By: Rabbi Moshe Botton
A common custom associated with Shavuot is the decorating of homes and synagogues with fresh flowers, plants, and greenery. This custom is very old. We already find a version of it mentioned in the words of Haman in the Targum Sheni to Esther. There he describes how the Jews celebrate Shavuot by entering their shuls and decorating them with roses and flower decorations.
Several reasons were given to this custom, and its different variations.
The Rema (O.C 494:3) writes that it is customary to spread grasses and plants in the synagogue and in homes on Shavuot. This is to remember the joy of the giving of the Torah. The Mishnah Berurah (494:10) adds that we know there were plants at Har Sinai, because the Torah says that even animals were not allowed to graze near the mountain. This implies there was grass there.
The Chida understands this to also include flowers such as roses. This fits with verses in the Shir HaShirim (4:5), where flowers and gardens are used as images of beauty and closeness.
Another explanation is brought by Rav Chaim Palagi. He writes that synagogues are decorated with roses and flowers as a reminder of the giving of the Torah. He connects this to the pasuk (Shir Hashirim 5:13)
שִׂפְתוֹתָיו שׁוֹשַׁנִּים נֹטְפוֹת מוֹר עֹבֵר
and to the teaching of Chazal (Shabbos 88b) that when Hashem spoke each word at Sinai, the whole world was filled with fragrance. The flowers and smell remind us that Torah was not only heard, but also experienced in a very real and uplifting way.
The Bnai Yissachar sources the custom with the following Medrash (Vayikra Rabbah 23:3):
R’ Azariah said in the name of R’ Yehudah bar Shimon: A king had a large orchard with many trees like figs, grapes, pomegranates, and apples. Over time, the orchard became full of weeds and thorns. The king was about to destroy it, but then he saw one single rose. He smelled it and his spirit was comforted. He said that for the sake of that rose, the whole orchard is worth saving.
So too, the world was created for Torah. After many generations of sin, Hashem looked at the world and saw destruction. But He found one “rose,” which is the Jewish people. When they said
נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע
at Har Sinai and received the Torah, the world was renewed. For the sake of that rose, the entire world is saved.
The Pardes Yosef (Shemos 2:3) wrote a custom, to spread out plants that grow by the water. The reason being that the time when Moshe was put by the reeds in the Nile occurred on Shavuot, according to the calculation of three months from the birth of Moshe Rabenu, on the 7th of Adar.
The Mei Hashiloach writes that since the Torah is light (Torah Ohr), therefore, the custom of the kids is to cover the windows in paper flowers to diminish the sunlight from illuminating the house. Since the Torah is light so there is no longer a need for the light of the sun.
It should be noted that there is another custom of putting up trees on Shavuot, since on Shavuot Hashem judges the fruits of the trees (Magen Avraham 494:5). However, this custom of trees is less common today partly due to concerns of copying non-Jewish practices as noted by the Gr”a. It can be suggested that with roses one fulfills this custom too, since regarding the beracha of the smell they are considered trees.
Taken from the Kollel Avreichim Hollywood
