Shemot 19:1 records that the Jewish people come to Mount Sinai in the third month, hodesh, (Sivan) without explicitly specifying which day in the month. However, Rashi (on 19:1) explains that 19:1 means that the people came to Mount Sinai on the 1st day of the month. Similarly, Cassuto (1967, p. 224) explains that the word hodesh, in ancient Hebrew means new moon, which is the 1st day of the month. After the Torah provides this date, no other date is given for when the revelation on Mount Sinai occurred, but we can try to calculate the day from the events recorded in Shemot chapter 19.
Shemot 19:3 records that Moshe went up the mountain to speak to G-d, and Rashi (on 19:3) writes that this happened on the second day of the month. The end of 19:8 records that Moshe went back to speak to G-d, and Rashi (on 19:8) explains that this was on the third day of the month. The end of 19:9 records that Moshe told G-d the response of the people, and Rashi (on 19:9) says this was on the fourth day of the month. As part of that conversation, 19:10 records that G-d told Moshe that the people were to prepare themselves today and the next day for on the third day there would be the revelation on Mount Sinai. Rashi (on 19:10,11) explains that this preparation was to be on the fourth and fifth days of the month and the revelation would be on the sixth day of the month. According to this chronology, the Torah was given to the people on the sixth of Sivan. This chronology makes sense, but still it is based on the assumptions that Moshe had one conversation a day with G-d and these conversations occurred on successive days. We cannot know for sure on what day was the Decalogue.
The Talmud (Shabbat 86b) quotes an opinion that the Torah was given on the seventh day of Sivan. The Rabbis maintain that the Decalogue was told to the people on the sixth day (the basis for Rashi’s opinion), but R. Jose says it occurred on the seventh day of Sivan. Why does R. Jose believe that it was given on the seventh day of the month? He believes that the people needed three full days to prepare for the Decalogue, yet the Talmud asks that Shemot 19:10,11 records that they were only supposed to have two days, so R. Jose answers that Moshe added a day on his own. (Note this opinion of R. Jose is not really rejected, as we follow this opinion by the laws of niddah, see Magen Avraham, Orah Chayyim, 494.) Thus, from the Talmud we cannot be sure on what day the Torah was given.
A different way to understand Shavuot is that it is an agricultural holiday as Shemot 23:16, 34:22, and Bemidbar 28:26, all refer to the holiday as the time of the first harvest of the crops of the year. In conjunction with this theme, when the Bet ha-Mikdash existed, on Shavuot there was a special offering of two loaves, Vayikra 23:17.
Why do we bring the two loaves? The loaves are made from the first crops that are harvested. What is the significance of bringing the first crops as a sacrifice? The answer can be seen by the declaration that each person made when he/ she brought his/ her personal first fruits to the Bet ha-Mikdash. Devarim 26:5-10 records that the person recites a brief review of the exodus and mentions that G-d gave the Jewish people the land of Israel. The person then bows before G-d. This short prayer and bowing indicates that the giving the first fruits shows one’s acceptance of G-d, and being thankful to G-d for the exodus and for the land of Israel. Correspondingly by the sacrifice of the two loaves on Shavuot, this demonstrates a communal acceptance and thankfulness of G-d, and this could be the rationale of the holiday of Shavuot independent of the historical day when the Decalogue was said.
Bibliography:
Cassuto, Umberto (1883-1951), 1967, A commentary on the book of Exodus, Jerusalem: The Magnes Press.
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