Siman 494

On the fiftieth day of the counting of the Omer—it is the festival of Shavuot. And thus the Torah called this festival, meaning: the festival following the completion of the count of the weeks, as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:9): "Seven weeks you shall count for yourself." Our sages, of blessed memory, called this Yom Tov "Atzeret," and the commentators have already spoken of this. And it seems to me that, behold, the Targum everywhere translates "weeks." But in Pinchas, on the verse "And on the day of the first-fruits, when you bring a new meal-offering to Hashem in your weeks" (Numbers 28:26), Onkelos translated "in your Atzeret" according to the language of the sages. And perhaps because at the chosen assembly they were commanded "do not approach a woman." And regarding David when he came to Achimelech it is written (I Samuel 21:6): "For women have been restrained from us." And they hinted at this, that the Torah was given in holiness and in purity, and in memory of this the sages called it by the term "Atzeret."

Even though the Torah did not mention the matter of the giving of the Torah on Shavuot, because when the Torah was given – it was given forever and for all eternity; and it is not appropriate to establish a specific day for this as with all the festivals where only on that day was there a matter unique to it, such as the exodus from Egypt on Pesach and Sukkot, and the clouds of glory on Sukkot which were for a fixed time during their journeying in the desert. But the Torah is forever and for all eternity, and therefore the Torah suspended this holiday upon the offering of the shtei halechem which was only on this day. Nevertheless, in prayer we say "the time of the giving of our Torah," because on that day upon which Shavuot falls for us, namely the sixth of Sivan – the Torah was given to Israel. As it is taught in Shabbat (86b): Our Rabbis taught: On the sixth of the month the Torah was given to Israel. Rabbi Yose says: On the seventh of it. And the halacha is like the sages. And even though the Pesach when Israel went out from Egypt was on a Thursday, and the Torah was given on Shabbat, if so, according to our calculation that Iyar is always deficient and Nisan is full, and Rosh Chodesh Sivan was on Sunday, and if so the Torah was given on the seventh of Sivan; for it can be said that at the time when they established based on the sighting it could have been that Iyar was also full, and Rosh Chodesh Sivan was on Monday. (See Chok Yaakov what he wrote. And what the Magen Avraham questioned from that which we hold in Yoreh Deah siman 196 regarding one who discharges semen for six periods, and this is according to Rabbi Yose as is stated there in Shabbat – this is merely a stringency. And in truth, the Rambam in the fifth chapter of Hilkhot Avot HaTumot did not rule accordingly, as the Magen Avraham himself wrote. And the Magen Avraham brought from the Rema mi-Fano as an allusion to outside the Land – it is a fine and elegant allusion. And the Torah was given in the desert and not in the Land of Israel to teach that the Torah is not dependent on place, and the desert is outside the Land. Examine closely and you will find it simple.)

On the night of Shavuot, one does not recite Kiddush over the cup until it is actual night, because of "temimot," meaning: that the counting should be completed in "temimot." And the early pious ones would stay awake the entire night, as is brought in the Zohar. And now as well, many do so, and in the morning they go to the mikveh. And it is all a remembrance of the giving of the Torah. And regarding the matter of the blessing of the Torah, it has been explained in siman 47. And on a night of immersion, one should not withhold the conjugal duty.

The order of the prayers is as on Pesach, except that in place of "the time of our freedom" we say "the time of the giving of our Torah." And we complete the Hallel. And we take out two scrolls; in the first we read in "Yitro" from "In the third month" until the end of the portion. And we read the Ten Commandments with the upper accent, as is known to the readers. And before the blessing of the Kohen we say "Akdamut." And in the second we read for Maftir "And on the day of the firstfruits." And we read the Haftarah in the Chariot of Yechezkel, and conclude with an additional verse, "And a spirit lifted me," which is stated further on. And on the second day we read "Every firstborn," and if it falls on Shabbat we begin "You shall surely tithe." And we read the Haftarah in Chavakuk: "And Hashem is in His holy Temple," for the entire prophecy there is regarding the giving of the Torah and the Exodus from Egypt. And it concludes "To the conductor with my stringed instruments." And regarding the customs of the piyyutim, each person shall do according to the custom of his place, except for the 613 mitzvot which all of Israel say on Shavuot, this one in this version and that one in another version. For in the Ten Commandments there are 620 letters, corresponding to the 613 mitzvot from the Torah and seven from the rabbis. For everything is alluded to in the Tablets, that which the mouth cannot speak and the ear cannot hear. (And we begin the Haftarah at "A prayer of Chavakuk.")

And it is customary to eat dairy foods and honey, based on "Honey and milk are under your tongue." And there are further hints regarding the eating of dairy. And they found a hint in the Torah in the initial letters of "new [offering] to Hashem on your weeks." This is the wording of our teacher, the Rema: And it is customary to eat dairy foods on the first day of Shavuot. And it seems to me the reason is that it is like the two cooked dishes taken on the night of Pesach, a remembrance of the Pesach and a remembrance of the Chagigah; so too we eat a dairy dish and we eat a meat dish. And they must bring with them two loaves of bread on the table, which is in place of the altar, and there is in this a remembrance of the two loaves that they would offer on the day of the first fruits. Thus far his words. And also because through the giving of the Torah they were elevated on high, and were transformed from the impurity of Egypt to the purity of holiness. Therefore we eat dairy which is formed from blood, as we say: blood is decomposed and becomes milk. And there is in this a hint that judgment was transformed into mercy. And it is also customary to put saffron, which they call "zafran," in the foods and cooked dishes, because it gladdens since it has a good scent, based on "for the scent of your good oils" (see Magen Avraham subsection 6 in the name of the Zohar, and this is as I have written). And one should not be lenient on Shavuot regarding the matter of eating meat after dairy or the reverse more than in the rest of the year. And also regarding the matter of milk that was milked on that day by a non-Jew—it is forbidden to eat it, just as on any other Yom Tov.

And they wrote that it is the custom to spread grasses on Shavuot in the synagogue and in the houses, in memory of the joy of the giving of the Torah. And if it falls on Sunday—one spreads them from the eve of Shabbat, because they are muktzeh, and it is forbidden to move them on Shabbat and Yom Tov when they are not fit for animal fodder. However, if one designated them from the eve of Shabbat and the eve of Yom Tov—there is room to permit it, as I have written in siman 308 (Magen Avraham subsection 5). And some have the custom to set up trees (ibid.). However, in the generations before us, they abolished the trees and the grasses, for reasons known to the great ones of the generation.

It is forbidden to fast on the day after the festival of Shavuot, and on every Isru Chag one should not fast and we do not say Tachanun. However, the Isru Chag of Shavuot is more stringent, because when Shavuot occurred on Shabbat – the day of slaughtering the festival sacrifices would occur after Shabbat, since they do not override the Shabbat. Women are permitted to do work on Isru Chag, and certainly men. And we do not say Tachanun from Rosh Chodesh Sivan until after Isru Chag, because on Rosh Chodesh we certainly do not say it, and the three days before Shavuot are the three days of restriction of the giving of the Torah and they are days of joy, and automatically the day between Rosh Chodesh and the first of the restriction days is also included in the joy. Furthermore: because on that day Moshe told them to sanctify themselves, and it is customary to call it the "Distinguished Day" because of this. Furthermore: because on this day Yom Kippur occurs. (And know that nowadays it is impossible for Shavuot to occur on Shabbat, for Pesach cannot occur on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, and Shavuot occurs on the same day of the week as the second day of Pesach. However, when they would sanctify the month based on sighting, it was possible for it to occur.) With the help of Heaven, the Laws of Pesach are concluded.