Examining the Jewish calendar gives rise to the following query: Why is the
week-long yomtov of Sukkot followed by Shemini Atzeret, a short one-day
continuance, whereas the week-long holiday of Pesach is not followed by any such
brief closing chag? The answer is that Shavuot is really the conclusion of
Pesach.
True, we were freed from slavery on Pesach, but that was only a physical
freedom. Being free to do whatever we want to do – without any restraints – is
not true freedom, for we would remain slaves to our desires. Only when we
accepted the Torah on Shavuot and willingly bound ourselves to Hashem and His
way of life did we truly become free. Receiving the Torah imbued our lives with
direction.
This is what the Talmud means with the famous dictum: "Ain ben chorin eleh me
sh’oseik b’talmud Torah – A person is not free unless he is involved in the
study of Torah." The Torah is our guide to life, and it tells us what is right
and wrong. It frees us from the shackles of the evil inclination so that we can
now accomplish great things and achieve eternity.
It may not seem easy to accept the Torah, and we may wonder how keeping kosher
and Shabbat and all the moral restrictions are in fact "freedom". But if we
apply ourselves and delve deeply into understanding the meaning that all of the
laws give to our lives and how they perfect us in all aspects of our existence,
then we will certainly come to the conclusion that we are free. We will then
understand that those who lack direction and feel that they have to follow the
crowd are really the true slaves.
Chag Sameach and Good Yomtov.
