Page 50 - Hamizrachi #30 USA 2021 Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot

THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

David Curwin

The Names of Shavuot

The holiday of Shavuot has many the successful wheat harvest. The name as plurals for bechor, some scholars say
names. Let’s review four of them: derives from the root רצק – “to cut short.” that bechorim applies to people, whereas
The related word katzar means “short.” bechorot applies to animals.
Chag HaShavuot There are other roots that begin with Some scholars connect the root רכב
1| Chag HaShavuot is the most the two letters צק that also mean “to cut.” to other roots that express similar ideas.
frequent name in Tanach (for example The linguist Edward Horowitz gives these For example, Klein connects it to רגב,
in Shemot 34:22 and Devarim 16:10). examples: meaning “to grow up, mature,” which
Shavua means “week,” so this name ץצק - cut; from it we have ץק, end. gives us the word רגובמ – “adult.” Several
means “Festival of Weeks.” The word הצק - cut; from it we have ןיצק, captain, others also connect רכב to רקב, by saying
shavua derives from sheva, the number judge. The word cut is figuratively used that both mean “to break forth, be early.”
seven, because there are seven days in a for deciding. This is the root of boker – “morning,” the
week. Since the holiday of Shavuot is at הצקה - scrape off; הצקמ (muktzeh) – time the daylight breaks through.
the end of a seven-week cycle, the name set apart – forbidden for handling on
also alludes to the 7 x 7 nature of the Shabbat. Zman Matan Torateinu
festival. בצק - butcher; ביצקת is a budget 4|Until now, we’ve looked at names
The root עבש also means “to swear, to עצק - cut into; עוצקמ – a profession – is that appear in Tanach. In the Talmud,
take an oath.” In the story about the origin what one is cut out for Shavuot is referred to as Atzeret. (I
of the name Beer Sheva, both “seven” and Based on this, some scholars believe discussed the background to that word in
“oaths” appear: that there was a two-letter root system in HaMizrachi, Volume 2, Issue 5, October
“Avimelech said to Avraham, ‘What Hebrew before the three-letter one in use 2019). A name that doesn’t appear in
mean these seven ewes which you have today. Talmudic literature, but is used in our
set apart?’ He replied, ‘You are to accept prayers, is Zman Matan Torateinu – “the
these seven ewes from me as proof that I Yom HaBikkurim time our Torah was given.”
dug this well.’ Hence that place was called 3| In Bamidbar 28:26, the holiday A question is often asked – why do
Beer-sheba, for there the two of them is referred to as Yom HaBikkurim – we call it the day the Torah was given,
swore an oath” (Bereishit 21:29-31). “the day of the first fruits.” This name and not the day the Torah was received
As a result, some have connected the commemorates the bikkurim offering, – Yom Kabbalat HaTorah? The most
two roots. Rabbi David Tzvi Hoffman also called םחלה יתש (the two breads). popular answer is that the Torah was
(Bereishit 21:30) writes that seven is It was the offering brought from the given only once, but we “receive” it
considered a Divine number, because of first wheat of that season. The Torah every day. However, looking at Talmudic
the seven days of Creation. As a result, commands, “You shall observe the literature, we see that the phrase Matan
people would hold seven items when Feast of Weeks, of the first fruits of the Torah is quite common – appearing
taking an oath. The linguist Ernest Klein wheat harvest” (Shemot 34:22). While dozens of times. On the other hand,
writes that עבש as “oath” came from the in popular imagery, offerings were made Kabbalat HaTorah only appears in a few
sense of “binding oneself by seven things, of all the fruits of the Land of Israel, on midrashim. So it seems likely to me that
or by seven oaths.” Shavuot only wheat was brought, because when the prayers were standardized, they
the other fruits ripen later. Those other chose the more common phrase.
Chag HaKatzir fruits were brought until, and on, Sukkot.
2| The name Chag HaKatzir, the Bikkurim derives from the root רכב –
“Harvest (or Reaping) Festival,” appears “to bring forth.” From that root, we get David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat,
in Shemot 23:16. This name indicates the word bechor – “first born.” While and the author of the Balashon blog.
that the day is meant to thank G-d for both bechorim and bechorot are found balashon.com • balashon1@gmail.com.

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