Shavou’ot is the second of the three Jewish pilgrimages (Sukkot/Feast of Tabernacles, Passover and Shavou’ot), expressing the 3,500 year old trilateral linkage between the Land of Israel (Abraham), the Torah of Israel (Moses) and the people of Israel (united by King David). According to King Solomon, “a triple-braided cord is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Abraham, Moses (“the humblest of all human beings,” Numbers 12:3) and David are the role models of humility – a human trait that is highlighted in the Bible as a prerequisite for leadership.
It has been customary to pave the road from Passover to Shavou’ot by studying the six brief chapters of The Ethics of the Fathers, a second century compilation of Jewish ethical teachings, sayings and proverbs such as: “Conditional love is tenuous; unconditional love is eternal.” Similarly, Israel is the only unconditional Middle Eastern ally of the US, reciprocating the value-driven unconditional identification of the American people with the Jewish State.