Pumping Ruchniyus

Rashi, on the words וַיִּחַן שָׁם יִשְׂרָאֵל נֶגֶד הָהָר in Parashas Yisro, famously comments that in order for Klal Yisrael to be zocheh to Kabbalas HaTorah at Har Sinai, they had to be b’achdus: כאיש אחד בלב אחד. I would like to suggest an explanation of why achdus is a vital prerequisite to Kabbalas HaTorah.

The minhag in Klal Yisrael is that when a Yid is learning or davening, he naturally shuckels, swaying back and forth. The Baal Haturim in Parashas Yisro says that the source of the act of shuckeling is Maamad Har Sinai, as the passuk says: וַיַּרְא הָעָם וַיָּנֻעוּ, which means that they shuckeled. Just as Kabbalas Hatorah happened through shuckeling, any time in the future that a Yid learns or davens and connects to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, it causes a motion of shuckeling back and forth.

I heard from an adam gadol that this back-and-forth movement is really the movement of life, mirroring the back-and-forth pumping of a person’s heart, which gives life to his whole body. Similarly, when Klal Yisrael received the Torah, and when they continue to learn Torah, which signifies life, they naturally move back and forth, like the beating of the heart.

This can be understood on a simple level, as we know that Chazal say that Hakadosh Baruch Hu stipulated at the time of Creation that if Klal Yisrael would accept the Torah, the world would continue to function, but if not, Hashem would return the world to a state of tohu vavohu. In a very real way, then, Kabbalas Hatorah is the source of life in this world. Rav Chaim Volozhiner, in Nefesh Hachaim, famously teaches that if the whole world would be devoid of Torah for even a moment – meaning that if no one would be learning Torah – it would revert to tohu vavohu. Accordingly, the Torah we received at Har Sinai and that we continue to learn is really the source of life in all of Creation, and that’s why we sway and shuckel.

The Heart Fuels the Rest of the Body

But we can understand the idea of Torah giving chiyus, like a beating heart, on a different level as well. The Gemara in Yevamos that discusses how the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died between Pesach and Shavuos states that after they died, the world was desolate from Torah, and Rashi explains that Torah was forgotten. This is puzzling, as when a talmid chacham passes away, his Torah may be lost, but it’s not forgotten; the concept of forgetting applies to someone who is alive and no longer remembers what he learned. Since the students of Rabbi Akiva died, how can we say that Torah was “forgotten”?

The answer is that once Rabbi Akiva’s students died, not only was their Torah lost, but other people in the world began forgetting the Torah they learned as well. Rashi derives this from the Gemara’s statement that the world was desolate: והיה העולם שמם. The deaths of Rabbi Akiva’s talmidim caused desolation because even the other people who were learning began to forget their Torah.

Why did the loss of Rabbi Akiva’s talmidim cause everyone else to forget their Torah? Why did their petirah affect other people throughout the world who were learning?

A living being draws its life from a central source, the heart, which pumps oxygen throughout the rest of the body. The various limbs of the body do not create their own chiyus, but rather receive nourishment from the heart. The same is true of spiritual life and the chiyus of Torah. The students of Rabbi Akiva, the sefarim tell us, were the center point of Torah shebe’al peh – they were the collective heart of Klal Yisrael. As long as this “heart” was pumping in the yeshiva of Rabbi Akiva, all the other parts of Klal Yisrael, who would not necessarily have merited their level of Torah on their own, received spiritual chiyus from that heart. As soon as that heart stopped beating, however, everything was lost, and Torah was forgotten.

This idea can be applied to each individual in his own life as well. Every person goes through different periods in life, and some of those times are the “heart” of his ruchniyus: the times when he experiences aliyah and has the cheishek, the time, and the presence of mind to learn and daven and be close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Other times in his life might not carry within them the ruchniyus necessary to sustain him, and the only way he can remain strong during those times is by drawing chiyus from the days that were the “heart” of his life, when his ruchniyus soared.

Rav Chaim Volozhiner says, in Ruach Chaim, that it’s well known that a person who embarks on a path of Torah experiences good days and bad days. Some days, he has

tremendous cheishek, and some days he has no cheishek at all. The bad days, on their own, are not even alive, and a person might feel totally disconnected and wonder why he is doing this at all.

The only way a person can get through those days is if he draw chiyus during such periods from the good days, the day of aliyah. Those days are the heart, and that heart can pump chiyus even to the darker days and sustain him then as well.

Not only does a person go through stronger periods and weaker periods, good days and bad days, he also experiences ups and downs in the course of a single day. Sometimes, a person feels strong and connected in his ruchniyus during one hour of the day and weak the next hour – or strong one minute and weak the next. During those weaker moments he has to draw chiyus from the stronger times that are the heart and focal point of his day.

Staying Connected

According to this, we can perhaps better understand Rashi’s statement that Klal Yisrael were united, כאיש אחד בלב אחד, at the time of Kabbalas HaTorah. When the heart of person’s body is pumping properly, it is capable of sending life and vitality to all the limbs of the body, no matter how far they are from the center. But that’s only as long as the limbs are connected to the body and the body is connected to the heart. If, chas v’shalom, a limb is amputated, then even if the heart is beating strong, it will not be able to give chiyus to that limb.

Similarly, the collective heart of Klal Yisrael – the talmidei chachamim, as we see in the Gemara about Rabbi Akiva’s talmidim – can pump chiyus to all of Klal Yisrael only if the rest of Klal Yisrael are connected to it. Even if some people, on their own, might not be zocheh to madreigos of Torah, if they are connected to the body and heart of Klal Yisrael they can receive that chiyus as well. If they are not connected, however, the pumping heart cannot reach them.

This heart of Klal Yisrael began pumping at Maamad Har Sinai, when they were “like one person with one heart.”  As long as that heart is connected to the entire body, it continues to provide that chiyus.

A bachur who spends his days in yeshiva and then goes on to learn in kollel can look back at those days of Toraso umnaso, when he learned day and night, as the heart of his ruchniyus. Later in life, he has other responsibilities – he has a family, he needs to earn parnassah – and those days alone might not be able to carry themselves in the spiritual sense. Those days can still derive chiyus from the days that were his spiritual “heart” – but that’s only on condition that he remains connected to those days.

The connection of כאיש אחד בלב אחד is what allows the Torah to pump throughout a person’s life, throughout a person’s day, even at times when the person feels barely alive. If, at weaker times, a person is totally disconnected from the source of his chiyus, then he has no way to stay alive through those times.

The avodah of a Yid, then, is to stay connected at all times. On a good day, or during a strong period of life when he can be kol kulo Torah, his spiritual heart should beat very hard. And when he does not have that opportunity, he should at least remain connected to that life source, that Toras chaim, and then it will continue to supply life the rest of the time, no matter what situation he’s in.

Craving the Romemus

The period between Pesach and Shavuos are unique days that the Ramban compares to days of Chol Hamoed, bridging the avodah of Pesach and Shavuos. Actually, Shavuos is the only Yom Tov for which the Torah instituted a mandatory preparation in the form of sefiras ha’omer. Not only does it require hachanah, the Rishonim tell us that it is actually named “Shavuos” after the seven-week preparation period. Furthermore, the Maharil says that the reason we don’t recite Shehecheyanu on the mitzvah of sefiras ha’omer is that it’s a preparatory mitzvah for the Yom Tov of Shavuos, and the Shehecheyanu of Shavuos exempts the Shehecheyanu of sefiras ha’omer. Clearly, this hachanah of sefiras ha’omer is part and parcel of Shavuos. What is this avodah all about, and why is it such a critical prerequisite to the Yom Tov of Shavuos?

The Sefer Hachinuch explains that the purpose of sefiras ha’omer is to display our yearning and longing for the incredible gift of Mattan Torah. The Ran, in Pesachim, cites a Midrash that notes that this longing is not a new phenomenon: Klal Yisrael experienced it immediately after they left Mitzrayim. At that point they turned to Moshe Rabbeinu and said, “We know that the purpose of Yetzias Mitzrayim wasתַּעַבְדוּן אֶת הָאֱלֹקִים עַל הָהָר הַזֶּה. When can we start this avodah and become avdei Hashem who keep Torah and mitzvos?”

Moshe Rabbeinu responded that in another fifty days they would receive the Torah, and Klal Yisrael began to count each day until Mattan Torah.

When we do the mitzvah of sefiras ha’omer, says the Ran, we are reliving the original sefiras ha’omer of Klal Yisrael when they came out of Mitzrayim.

Many mitzvos are zecher l’Yetzias Mitzrayim, and through these mitzvos we are supposed to relive the miracles and critical moments Klal Yisrael experienced then. But why was Klal Yisrael’s counting toward Mattan Torah so important that it became a mitzvah to be done each year? It would seem to be a trivial counting, arising perhaps out of impatience on Klal Yisrael’s part.

In truth, Klal Yisrael’s reaction to being told they would have to wait fifty days before receiving the Torah did not chas v’shalom reflect impatience. Rather, says the Shibbolei Haleket, Klal Yisrael counted each day until Mattan Torah out of love. Their eagerness to receive the Torah was not an edginess, but rather a longing and yearning for the Torah. This can be compared to a chassan and kallah counting down to their joyous day, or a grandchild counting down to a visit from his grandparents. The love and appreciation for Torah inherent in Klal Yisrael’s original sefiras ha’omer is what we have to relive each year as we approach Shavuos.

With this in mind, we can suggest an answer to the well-known question of the Sefer Hachinuch, who wonders why we begin counting on the second day of Pesach rather than on the first, immediately after Yetzias Mitzrayim. This question is even more perplexing considering the Ran’s statement that our sefiras ha’omer is meant to recreate the original sefiras ha’omer of the Yidden who, immediately upon leaving Mitzrayim, were eager to receive the Torah.

The Targum, on the words of Shir Hashirim: מָשְׁכֵנִי אַחֲרֶיךָ נָּרוּצָה, says that at the time when the Eibishter enveloped Klal Yisrael in the ananei hakavod, Klal Yisrael turned to Him with a tremendous yearning and said, “Eibishter! We want the Torah!” Specifically at that moment, when they felt His love through the ananei hakavod, they responded with an outpouring of appreciation and longing for Torah.

In Parashas Beshalach, the Targum says that Klal Yisrael were granted the ananei hakavod when they traveled from Succos to Eisam, which, Rashi says, happened on the day after Yetzias Mitzrayim, the sixteenth day of Nissan. If so, Klal Yisrael’s longing for Torah – which was sparked by the advent of the ananei hakavod ­– was first expressed on the sixteenth day of Nissan as well. Perhaps that is why we begin counting the omer from that day, rather than from the day of Yetzias Mitzrayim.

This idea gives us a new appreciation for the avodah of sefiras ha’omer. The days of sefirah are not just a waiting period or a time that we need to live through in order to become worthy of receiving the Torah. The counting of the omer reflects a yearning and an anticipation for Mattan Torah, and that is an important and positive avodah that had to happen in order of us to receive the Torah.

Mattan Torah in Mir

After Klal Yisrael began their eager counting toward Mattan Torah, we find that they experienced a yeridah, in Refidim, after which Amalek attacked them. Rashi explains that the name Refidim alludes to a weakening in Torah: רפו ידיהם מן התורה. This is baffling. How could they have weakened in Torah when they had not even received the Torah yet?

In the Mir yeshiva we are trained to notice every letter of Rashi. Rashi, in Yechezkel (20:13), adds an entire word that does not appear in Parashas Beshalach: נסו אותי בעגל וברפידים מלקבל את התורה והותירו מן המן. The weakening in Refidim, he is telling us, was not a weakening of Torah observance, or Torah learning, but rather in Kabbalas HaTorah.

What does that mean? How could there be a weakening in Kabbalas HaTorah before they even got the Torah?

I think we can answer based on what we’ve said above about the essence of the sefiras ha’omer period. Klal Yisrael had to go through forty-nine days of avodah before receiving the Torah, and that avodah was to await and yearn and beg for Torah, as the Shibbolei Haleket describes. In Refidim, that longing abated.

The Yalkut Meam Loez cites an ancient source that explains the words רפו ידיהם מן התורה to mean that they weren’t begging for Torah the same way they begged for water and bread. That was the weakening in their appreciation and longing for Torah.

When that feeling is lost, when there’s an אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, Amalek appears. Later on, at the time of Purim, when Amalek reappeared in the form of Haman, the remedy was הדר קבלוה מאהבה. Only by reclaiming the love and appreciation for Torah can Klal Yisrael triumph over Amalek. No wonder, then, that Haman was hanged on the sixteenth day of Nissan, as Rashi notes in Megillah – the very same day that Klal Yisrael first began to express their longing for Torah.

As I share these thoughts, I am reminded of my first Shavuos in Mir yeshiva. Everyone gathered together in the front of the beis midrash to hear the rosh yeshiva R’ Nosson Tzvi zt”l, who went up to the amud and began his special Shavuos shmuess. We all strained to hear what he was saying, but it was nearly impossible – it was Yom Tov, and he couldn’t use a microphone. We may not have heard what he said, but one thing we did get – we saw the happiest man in the world, who just wanted to share his simchas haTorah with his audience. It was reminiscent of Mattan Torah, when we were רואים את הקולות.

I noticed that in the back of the beis midrash, near the door, a Reb Ahrele chassid was standing with his children listening to the shmuess. I found the sight highly incongruous: he should have been with his rebbe in Toldos Aharon – what was he doing in a Litvishe beis midrash? Unable to contain my curiosity, I approached him after the shmuess and asked him why he had come.

“I wouldn’t miss this for anything!” he replied. “I come here every year to hear the rosh yeshiva’s shmuess.”

“Reb Yid,” I responded, “did you hear anything he said? You were in the back of the beis midrash!”

“I didn’t hear one word,” he said, “but my hachanah for Yom Tov, and the hachanah that I want my children to see, is a Yid like this. You don’t have to hear anything, all you have to do is see his simchah. It’s the simchah of someone who’s marrying off his only daughter. And the rosh yeshiva’s only daughter is the Torah.”

That longing and craving for Torah is what we saw in the Mir yeshiva.

Wisdom: The Starting Point

We still have to understand, however, why this hachanah of longing and anticipation for Mattan Torah is so important. Why does Shavuos require this preparation? Why do we have to crave Torah – why can’t we just get it?

The Baal Ha’akeidah, in Parashas Emor, explains that the Torah doesn’t work that way – you can’t just “get” it. The Mishnah in Avos says: והוי שותה בצמא את דבריהם, indicating that thirst for Torah is not merely a nice additive or bonus – it’s a critical prerequisite. If we don’t long for Torah, says the Baal Ha’akeidah, we can’t acquire it. And the purpose of the sefiras ha’omer period is to create that yearning.

Torah is not like other bodies of knowledge – it’s the Eibishter’s chochmah, and al pi teva it’s truly beyond our ability, as humans, to grasp. We acquire Torah as a gift from the Eibishter – but He has a condition for giving this gift:אין הקדוש ברוך הוא נותן חכמה אלא למי שיש בו חכמה שנאמר יהב חכמתא לחכימין.

Rav Chaim Volozhiner wonders: If only the wise can acquire Torah wisdom, how can someone ever become wise? Where is the starting point of Torah wisdom?

The answer seems to lie in Rabbeinu Yonah’s statement, in Avos, that the title “chacham” refers not to someone who possesses chochmah, but to someone who appreciates chochmah. Accordingly, in order to be worthy of the title “chacham,” we need to develop an appreciation for Torah and internalize the value of chochmas haTorah. Only then can we can be zocheh to the gift of יהב חכמתא לחכימין. This is what we are trying to achieve during sefiras ha’omer.

The Romemus Isn’t Lost

But what is it that we’re appreciating and craving about Torah? What is the unique simchah that we’re supposed to feel on Shavuos?

The amora Rav Yosef gives us the answer (Pesachim 68). He told his family to please prepare a specific delicacy for Yom Tov, saying, “If not for this day of Mattan Torah, I would be just another Joe in the street.”

The Ba’er Heiteiv notes that this statement seems incongruous with the description of Rav Yosef, in Sotah, as the ultimate anav. This is humility? To celebrate his superiority over the am haaretz in the street?

In order to appreciate what Rav Yosef meant, we need to understand a bit of his life experience. The Gemara in Horayos tells us that Rav Yosef was the ultimate “Sinai,” meaning that his koach in Torah was that he knew everything, every single baraisa. (Rabba was the “oker harim,” with his sevara and pilpul.) Later in life, the Gemara tells us, Rav Yosef fell ill and began to forget his learning. Rav Yosef, who spent his entire life mastering the Torah to the point where he earned the title “Sinai,” lost it all!

Imagine that a chemist who spent his life becoming the world authority on chemical formulas loses his memory and forgets all his chemistry. When he walks down the street, he feels like a simpleton! Similarly, we would think that Rav Yosef would have been a prime candidate for depression. But he looked at himself and said: אי לא האי יומא דקא גרים כמה יוסף איכא בשוקא. He had Torah. He didn’t invest in chemistry – he invested in the chochmah of the Eibishter. Torah is not simply a body of knowledge; it’s a different reality that transforms the person who studies it. A talmid chacham is an elevated person, a paradigm of gadlus ha’adam, a sanctified individual who is connected and close to the Eibishter.

Rav Yosef recognized that he had not invested in energies into Torah, he would not be worthy of any honor after losing his memory; he would be just another Yosef in the market. But although he had lost his Torah knowledge, he did not lose the romemus with which Torah imbues a person. Indeed, Rashi explains Rav Yosef’s joy on the day of Shavuos stemmed from his having learned Torah and been elevated by it: שלמדתי תורה ונתרוממתי.

Torah gives us a life of romemus, a life of kedushah, a life of meaning and intellectual honesty. That, Rav Yosef didn’t lose. Just as the broken luchos were placed inside the aron alongside the intact ones, just as the gevilim (parchments) of the sefer Torah retain their kedushah even when the letters fly away, Rav Yosef remained Rav Yosef even after he lost his Torah knowledge.

That is the simchah that every one of us is meant to feel both in our preparation for Shavuos and on Shavuos itself: אשר בחר בנו מכל העמים ונתן לנו את תורתו. How fortunate we are! We have a life of Torah! We have Torah to learn! We have Torah to raise us higher and give us a life of dveikus and kedushah, a completely different life!

We all know the story, cited in the Gemara in Yoma, of how the poverty-stricken Hillel was moser nefesh to go learn in the beis midrash of Shmayah and Avtalyon. Hillel earned one coin a day, and he used half of that meager income for his daily expenses and the other half to be admitted into the beis midrash. This mesirus nefesh seems truly impressive, but the Chofetz Chaim notes that it appears to be in contravention of the halachah that a person may not spend more than a fifth of his income on mitzvos:המבזבז אל יבזבז יותר מחומש.

The Chofetz Chaim explains that this principle applies to all mitzvos except Talmud Torah. Torah is not just another mitzvah – it’s our very life: כי הם חיינו ואורך ימינו. When it comes to the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, there are no limits.

When a person has Torah, the quality of his life is different – it’s a life of emes, a life of kedushah and romemus, a life of meaning and gadlus ha’adam. Talmud Torah changes our entire essence.

Shavuos is at our doorstep. During this final stretch of sefiras ha’omer, let’s chap arain by trying to really feel that craving and longing for Mattan Torah, the appreciation for what Torah is all about, the geshmak that we experience not only when we learn a blatt Gemara but when we are connected to Torah and its Giver in general. Let’s give over to our children and to the next generation that Torah is the besteh sechorah. And then we’ll walk into Shavuos knowing that we fulfilled the primary goal of sefiras ha’omer by becoming people who appreciate chochmah.

May we all be zocheh to the title “chacham” and to the gift of יהב חכמתא לחכימין this Mattan Torah.

Gut Yom Tov.

Seeing the Beauty of Torah

The משנה ברורה in סימן תצ brings down the מנהג to lain מגילת רות on Shavuos. There are various reasons brought down for the connection of רות to Shavuos. The משנה ברורה itself brings down a ילקוט in רות that says “to teach us that Torah is acquired only through יסורין ועוני…through מסירת נפש”. Just as רות gave up so much to acquire Torah, so too we must be ready to accept Torah in all מצבים in all situations.

Another reason is the fact that Dovid Hamelech’s birthday and yahrtzeit is on Shavuos and רות is the beginning of the chain in מלכות בית דוד.

Could be we can introduce another reason why רות is read on Shavuos.

In מגילת רות, when Naomi tries to dissuade Rus from becoming Jewish, Rus answered ”אל תפגעי בי לעזבך לשוב מאחריך כי אל אשר תלכי אלך ובאשר תליני אלין עמך עמי ואלוקיך אלוקי” – “Do not push me to leave you and return, for when you will go I will go, where you will reside I will reside, your nation is my nation, your Hashem is my Hashem”

Rashi explains the גמרא in יבמות מז:

Rus and Naomi had the following conversation. Naomi said, “A yid may not go out of the תחום  on Shabbos.” Which Rus answered, “Where you will go I will go.” In other words, this will not dissuade me.

Naomi then told Rus about the איסור of יחוד, “A woman cannot be alone in a house with a man that is not her husband.” Rus answered, “באשר תליני אלין – Where you will reside I will reside.” Again, Rus refused to be pushed away.

Naomi then said, “We are different in 613 מצות” to which Rus replied, “Your nation is my nation.”
Naomi said, “It is אסור to serve עבודה זרה,” to which Rus replied, “Your G-d is my G-d.”

No matter how Naomi tried to dissuade Rus, Rus had an answer. Rus shared her determination to become part of the Jewish Nation and not to be pushed away. Yet there is a question, when one tells another not to do something in a negative connotation the answer should be, “Okay I will not do it.” Yet Rus answered everything in a positive connotation. For example, when Naomi said, “Don’t go out of the תחום” she should have answered “I won’t go” yet Rus answered “Where you will go, I will go”?

Rav Pesach Eliyahu Falk Shlita explains Rus did not view the halachos and minhagim of Yiddishkeit as negatives, restrictions, and prohibitions. She viewed Yiddishkeit as positive, meaningful and beautiful. She loved the Jewish way of life and she wanted to be a part of it! She wanted to go on Shabbos where the Torah allowed her to go. She wanted to sleep in a place that is fitting for a Jewish woman to sleep in. There was simply no question in her mind to do different. She didn’t feel restricted or bothered to do otherwise. This is why all of her answers were positive answers. Where you will go, I will  go…where you will sleep, I will sleep…your nation is my nation…Your Hashem is my Hashem. This is the acceptance of Torah by Rus the גיורת.

This could be a reason why we read Rus on Shavuos. Torah is meant to be seen as positive, enjoyable and meaningful.

We don’t see Shabbos as a day full of restrictions, 39 מלאכות, don’t turn on lights, don’t drive a car, don’t go to work. Instead it becomes a day of enjoying Shabbos, a day of מנוחה, to daven without the rush of going to school or work, to enjoy the meals with family without a phone or the need to do business. To be able to learn uninterrupted without having to take care of errands. Shabbos becomes positive instead of negative. This applies to all areas, Mitzvos, Tzniyus, Kashrus, business, davening, ethics, and so on. Life becomes a world of positive.

We live in a world of the beauty of Torah. We said נעשה ונשמע because we are excited with the Torah. On Shavuos we reaccept and reaffirm our commitment to Torah. “נעשה”…we will do what the Torah says to do because we are happy and we want this way of life. When one lives a life of positive even those around them become affected by their עין טובה . We see the טובת עין of Rus later on in מגילת רות. Boaz told Rus to come back to his field and don’t go to other fields.

עיניך בשדה אשר יקצרון והלכת אחריהן “Keep your eyes on the field which they are harvesting and go after them.” The מעם לועז says that Boaz saw in Rus her righteousness and עין טובה. So Boaz told her to come to the field and wherever you look, your ברכה will reside, due to your great עין טובה.

Positive people with positive lives can give over עין טובה. Rus had that strength. Because of that, she was zoche to be the beginning of the chair of מלכות בית דוד.

The trait of positivity is found in the Torah itself.

Before Klal Yisroel crossed over into Eretz Yisroel, Moshe Rabbeinu pleads to Hashem to let him into Eretz Yisroel.

“אעברה נא ואראה את הארץ הטובה אשר בעבר הירדן (דברים ג:כב)”

The Sforno comments, what was Moshe Rabbeinu’s need to cross over? “ואראה”…by me gazing on the land “הארץ הטובה” there will be an everlasting good for “Yisrael”. Moshe did not want to see for curious reasons. Moshe wanted the ברכה of his עין טובה to be on the land. This is how great the positivity of a person carries over.

We have this koach of עין טובה to see the good in every aspect of life. In the lives of others, both closely or distantly related, family and friends. Even seeing the good in others that we are not at all close with. Seeing the good in people, places and all situations.

One who is מקבל the תורה with that simcha is able to give that עין טובה  to others in every situation.

Harav Hagaon Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l once asked one of the Rabbeim in Yeshivas Kol Torah to go together to see the apartment the Rebbe was planning on moving to. When they arrived at the apartment Rav Shlomo Zalman asked on different aspects of the apartment with true interest of everything about the apartment. The Rebbe was astounded and asked why Rav Shlomo Zalman insisted on coming along to see the apartment. Rav Shlomo Zalman answered, “I wanted to place an עין טובה on the apartment!”

This is the life of one whose attitude is positive. This is the Torah outlook, the way to accept Torah on Shavuos, a complete נעשה ונשמע in a positive meaningful form.

May our Shavuos reach that קבלת התורה, to realize and feel the beauty and happiness that Torah provides us throughout the entire year, and our entire lives.