Lasting Effect

The Chidushay HaRim asks why in davening on Shavuot do we say זמן מתן תורתנו and not זמן קבלת תורתנו? He explains that while the giving was a singular historical event, the receiving must be a daily renewal. This concept addresses a classic question. Why does the Torah itself never explicitly label Shavuot as the day of receiving the Torah? The Akedat Yitzchak in his second answer explains that the memory and acceptance of the Torah cannot be relegated to a specific calendar date. Unlike other holidays tied to historical moments, the Torah is a constant obligation and every day, the Torah should feel as new and beloved as the moment it was first uttered. We see this reflected in the Birkat HaTorah , where we describe Hashem as מותן התורה in the present tense. This teaches us that Sinai was not a static point in history; it is a continuous, ongoing revelation.

This theme of a is mirrored in the census at the beginning of Parshat Bamidbar. Rashi notes that Hashem counts the Jewish people constantly (כל שעה) because of His deep affection for them. How is there a count כל שעה if there are only a select few times that a count of Klal Yisrael are taken? The count highlights the quality of every individual Jew from the greatest to the lowest. The act of counting by Hashem brings to the forefront the aspect in which every Jew is equal which is the innermost kedusha of the every person. It is this core of the Jew that is illuminated by the count of Hashem.  Although there are only a select number of times when an actual count is recorded, the effect and impact of the count, the capability for a Jew in the lowest situation to be able to be מוסר נפש, to be able to return to kedusha, is an effect of the act of counting. The counting is felt כל שעה , although the act of counting only took place a few times (see Likutay Sichos volume 8.)

The count of the parsha teaches us the lasting effect of a one time event. The same is true of Shavuot. Although the act of מתן תורה was once, its effect is ongoing.