Shavuot
Reb Shmuel of Nikolsberg - may his merit protect us - said of the verse. ”And you will seek me day after day,” that (because the Hebrew word used here also means to give a homiletical speech) that two specific days of speeches are alluded to here. The two days are Shabbos HaGadol (the Shabbos before Pesach) and Shabbos Shuvah (the Shabbos before Yom Kippur, leading up to Sukkos and Shmini Atzeret).
One could suggest that the two days of seeking alluded to are these two Atzeret holidays, which are two days of seeking a unique direct connection with G-d.
Atzeret connotes what G-d says to the Jewish People on Shmini Atzeret, “Stop and be with me, let’s be happy, you and me, together” ( as explained by The Rabbis and The Ramban). This applies to Shavuot as well. These two holidays, the holiest days of the year, are both about complete yichud-connection, times when G-d connects intimately with us. This is the highest level of holiness of the holidays.
The Beis Avraham (an earlier Rebbe of Slonim) explained that Pesach is the time of getting engaged to be married - eirusin. From Pesach till Shavuot The Holy One, Blessed Be He, and the Jewish People are in the realm of an engaged couple. Shavuot is the wedding day, as hinted to by the text referencing “his wedding day.” This explains the Gemorah, which says that G-d covered them with a mountain over their heads; it was a wedding canopy. G-d.
These two days are embodied by the element of a Jew’s most complete cleaving and connection to The Blessed One. These are times when a Jew subordinates all of his or her essence and existence to Hashem, may His name be blessed.
The Rabbis say, “The day when it rains is as great as the day on which the Torah was given to the Jewish People - (Taanit 7b)”. The Avodas Yisrael (an early Rebbe of Slonim) explained that the day of rain mentioned here hints specifically to Shmini Atzeret (the say we begin to pray for rain). This too supports the theory of Shmini Atzeret and Shavuot being remarkably similar, as they each serve to facilitate the highest connection between The Holy One, Blessed Be He and Israel.
II. These two days each mark the completion of a great and holy time period of fifty days:
Shavuot follows fifty days counted from the first day of Pesach. Holy books teach us that when the Torah says, “Count fifty days,” the first day of Pesach is included in the count. On the first day the is an Awaken From Above which empowers an Awakening From Below for all of the forty nine days of the counting of the Omer. After these gifty days comes Shavuot, which is the fifty first day.
Similarly, Shmini Atzeret follows fifty days that start on Rosh Chodesh, at the start of the month of Ellul. Those fifty days include Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos and they are completed by Shmini Atzeret, which is the fifty first day.
The Rebbe of Kobrin explained that the three weeks of mourning in the summer, followed by Ellul and the ensuing holidays and their mitzvot, are all preparation for Shmini Atzeret and the complete connection to Hashem that it brings.
So too, all that we go through regarding the wiping out of Amalek (Purim), the leaving of Egypt (Pesach), and the counting of the Omer is preparation for the holy day of Shavuot and all that it brings.
These two periods of fifty days each build up to a great and holy day of unification between The Holy One Blessed Be He and Israel.
III. The Noam Elimelech explained that the holiness of the blank space between the letters is higher than the holiness of the letters themselves. This is because each letter contains its own holiness alone, while the space contains the holiness of all of the letters. Similarly, these two holy days, which conclude the two holiest times of the year, encompass the holiness of all the days that lead up to them.
All of our holidays have practical commands - mitzvot that we must do (such as eating matzah and waving the lulav). These two holidays are the exceptions to the rule because they are on the highest level, The Holy of Holies, above the realm of doing.
Torat Chaim (a collection of Torah teachings of the early Rebbes of Slonim) explains that at the time of high connection with G-d on Shmini Atzeret all accessories get removed, because it is the realm of being higher than any image. This time is The Holy of Holies due to the great love between G-d and the Jewish People that manifests itself on this day. This is the meaning of Gd’s saying, “Come and let’s celebrate, just me and you.”
The connection on these two days is through the holy Torah, the receiving of the Torah on Shavuot, and Simchat Torah - the celebration of the completion of reading the Torah, on Shmini Atzeret.
The Torah is represented by the letter vav (in part because the Torah was given on the 6th of Sivan). There is a vav in the four letter name of G-d, and it rests between and connects two hehs, one representing G-d and the other representing the Jewish People. These two days are the two days on which we seek G-d Himself, days of great power of love and complete cleaving, the realm of G-d having spoken to us face to face causing our souls to temporarily leave us due the intensity of love and longing.
The Kedushat Levi writes that there is an abundance of positive effect that flows down seven levels and is received on the eighth day. It’s called the Shmini Atzeret - the eighth day of atzeret - stopping, pausing to collect the abundant flow from above. And there is the same idea regarding Shavuot: During the seven weeks of the Omer there is a descending of spiritual abundance. These are like seven clean spiritual days for the Jewish People. Then comes Shavuot, which is like the eighth day, which collects and then holds inside it all of this high influence. This is why it is called Atzeret.
IV. We pray (in Hallel) - G-d, please (nah) save us, G-d please (hah) help us succeed. The Avodat Yisrael explains that the word nah, which is 51 in Gematria is referring to the fifty first day that follows a holy period of fifty days. We ask that on the day the receiver will pause to gather in all the holiness that was received over the past fifty days.
Because the time leading up to Shmini Atzeret is a time of judgment and repentance, the turning away from the negative, this is the time of nah/please save us, as we need to be saved from the negative. We Pray for Shmini Atzeret to collect all the holiness of the fifty days of working on turning away from what is bad. And because Shavuot comes after an intense period of love - starting with the love of Pesach and ending with Shavuot, a day of turning to the good, this is the time of nah/please help us have the success needed to achieve good things.
These two fifty day time periods enlighten the whole year and therefore we pray for them to be effective. We pray for Shavuot to receive the holiness from Pesach till this day of receiving the Torah and that it’s light will shine for the next half a year, until the High hHoly Days. And we pray for Shmini Atzeret to shine light throughout the winter, till Pesach.
Our hope is that the holiness of these time periods should not be limited but should stay with us and last. As The Beis Avraham, may his merit protect us, says - based on the command to count from the day after Shabbos - every Jew elevates Shabbos, but the key is the day after Shabbos. The word for counting relates to the word sapphire and the shining of light onto the next day. The idea is that the enlightenment of holy times will continue to cast light after Shabbos and after Yom Tov. This is the meaning of these two days of Atzeret. They are a day of stopping, collecting, and storing the holiness of all the holy days until the next season of holidays come upon us in peace.
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