The Days Before the Mountain
- Jewish Dispatch
- May 20
- 2 min read
by Rami ben Ze'ev
There are only a few days left now.
The counting is almost complete.
Each evening, across the world, Jews quietly stand and count another day of ספירת העומר (Sefirat HaOmer, the Counting of the Omer).
One more step.
One more day closer to Shavuot.
One more day closer to מתן תורה (Matan Torah, the Giving of the Torah).
It is easy to think of Shavuot as merely a holiday on the calendar, another date arriving after Pesach. But the Torah teaches something deeper. The Jewish people did not leave Egypt and immediately arrive at Har Sinai. Freedom alone was not enough.
A slave can be taken out of Egypt in a single night.
But Egypt cannot always be taken out of the slave so quickly.
That is why there were seven weeks.
Seven weeks of refinement.
Seven weeks of preparation.
Seven weeks of becoming worthy to stand before the mountain.
Each counted day represented movement away from impurity and toward holiness. Away from bondage and toward purpose. The journey from מצרים (Mitzrayim, Egypt) to Sinai was not merely geographical. It was spiritual.
And perhaps that is the hidden meaning of counting.
A person only counts what matters.
We count money because it has value.
We count years because life has meaning.
And we count these days because each one brings us closer to something precious: the moment G-D revealed His will to the world.
The word מתן (Matan) means “giving.” Shavuot is not called “Receiving the Torah,” but “The Giving of the Torah,” because the giving itself never ceased. The voice from Sinai still echoes through history. The question is not whether G-D continues to give, but whether we are prepared to receive.
As the final days of the Omer pass, Judaism asks each of us a difficult question:
If the Torah were given today, would we be ready to stand at the mountain?
Would we arrive distracted, arrogant, and spiritually asleep?
Or would we arrive humbled, grateful, and willing to hear?
The sages teach that Har Sinai was chosen because it was a low mountain. Not the tallest. Not the proudest. Revelation descended upon humility.
And perhaps that is the true preparation for Shavuot.
Not elaborate decoration.
Not cheesecake.
Not even staying awake all night learning.
But humility.
To recognise that without Torah, freedom becomes chaos.
Without morality, society collapses.
Without G-D, man eventually begins to worship himself.
Soon, once again, Jews throughout the world will stand and hear the words of Torah read publicly on Shavuot morning. And for a moment, time itself will seem to collapse. Sinai will no longer feel distant.
The mountain will stand before us once again.
And the eternal question will remain unchanged:
Will we merely remember the Torah?
Or will we receive it?
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Bill White (Rami ben Ze'ev) is CEO of WireNews Limited, Mayside Partners Limited, MEADHANAN Agency, Kestrel Assets Limited, SpudsToGo Limited and Executive Director of Hebrew Synagogue
