Short Thought on Shavuos | By Rav Asher Weiss Shlit"a (5786)

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Asher Weiss’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

So, what do we do on Shavuos? Two main huggin. Because Shavuos doesn't have any mitzvahs. Unlike Chag HaSukkot, which has sukkah and lulav. Unlike Chag HaMatzot, which has many, many mitzvahs. Shavuos has no specific mitzvah besides Simchas Yom Tov. So, Shavuos is all about minhagim. Two fundamental minhagim. One is you're up all night Shavuos One is you're up all night Shavuos night. The other minhag is blintzes. Two main huggin of Shavuos. Cheesecake and being up all night. We can appreciate why we're up all night Shavuos. It's Yom Kabbulas HaTorah. Where does cheesecake come into the picture? Pesachim Samech Tes. There's a machlokes Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. The two baalei plugta, The two baalei plugta, greatest Tana'im. How do we reconcile a steira between two psukim? Atzeres Elokim and Atzeres LaHashem. Rabbi Eliezer says, you can choose yoshev v'shoyna or yoshev v'ocheil v'shoyse. One of the two. Simchas Yom Tov has two different formulas and everyone can choose. Either I'm going to dedicate the entire Yom Tov I'm going to dedicate the entire Yom Tov to Talmud Torah and Tefillah or achila v'shteeya. Rabbi Yehoshua says, no. Chetsyo Elokim and chetsyo LaHashem. It is a combination of both. Yom Tov should be a day of spiritual growth, Torah and Tefillah, but also achila v'shteeya, Simchas HaGuf and Simchas HaNefesh. And then Rabbi Elozar says, "Hakol modim b'Atzeres Even Abaye says, that says you could decide to dedicate the entire day learning and davening, Atzeres Shavuos is different. Shavuos need to be lachem, oichel v'shasain. Why? Yom shebo nitna Torah. And that is counterintuitive. If anybody would ask us, which of the three sholosh regalim, you're entitled to learn all day, I think any one of us would say, Shavuos.

Jump to a moment

1. 0:01So, what do we do on Shavuos? Two main huggin. Because Shavuos doesn't have any mitzvahs.…
2. 1:02The two baalei plugta, greatest Tana'im. How do we reconcile a steira between two psukim? Atzeres…
3. 2:33think any one of us would say, Shavuos. Why? For the very same reason the Gemara…
4. 3:34It seems to be somewhat unpleasant, frightening. Is that what we choose? Is that the way…
5. 5:06mine the sword of the world or a station. I have to pick in. You still…
6. 6:36kind of you and I'm happy. Oh, what type of an of a hazard do you…
7. 7:36turmoil. And he is so difficult for him. You just guide and he he said and…
8. 9:08And my daughters are not up to getting married and he says, "My dream is to…
9. 10:08I would live this same life over again, and I would do nothing differently because I…
10. 11:39Minag Ashkenaz and many communities many years ago was the the Shavuot night sukkah. Is the…

Every second of this shiur plays inside Lehallel — a filtered YouTube library of Torah, music and shiurim. No ads, no comments, no autoplay.