means that Hashem is saying: A Jew must be like a kohen in relation to all the nations of the world, and to the world as a whole. He is a kohen; he is set apart. This physical, material world is not his place. He has a mission. He must bring Divine light into the world. He must be a Jew of Torah and mitzvos. So, in essence, he must be a kohen who is completely set apart, just as the kohen’s whole life is in the Beis Hamikdash. Even when a Jew lives in the world, he is fundamentally set apart from it. He lives in the Beis Hamikdash—the spiritual Beis Hamikdash. But on the other hand, there is “a holy nation.” Here is something wonderful: What is the difference between “a kingdom of priests” and “a holy nation”?

19:55 Kohanim, as we said, are set apart. “A holy nation” means something quite different. A Jew must be within the world and bring holiness into the reality of the world. That is the precise meaning of “a holy nation.” A nation is a people—but what kind of people? A holy one. In other words, a person is not supposed to separate himself and live on some isolated island. A Jew is not meant to be disconnected from the world. A Jew must rise above materialism, above nature; he is connected to something far higher. But at the same time, a Jew is meant to live within the world. Indeed, the entire Torah tells us not that a Jew must withdraw completely from the world—just the opposite. A Jew must live an ordinary life: eat, drink, conduct business, marry, build a family, and bring holiness into all these physical things. A holy nation lives in the world and brings holiness into the mundane, into everyday life. These are the main points a Jew must work on in preparing for the giving of the Torah: recognizing who we are and what our mission is. Then comes the third day. On the third day came the days of setting boundaries, and on the fourth, the days of separation. It’s very interesting. I had the privilege of hearing this explanation from the Rebbe at the time. I had the privilege of being with the Rebbe for several years during Shavuos and the days of preparation for the giving of the Torah. We were privileged that the Rebbe explained to us, day by day, what our work was, what our task was, and how we prepare to receive the Torah. So let’s talk about the days of separation and the days of setting boundaries. On 3 Sivan it says, “Set a boundary around the mountain and sanctify it.” Hashem tells Moshe Rabbeinu to instruct the Jewish people to set boundaries, to put a barrier around Mount Sinai, because they are forbidden to go up the mountain: “Take care not to go up the mountain or touch its edge.” He gives them the sternest warnings not to try to ascend the mountain. What exactly was happening there? Who wanted

22:20 to go up the mountain? What was the story there? “Set a boundary around the mountain”—a special command, three days of setting boundaries, and then, the next day, 4 Sivan, the days of separation. Yes, separating from one’s wife, washing one’s clothes. Days of setting boundaries, days of separation. What exactly is the work involved? What does it express, and how do we apply it? The Rebbe explained that this follows directly from what we discussed about the second day. When the Jews received their identity on 2 Sivan and learned who they were and what their mission was, they understood that being “Mine,” being a special people connected to Hashem, must take two forms. On the one hand, a person must be set apart from this world, like the kohanim. On the other, he must be part of “a holy nation,” bringing Hashem into the reality of the world. That is the whole purpose of the giving and receiving of the Torah. The Torah teaches us two things. On the one hand, it teaches us not to engage with the world in a coarse, materialistic way. Broadly speaking, that includes all the things the Torah tells us not to do. A Jew must take care not to behave crudely and complacently. He must know what not to do: which foods not to eat, which ways of behaving to avoid—including cynicism, and conduct in business and other dealings. He must know how a Jew is supposed to behave, how to be set apart from the world. On the other hand, a Jew must live within the world and make the world a dwelling place for Hashem. So he is not disconnected from it. He lives in the world. As we said, he does conduct business, he does eat, he does marry, and he does have a healthy, wholesome family life according to the Torah. And into that physical reality he brings Divine holiness. That is what happened on 3 Sivan and, following from it,

24:28 on 4 Sivan. As we said, from the time they left Egypt, the Jewish people had been filled with tremendous longing. They knew they were heading toward receiving the Torah. They knew they were approaching that long-awaited, wonderful moment when there would be a Divine revelation—a historic event that would happen only once in all of history. Hashem Himself would be revealed, and they would receive the Torah. There was tremendous longing, which is why there was the counting of the Omer and all the work of refining the material self, and so on. When they arrived and stood before Mount Sinai, an overwhelming longing arose in every one of them: to draw close to Hashem, to cleave as closely as possible to the Divine light, to unite with it, become absorbed in it, and merge with the infinite light. Then Moshe Rabbeinu came and told them in Hashem’s name: Remember the purpose. The purpose is not to flee the world. The purpose is to be within the world and make it a place for Hashem. So the first thing is: “Set a boundary around the mountain.” “Set a boundary around the mountain and sanctify it”; “Take care not to go up the mountain.” Remember, although you are about to see an extraordinary Divine revelation here—Hashem Himself descending with all the angels, and the light of G-d being revealed in the most wondrous way—the natural tendency of the Divine soul, which is “truly a part of G-d above,” is to rise. “The soul of man is the lamp of Hashem.” A lamp has a flame that constantly wants to rise upward. So the soul has this longing to escape its present reality and unite with Hashem, to go up the mountain and touch it, to unite and merge with the infinite light. Remember, setting boundaries is not the ultimate purpose. The purpose is to remain within the world. “Set a boundary around the mountain and sanctify it,” so that a Jew will remember that the purpose of the giving of the Torah is to bring Hashem into the world, not to disconnect from the world, but to live

26:43 A life of asceticism and withdrawal. So it begins on 3 Sivan, with the days of setting boundaries, and then comes 4 Sivan, the days of separation. On the other hand, while it is true that the Torah wants us to live within the world, we also have to remember that even within the world, there must be a measure of restraint. We have to be careful that the world’s materialism and physicality do not cause a person to fall, to sink into the material and the physical. We must always remain a little above the ground: in the world, but at the same time rising above it. There is a well-known story chassidim tell about the Alter Rebbe. Once he was studying with the son of the Maggid of Mezritch, Rabbi Avraham the Angel. He was an angel of G-d, just as his name suggests. Rabbi Avraham the Angel was a holy man, set apart and completely detached from the world. He was an extraordinarily lofty, holy person. The Alter Rebbe had the privilege of studying with him as a study partner. They studied Torah, both its revealed teachings and Kabbalah. At one point, they became so deeply absorbed in their studies that the Alter Rebbe felt that if he went any deeper into the subject, his soul would leave his body. So he broke away from their study session, went to the kitchen, took a roll for himself—a bagel, as we would say—spread butter on it, and began to eat. Then his friend, Reb Avraham the Angel, came out of his state of deep spiritual absorption and went looking for him: Where had my friend gone? Where had the Alter Rebbe gone? He found him eating a bagel with butter and asked, “What are you doing here? We were at a moment of the loftiest spiritual absorption!” The Alter Rebbe explained to him: “We have to know what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants from us. He does not want us to flee the world. He wants us to live within the world and make a dwelling place for Hakadosh

28:49 Boruch Hu within it.” That is the point of the commandment to set boundaries. And along with it comes the commandment of separation. We must be in the world, but within the world we must be a holy nation, bringing holiness into the material and into the world around us. When you eat, you eat—but for the sake of Heaven, with holiness and purity. When you conduct business, you do so for the sake of Heaven, in a sound and proper way, according to the Torah and all the laws involved. And the same applies to every detail of life in this world. Then comes the eve of Shavuos. What happened on the eve of Shavuos? As the Gemara says, that was the great and wonderful day when the Jewish people put “we will do” before “we will hear.” They said “we will do” before “we will hear.” This was 5 Sivan. Moshe Rabbeinu built an altar and offered a sacrifice, as the Gemara says there, and then the Jewish people said, “We will do and we will hear.” And when the Jewish people put “we will do” before “we will hear,” six hundred thousand ministering angels descended and placed two crowns on each Jew: one for “we will do” and one for “we will hear.” What does this mean in our service of Hashem? Putting “we will do” before “we will hear” is the Jewish people’s secret. “Who revealed this secret to My children?” the Gemara asks in Tractate Shabbos. This is the great secret of the Jewish people: they put doing before understanding. Taken literally, of course, that seems impossible. If you have not heard what is being asked, you do not know what you are supposed to do. But this expresses absolute devotion. It expresses the true identity of a Jew as a servant of Hashem. Before he understands, he already says, “Here I am. I’m ready.” That devotion—putting “we will do” before “we will hear”—is the Jew’s complete self-surrender and devotion to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He says, “We will do. I’m ready, I’m ready. Whatever You want, I’m here.” And after that comes “we will hear”: let’s hear the details; let’s understand them. Because a Jew must understand too. As we said, we are a wise and discerning people.

31:02 Certainly there must be understanding, but it comes after the decision to devote ourselves to Hashem’s will. Then, when you study Torah, use your mind, delve into it and understand it, that study will lead you to action. “Study is great because it leads to action.” Learning should not be just a way to become clever, delve deeply and acquire wisdom. When it is built on a foundation of kabbolas ol, acceptance of the yoke of Heaven—putting “we will do” before “we will hear,” with complete devotion to being a servant of Hashem—then the learning, too, will be accompanied by proper fear of Heaven. It will be directed toward the Divine will, toward knowing what Hakadosh Boruch Hu truly wants from us, and the learning will lead to action: to being a vibrant Jew who lives with fear of Heaven in everyday life. So, in summary, what are the five things we need to prepare for receiving the Torah? Point number one: “As one person with one heart.” Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity are the first vessel for receiving Hashem’s blessing at the Giving of the Torah. Point number two: knowing our identity and our role. “You shall be Mine”: we belong to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and we are “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Point number three: the commandment to set boundaries. We must know the purpose of giving the Torah. It is not to flee the world through asceticism, but the opposite: to bring Hakadosh Boruch Hu into the world, into physical reality, and bring the light of Torah and mitzvos there. Point number four: restraint in relation to material things. Although the Torah wants us to live within the world, we must do so in a refined, elevated, pure and holy way. And point number five: putting “we will do” before “we will hear.” Devotion to Hakadosh Boruch Hu in this way, and the kabbolas ol of accepting the yoke of Heaven on the eve of Shavuos, prepare us for “Hashem descended upon Mount Sinai.” When Shavuos arrives, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us the Torah anew, and we are fitting vessels to receive it. As we said, receiving the Torah prepares us for the Giving of the Torah, which Hashem gives us and gives

33:19 to us anew—with new light, renewed vitality, deeper understanding, and a fresh approach to every aspect of receiving the Torah. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu help us prepare properly to receive the Torah. And may each and every one of us receive the Torah, as the Rebbe would always say in his blessing, “with joy and inwardness.” May the light of Torah permeate every fiber of our being, and may we soon merit the revelation of the new Torah from the mouth of King Moshiach—the secrets of the Torah. May it happen in these very days, speedily in our time, amen. May we merit the light of Torah, and may there be peace in the world and peace throughout all of existence.