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Last year, I learned this beautiful idea in seminary. I even had a whole Dvar Torah written about it, which I gave at my friend’s house around 1 in the morning that Shavuot night, but I couldn’t find it now. This is written with what I could remember, so if it doesn’t make so much sense, please blame my memory!

The giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai is often likened to a marriage between G-d and His people. When Bnei Yisrael said “Na’aseh v’Nishma(We will do and we will listen),” it was just like the chupa ceremony at a wedding, or saying “I do…”

The time before marriage, or even before engagement and dating, should be used for preparation. I’ve been told countless times, since starting (and finishing a couple of days ago!) Seminary, that these 2 years would be crucial to my growth and preparation. I always laughed, but I realize now that these people were so right! These years are our last chance to learn as much as we can, to absorb as much Hashkafah, Halacha and values and as much about ourselves as we can, before we need to settle down and use what we’ve learned in a practical setting. The more you prepare the better!

It’s said that when you get married, it’s two halves of a soul coming together to make one. By doing this preparation, you’re making your half the most complete it can be so that when it meets up with it’s other half, it makes a complete whole.

If the giving of the Torah is likened to a marriage between us and Hashem, then the time before Shavuot can be likened to this preparation period. You don’t go into a relationship unprepared; we need to know ourselves and work on ourselves first.

The learning of Pirkei Avot these past few weeks was precisely for that reason. Through learning Pirkei Avot, we learn to be better people, better Jews, to improve our character traits and enhance the good qualities we already have. This shows us who we really are and how to be the best possible people we can be. In this way we fulfill our potential to the best of our ability.

May we all be zoche(deserving) to grow to our fullest potential, and find our other half…

Another beautiful idea:

When we were taken out of Mitzrayim, it was not because we truly deserved HaShem’s salvation, really. We were on such a low of level of tuma(impurity) that had we stayed in Mitzrayim any longer, we would have been lost to HaShem.

At that time we were on the 49th level of tuma.
At the time of matan Torah, however, we jumped up to the 49th level of kedushah(holiness/purity)!
How did we possibly jump 98 levels in 49 days?

HaShem is pure chessed, as is obvious through His creation of the world. He had no reason to create the world, but did so anyway, for our sake.
So, in His goodness, He gave us 49 levels, just like that, raising us up to 0 by yetziat Mitzrayim.

We didn’t work for that raise, it was a gift from HaShem.
The raising of our level from 0 to 49 is a different story -

From 0 to 49 - from the time of yetziat Mitzrayim to matan Torah - We worked on ourselves, in the same way we do now during the Sefirat HaOmer.

The working on our middot that we do now is, in a way, done in order to keep up a certain level of kedushah that we have in our days. However, it is NOT the same level of kedushah that we had at the time of matan Torah - That level was lost to us through the cheit ha’egel (sin of the golden calf).

This shows why working on ourselves - now during the Sefirat HaOmer or any other time during the year - is such an important aspect of Yiddishkeit. Our kedushah is what helps bring us closer to HaShem.

When people look forward to something, they usually make a countdown.
For example: When you’re really excited to be finishing the school year you count down the days until the end, crossing off each day as you go along. (Right now I am currently 6 days away from graduating Seminary!) When one day finishes it is as if it is meaningless and it seems as though it never existed at all.

The Sefira is the total opposite…

We look forward to Shavuot – the time of matan Torah (Giving of the Torah) – but we do not count down. We count each day as it comes, and never forget the days that have passed. For example – after 8 days you count 1 week and 1 day – still mentioning the past 7 days even though they are over. Each day is remembered and counts toward the end of the journey.

Each day is meaningful in the Sefira.
The Sefira is a time for tikkun middot (fixing our character traits.) - We fix our character traits, our behaviors, our way of thinking – We better ourselves in all aspects of our lives.

Because of the meaning behind each day of the Sefira, each day is important.
We remember each day on this journey towards matan Torah because it is important to remember where you are coming from when you embark on such a spiritual journey.

Therefore, each day of the Sefira counts towards something – they are tiny steps on your journey towards completion.

Everyday matters.

One of the centrally discussed topics of the upcoming holiday of Shavuos and Jewish life in general is the seeming paradox between having complete Emunah and Bitachon in Hashem Yisborach while fulfilling the mandate of Hishtadlus otherwise known as manly effort that is required by us in the world that we live in. In Parshas Bechukosai the Ramban discusses this and says that the way in which the Brachos are indicated implies that if we obey G-d’s word and trust in G-d then G-d will feed us and prvide all of our needs i.e. sustenance, safety…

The reason that we don’t experience such a fulfillment of divine intervention is due to the fact that we are unable to have absolute full Emunah and Bitachon in this un-G-dly world. We involve ourselves in earthly instead of heavenly matters and this causes us to have a serious lack of faith in G-d. The question I would like to suggest is why on the holiday of Shavuos, a holiday in which we were told by Hashem himself that he is our G-d, a holiday where every Jew who experienced that event would presumably have the greatest Emunah in the world, is a holiday so centralized around man/woman. Shavuos, in the Jewish calendar falls on the 6th day of Sivan, not the day that we received the entire Torah, but the day in which Moshe Rabbeinu went up to Har Sinai to receive the Torah from G-d. Rav Motti Elon writes that Shavuos is different from other holidays because we celebrate the effort that was put forth from Moshe Rabbeinu, the effort that the entire Jewish people showed, the dedication that Rus, the mother of the Jewish dynasty showed. Even though ideally we should have Bitachon that G-d will fulfill all our needs, we don’t live on this level, we live in a world where we need to put forth the strongest of efforts to get close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and Shavuos is the holiday where we celebrate G-d’s gift to us, and our dedication to G-d.
Have a wonderful Shavuos.