Shavuos - 018 Depth of Dairy On Shavuos

The Torah Is Compared To Milk

With the help of Hashem, we will say a bit about a matter that is relevant to Shavuos, the day when the Torah was given.

The Shulchan Aruch[1] mentions the custom to eat dairy foods on Shavuos. There are many reasons given for this, and one of the reasons mentioned in the Poskim is because the Torah is compared to milk [dairy], for it is written, “Honey and milk  under your tongue”[2] [the ‘honey’ and ‘milk’ of the verse is a metaphor for Torah]. There are also many other statements in the Sages which compare the Torah to milk.

The Gemara[3] compares the Torah to a mother’s milk: Just as an infant always find new taste in its mother’s milk, so too does a person always find new tastes in Torah whenever he delves into it.” Thus, the Torah is compared to the milk that an infant nurses from its mother.

However, elsewhere, the Sages state that “The Torah does not remain except with one who vomits the milk he nursed from his mother”.[4] The simple meaning of this is, metaphorically speaking, that one must ‘vomit’ his mother’s milk in the sense that he must divest himself from physical pursuits [the mother’s milk being an allegory to his childhood stage of immaturity], so that he can become devoted to spiritual pursuits and thereby be able to acquire Torah.  

On a simple level, we can understand this to mean that one must first ‘vomit’ his pursuit of physicality, symbolized by his mother’s milk which he nursed from, so that he can now be able to ‘nurse’ forth the “spiritual milk”, which is Torah. While that is true, there is more to this matter. Let us explore further into this matter.

The “Milk” of Torah

When an infant nurses from its mother, there is a powerful bond which takes place between the mother and her nursing child. On a more spiritual level, the infant nursing from its mother is an allegory to an intense bond with Hashem. There is a verse, “Like an infant upon its mother”[5], which is describing the attachment and dependency that one can feel in G-d. The Sages also state that when Dovid HaMelech was an infant nursing from his mother, he sang shirah.[6] This symbolizes how the infant nursing his mother’s milk represents, on a deeper level, the intense attachment one can feel in Hashem.

The mother’s milk is therefore a powerful metaphor of connection – on the simple physical level, it is the connection between the mother and her nursing child, and on the deeper level, it symbolizes the connection between one and Hashem.

Thus, we can understand that when the Sages said that one should ‘vomit’ the milk of his mother, it means that one must remove his initial perception and gain an entirely new perception, and that this is how one acquires Torah. This  is what it means to drink the “milk” which the Torah is compared to, of which the Sages said that just as an infant always find new taste in its mother’s milk, so can a person always find new tastes in the Torah.

An Infant Nurses Mother’s Milk from the Place of Heart/Understanding

The Gemara[7] says that an infant nurses from the place of binah (understanding), the area of the body where the physical heart is. Now we can have a deeper understanding of how “the Torah does not remain except with a person who vomits the milk of his mother”: it means that one needs to gain the perception that Torah needs to be ‘nursed’ forth from a place of understanding, from a place of heart.

This is the deeper implication of how the Torah is compared to a mother’s milk: just as the mother’s milk is nursed forth from the place where the heart is, and the heart is the source of spiritual understanding, so too must a person “nurse” forth the Torah from a place where the “heart” is – from a place of spiritual understanding.

The Depth of Dairy On Shavuos: Nursing Forth Our Spiritual “Milk”

The Hebrew word for milk is chalav, which is a combination of the letter ches and the word lev (heart). This spells the word ches lev, which alludes to the number 8 (since the letter ches corresponds to the number 8), and the spiritual heart. The number 8 refers to the spiritual level beyond our current world. For example, the seventh day of the week is Shabbos, and there are seven weeks of Sefiras HaOmer. What is the day that comes after counting the 7 weeks of Sefiras HaOmer? This is the “50th day of the Omer”, the day of Shavuos, the giving of the Torah, which corresponds to the 50^th level of understanding, the 50^th level of holiness.[8]

[Hence, the 50^th day of the Omer, Shavuos, is like the number 8 which comes after the “7” of Sefiras HaOmer. The number 8 always corresponds to the spiritual dimension which comes after the current spiritual dimension of 7.]

What is the connection between chalav/milk and the heart? Earlier it was explained that an infant nurses forth its mother’s milk from the place of the heart. Hence, milk corresponds to a revelation of the “50^th gate of understanding”, also known as the “50^th gate of holiness”, which is manifest on the “50^th day of the Omer”, the day of the giving of the Torah. This implies that from the very deep revelation of holiness which is present at the time the 50^th day of the Omer - from that very depth – are we meant to eat dairy foods on Shavuos. It is because on Shavuos, we can ‘nurse’ forth the ‘milk’ that comes from the “50^th gate of understanding”.

The Gemara says that 50 gates of understanding were created in the world, and the first 49 gates of understanding were reached by Moshe.[9] [Simply speaking, this implies that Moshe did not merit to reach the “50^th gate of understanding”. However, on a deeper level, it can also mean that Moshe reached the first 49 levels from his own comprehension, whereas the “50^th level of understanding” was given to him from a higher source that did not come from his own comprehension].  

This is explained to mean that Moshe reached the first “49 gates of understanding” [in Torah] from his own efforts, whereas the “50^th gate of understanding” was given to Moshe by Hashem as a gift, meaning that Moshe did not reach it out of his own comprehension. The “50^th gate of understanding” is referred to as matnas chinam, a “free gift”, for it can only come as a “gift” from Hashem to a person. Once Moshe received it as a gift, the rest of the Jewish people received this “gift” as well, on Shavuos, the day of the giving of the Torah.

The 49 days of Sefiras HaOmer correspond to the 49 gates of understanding, and when we arrive at the “50^th day of the Omer”, the day when the Torah was given, that is when we can “nurse” forth the spiritual “milk”, and that is the depth behind why we eat dairy on the festival of the giving of the Torah.

There was only one time in history where all of the Jewish people were prophets, and this was when the people stood at Har Sinai to receive the Torah, when Hashem descended upon Har Sinai and revealed His Glory to all of the people. That is where we were all “nursing” on an esoteric level, in the way that an infant nurses its mother’s milk, where there is a powerful bond of connection. 

Milk: The White Color Which Symbolizes the Pure State at the Giving of the Torah

There is also another aspect contained in milk which reflects the connection between milk and the Torah.

Milk is a white liquid. Chazal teach that the four primary colors are blue, red, green, and white. The color white is the color of purity. The hairs of an elderly person are white, for the elderly person is closer to the spiritual, to the world of purity, hence all of his hairs are white, the color of purity. The Sages state that at the giving of the Torah, Hashem appeared to the people as “an elderly sage, filled with compassion.”[10] This meant, on a deeper level, that Hashem revealed the spiritual “whiteness”, the whitening and cleansing of sins, as symbolized by the white beard of an elderly sage. It was a revelation similar to the how “the sins of Yisrael are whitened [cleansed]”[11], where all souls of the Jewish people are deemed equal by Hashem. Hence, the entire Jewish people were prophets at the time of the giving of the Torah.

That is why on the day of the giving of the Torah, all of us are considered to be on an equal spiritual level by Hashem. That is the implication of the dairy foods eaten on Shavuos – it is because the white color of the dairy foods is a revelation of this “whiteness” from above which cleanses all of the Jewish people from sin and, which reveals a state of equality (hishtavus) of all the souls of the Jewish people.[12]

Mother’s Milk To The Infant: The Symbol of Purity

Ever since the sin of Adam, there has been a curse placed upon mankind, of “By the sweat of your brow, shall you eat bread.”[13]In order for mankind to gain nourishment and sustenance, mankind must work the fields and earn a living. But there is one point in our world where a person can be nourished and sustained without having to work for it. That is an infant nursing from its mother.

That is the only phenomenon on this world where we can see the revelation of the spiritual “whitening” that comes from above, where there is no curse upon mankind and where man can draw forth sustenance without having to make any effort to get it. It is a point where there is no sin – for an infant is pure from sin. Although we currently live with the curse given to Adam, we still remain with a semblance of the original state before the sin: every newborn baby is able to nurse form its mother and be nourished without having to make any effort to do so.

This was the depth of the revelation at the time of the giving of the Torah. Chazal state that when the Torah was given, there was freedom from death and from the evil inclination.[14] Elsewhere, Chazal state that the spirit of defilement which mankind received from the Serpent [after Adam and Chavah sinned] was removed from the people at the time when the Torah was given.[15] It was a time where the effects of the curse were removed from upon mankind. Hence, when the Torah was being given, the people were on a level before the sin, the point that is above sin – the point where mankind “nurses” forth all sustenance and nourishment directly from Hashem, with no effort involved.

And, unlike a nursing mother, who can only nurse for a total of 24 months[16], the Jewish people were in a state of nursing eternally from their Source [and they would have remained in this state had they not sinned later with the golden calf].

The Infants Who Nursed From Sarah Imeinu

The Sages state that Sarah Imeinu nursed many children for Avraham. Not only did she nurse her son Yitzchok, but she nursed many children, who later converted to the Jewish religion.[17] Simply speaking, this was because these infants nursed from our holy and righteous mother Sarah, whose spiritual influence elevated them to a higher level.

But there is also a deeper reason why these infants later converted. It was because by nursing from Sarah Imeinu, they were nursing from a pure place where there is no sin. This is what gave them the spiritual energy to find holiness and convert to the Jewish people. At the time of the giving of the Torah, the entire Jewish people were “nursing” from a place where there is no sin, like the infants who nursed from Sarah Imeinu.

That is the depth behind the dairy foods we eat on Shavuos, which commemorates the spiritual “milk” we nursed from at that time – for we were nursing forth spiritual nourishment from the point that is above all sin.

In Conclusion

May we merit from the Creator to reach the complete spiritual repair of Creation, in which all sins will become whitened like snow, where we will all be “whitened”, cleansed, and purified [as symbolized by the white color of the milk and dairy we eat on Shavuos]. May the complete level of purity and holiness be revealed in Creation, so that this entire Creation can become a vessel to reveal the light of the Creator.