Shavuos celebrates the giving of our holy Torah and the allegorical marriage of Hashem to His chosen people. Shavuos also commemorates the time of King David’s birth and his passing (G-d fills the days of the righteous from day to day – Kedushin 38:1).
Megillas Ruth the story of the Moabite princess and progenitor of King David – Dovid HaMelech – is an integral component of this holiday. (Ruth spelled backwards is taf vav reish. Add the hei to complete the word Torah. Ruth spent her days serving Hashem with song in her heart and praise on her lips setting a supreme example for her great-grandson David to emulate.) Even the spring season that serves as a backdrop to a fascinating and intriguing time in history plays a prominent role in the divinely ordained sequence of events.
Who among us is unacquainted with the Tehillim (Psalms) ascribed to David? Actually as many as ten tzaddikim (righteous individuals) were participants in its authoring yet G-d considered David’s voice and praise the sweetest. The Zohar teaches the birth of David on Shavuos as instrumental in conjoining the Written Torah with the Oral Torah.
It is further written that when David died (on Shavuos that fell on Shabbos) the moon at mincha time darkened and the light of the Oral Torah was extinguished. To this day it is a practice most notably among chassidim to bypass ‘Good Shabbos’ greetings on Shabbos afternoons in deference to the holy soul that departed at that particular time on that particular day of the week.
It is a positive commandment to honor on Shavuos the memory of King David – he who was promised by G-d that the recitation of Tehillim would for all time be tantamount to the study of Torah thereby fulfilling his request to repose in both of G-d’s worlds. (When a sage’s words reverberate long after his demise it is as if he lives on.)
The worn pages of books of Tehillim worldwide have for centuries served as sanctum to the overwhelmed distraught teary and weary. With hope in our hearts we whisper the familiar and soothing words and phrases composed more than three thousand years ago by the golden shepherd who would be king.
How did this eighth son of Yishai (Jesse) merit to become the quintessential role model of all time? How is it that sentiments expressed during his travails in a world so vastly different from our own would prove to be so relevant over the millennia that would follow? A closer look and intimate glimpse into the beginnings makings and highlights of the life of King David is most apropos – not only for this time of year but for all the precarious times we inevitably find ourselves in.
David (the Hebrew name denotes ‘beloved’) possessed three dynamic attributes that were essential elements in his ascent to noble status: Humility kindness and a consistent faith in and love for his Creator that galvanized him to constantly praise Hashem and laud Him with song (shira) in an upright stance. It is this which earned him kingship for all time.
The distinguished neshama of Dovid HaMelech was discernable long before he was born. When the Master of the World granted Adam HaRishon a sneak preview at the future generations that would emanate from him Adam was spellbound by the wondrous soul that was destined to live for a mere three hours. And thus the first man on earth bequeathed to David a modest chunk of his own life. Through Adam’s generosity David acquired a life term of seventy years – and he lived them to the fullest.
