OU Holidays SHAVUOT Continuous Carrying By Shira Smiles

In our Yom Tov Mussaf prayer, we say, “Vahasiyanu Hashem Elokheinu et birkat moadecha…/ Bestow upon us/Enable us to carry, Hashem, our God, the blessings of Your appointed Festivals…” The Tolna Rebbe makes an interesting observation about carrying. When one has been carrying a heavy load, after one puts own that load, he will still feel its weight for a while. What we are asking of Hashem here, writes the Tolna Rebbe, is that Hashem help us take the blessings and light of this yom tov with us after we ‘put it down’ at the close of yom tov. The successful yom tov is one whose spirit stays with us after the yom tov itself is gone. After all, writes Rav Biederman, Shavuot represents the symbolic wedding of Hashem to Bnei Yisroel