The 12th day of Sivan is the last day of the ימי תשלומין from חג השבועות, which means that in the time of the בית המקדש, every Yom Tov there were certain קרבנות that you had to bring. When a person would go up to Jerusalem for עליה לרגל to the בית המקדש for Yom Tov, for Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot, there were certain קרבנות that you had to bring. And the דין is that if you didn't bring the קרבן on the first day, you could bring the קרבן on the next day and the next day. There are seven days that the Torah gives a person to bring the קרבנות. Pesach, we have seven days of Yom Tov because the Yom Tov of Pesach is for seven days. So we have all seven days of Yom Tov to bring the קרבנות. On Sukkot, the דין is that we have all days of Yom Tov to bring the קרבנות. Shavuot, even though Shavuot the Yom Tov itself is only for one day, nevertheless, there are seven days to bring the קרבנות, which means in addition to the day of Yom Tov itself, they had six more days to bring the קרבנות. And the last day of the תשלומין was the what? 12th day of Sivan. And the Gemara takeh says in Chagigah דף י״ז עמוד א׳, that concerning Shavuot, this דין is learned out from the פסוק where it says, in פרשת ראה, קפיטל ט״ז פסוק ט״ז, בחג המצות ובחג השבועות ובחג הסוכות. So the Torah mentions all three ימים טובים in the same פסוק, and the Gemara says, מקיש חג השבועות לחג המצות. We compare the Yom Tov of Shavuos to the Yom Tov of Pesach. מה חג המצות יש לו תשלומין כל שבע, just like Pesach has תשלומין, you could still fulfill bringing the korbanot for all seven days, אף חג השבועות יש לו תשלומין כל שבע. So too by Shavuos, you have תשלומין seven days. So even though Yom Tov itself is one day, still till י״ב סיון you were able to bring the korbanot. But on the other hand, it seems like the concept of תשלומין the way it was by Shavuos is different than the way it was by Pesach and by Sukkos. Even though the din is learned out from Pesach, but nevertheless, we understand that it's different. Because by Pesach and by Sukkos, that the days of תשלומין were during the Yom Tov itself. You could be mashlim, you could complete bringing the korbanot on the last day, which is Yom Tov itself, and even the days in between, they are also Chol Hamoed. Now we know that Chol Hamoed to a certain degree is Yom Tov. So it comes out that this din that you're still allowed to bring the korbanot of Yom Tov even if you didn't bring it on the first day, you're allowed to bring it on other days, but still on which days do you bring it? On those days which are themselves Yom Tov. But by Shavuos, the days that you're able to be mashlim, to complete the bringing of the korbanot after the first day of Yom Tov, happens to be in weekdays. Like Tosafot uses the expression in Hagigah דף ט׳ עמוד א׳, that these are days which are חול גמור, completely weekdays, secular days. So the question that comes up is, why is it that by Pesach and Sukkos the din is that תשלומין are during Yom Tov itself, and by Shavuos the days of תשלומין are not in the day which is Yom Tov, but these are days which are chol, which are weekdays? It would make more sense if the tashlumin is in Yom Tov, because the whole idea of tashlumin is that you complete what you missed out on Yom Tov, on the first day of Yom Tov, so it makes sense that on the other days of Yom Tov you still could complete what you missed out on the first day of Yom Tov. But to complete something that you missed out on the day of Yom Tov, to complete it on days which are not Yom Tov at all, which are completely weekdays, it is hard to understand how is it and why is it so. But in order to understand this, it is obvious that we must look into what חג השבועות, the Yom Tov of Shavuos represents, and after understanding what the Yom Tov of Shavuos represents, we will understand why by the Yom Tov of Shavuos there is an inyan of tashlumin even during the days which are חול גמור, which are completely weekdays and not Yom Tov at all.

One of the things that happened on Shavuos, which is the time of matan Torah, is that Hashem chose Am Yisrael. As the Magen Avraham פסקנ'ס in Orach Chaim סימן ס׳ סעיף קטן ב׳, and it's also brought down in the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, in the Shulchan Aruch of the Baal HaTanya, in סעיף ד׳ in that same סימן, that when we say in ברכות קריאת שמע before we say שמע ישראל every morning, we say the words ובנו בחרת מכל עם ולשון, that You chose us from all nations, so we have to be mechaven, we have to have in mind at that time matan Torah. Which means that at the time of matan Torah, that's when Hashem chose us. And also the Avudraham, when he talks about the Kiddush of Friday night, he gives the reason, why don't we say Friday night the expression אשר בחר בנו, or why don't we say אתה בחרתנו, which means that Hashem chose us? Because since Shabbos was given before מתן תורה, תורה, שבת was given in Marah, before they received the Torah, so this was before Hashem chose the Bnei Yisrael. Because when did Hashem choose the Bnei Yisrael? At the time of Matan Torah. What is the meaning that Hashem chose the Bnei Yisrael at the time of Matan Torah? It doesn't mean that they became special to Hashem, because they were special to Hashem even before Matan Torah. They were different than all other nations. As we find that even before Yetzias Mitzrayim, before they left Mitzrayim, then already Hashem called the בני ישראל בני בכורי ישראל. Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu, as the Torah says in פרשת שמות קפיטל ד' פסוק כ\"ב, that I want to take out from מצרים בני בכורי ישראל, my firstborn child, the Bnei Yisrael. So we see that he already referred to the Bnei Yisrael as my firstborn child, which means that they are special, they are different than all other nations. So what do we mean that by Matan Torah, Hashem chose the Bnei Yisrael? What was added in this idea that he chose the Bnei Yisrael over the way it was before Matan Torah?

But to understand this, we have to first understand the true meaning of the word bechirah, of the word choice. When we choose something, that means we choose it freely. That is the true meaning of choice, בחירה חפשית, free choice. That means that you choose the thing just because you decided to do that, not because there is anything that forces you. When something forces a person to choose one over the other, that's not called choice, then he's forced to do it. So choice means when you pick it, when you choose it just because of your own will and nothing that forces you. When we go a step deeper, when we say that choice means that nothing forces you, it doesn't only mean nothing from the outside, but it also means that nothing from the thing that you chose forces you. For instance, if you have two things and you have to choose one of the two, and one of the two has a ma'alah over the other, is better than the other, and therefore you pick that one, that is not really free choice. You picked it because that one had something that pushed you to pick it. Since you are looking for something and this one has it more than the other, and therefore you picked it. So it's not that you picked this one over the other one just because of yourself, you picked it because there was something in that thing that pushed you to pick it. So that is not essentially the true בחירה חפשית, the true free choice. Free choice means that it comes completely because of the chooser and nothing because of the thing that was chosen. And this is what happened by Matan Torah. Hashem, on his own, because of himself, decided that he wants the Yidden, not only because of their maalot. When we say Hashem referred to the Bnei Yisrael before Matan Torah with the title בני בכורי ישראל, that they are special to him, so at that time they were special to him because of their maalot. The Yidden were greater, they have more kedushah, and therefore Hashem liked them more than he liked the other nations. But by Matan Torah, something else happened. Hashem said that here, I am choosing you beyond your maalot. There is something that is within me, within Hashem, that wants davka the Bnei Yisrael, not only because the Bnei Yisrael have special ma'alot, but also because Hashem says from himself, from within Hashem himself there is this connection that he has to the Bnei Yisrael, that he wants davka the Bnei Yisrael and no other nation. And this is what happened by Matan Torah that wasn't there before. And this is a very, very deep thing. Because when you choose something because of the ma'alah of the object that you choose, so really, your essence is not connected to it. It is because something outside of you pushed you to do it. But it is not you that is involved in this. But when you choose it just because you decided, and there's nothing in the object that pulls you to choose it, then it's only you that's involved, so then the complete person, for instance in the case of a person, would have a kesher, a connection to the object. If his whole connection is because the object has a certain ma'alah, then his connection is only limited to the ma'alah of the object. But if his connection comes because he on his own wants it and not because of any ma'alah, any specialty in the object, so then he completely is involved. It's not limited to any limit, because there is no limit here. As long as it comes because of the object, then it is limited to as much ma'alot as the object has. When the ma'alot stop, for instance, then there is no reason to have a kesher, to have a connection to it, there is no reason to want it, because you only want it because of the ma'alot it has. As soon as it loses the ma'alot, there is no reason for you to choose it. But if the choice comes because of you, then the ma'alot of the object make no difference, and therefore, it will always be connected. to you, it is always connected essentially to the person who chose it. And the same thing is with Bnei Yisrael and Hashem. If it would only be because of the ma'alot of the Bnei Yisrael, so then if chas veshalom, the Bnei Yisrael lose their ma'alot, they don't do what they're supposed to do, then Hashem should cut off His connection to them. But Hashem doesn't say that. Hashem says that it says in the פסוק, כי אח עשו ליעקב, that Esav and Yaakov are brothers. Nevertheless, ואהב את יעקב ואת עשו שנאתי, I love Yaakov and I hate Esav. Now the pasuk is telling us that even in a case where אח עשו ליעקב, where Yaakov and Esav seem like brothers, and as Rashi says in the beginning of Parashat Vayishlach that brothers mean that they're acting the same way, they're close. So the pasuk says even in a time when they are close in their actions, because chas veshalom, the Bnei Yisrael are acting like Esav, so we would think at that time Hashem cuts off His connection. But we say no, Hashem says nevertheless, ואהב את יעקב ואת עשו שנאתי, I love Yaakov, I love the בני ישראל, and I hate Esav. Why? Because the connection between Hashem and the בני ישראל is not limited to the maalot of the בני ישראל, but it is beyond that. It comes as a free choice from Hashem just because Hashem wanted us. And that's why it says that Hashem says that להחליפם באומה אחרת אי אפשר, that I cannot change the בני ישראל for another nation, impossible. בין כך ובין כך בני הם, whether they act good or not, they are My children. Why? Because Hashem chose us. And this is what happened at the time of מתן תורה. We also know that just like there is the concept of Hashem choosing us, Hashem wants us to choose Him. As the pasuk says, ובחרת בחיים, Hashem says choose in life, which means choose the right way, choose to do what Hashem wants. And He uses the word choice there too. So there too, it means deeper than what we simply mean. Hashem wants us to serve Him and to do what He wants not only because we understand His maalot. For instance, we understand how great it is to be an oved Hashem, to serve Hashem. We understand that He is אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו, He's the God of our fathers, and therefore it's proper for us to follow Him. He is the בורא העולם, He created the world, and therefore we should serve Him. All these are inyanim of seichel that bring out in the person the hiskashrut, the connection to Hashem, based on a certain understanding and a certain limit. So therefore, the connection will be only as far as the limit goes. As much as he will understand, that's how much he will serve Him. But what Hashem wants us to do is to serve Him in the form of bechirah, to choose Him just because of our will, not only because we understand the greatness, but it should be deeper than that, it should be higher than our understanding. Just like we say Hashem chose us at the time of מתן תורה, so it's self-understood that that's the time when Hashem gave us the koach to choose Him, which means to serve Him not only based on the limitations of our understanding or our feelings, but to choose Him and serve Him b'etzem, from our essence, to connect ourselves essentially to Hashem. And it's self-understood that if we serve Him not because of our cheshbonot, so to speak, of our seichel, our understanding, but beyond that, then the serving is in a different way. We don't only serve Him with a certain detail because our seichel, our mind tells us, and then mainly we serve Him based on our seichel, or because our middot feel that, but we serve Him with our whole etzem, with our whole essence, because there is no specific thing within us that connects us to Him, but our whole essence is connected to Him. So then when we serve Him, when we learn Torah, when we do mitzvot, we put ourselves into it completely, 100%, with our whole essence.

This explains also why בשעת מתן תורה, Hashem gave us very simple things. The first five dibros, five commandments, are very deep inyanim: אנכי השם אלוקיך - I am your God, לא יהיה לך אלוקים אחרים - not to have idols, etc. And the other five: לא תרצח, לא תנאף - not to murder, not to commit adultery, etc., are very simple things. Why did Hashem have to give it by Matan Torah, at the most auspicious moment in history, Hashem gave us the very simple things? Not only that, the Chazal say in Masechet Shabbat דף פ״ח עמוד ב׳, that על כל דיבור ודיבור של הקדוש ברוך הוא יצתה נשמתן, on every dibbur, every commandment, their neshamah fell out. Now mimela when we say their neshamah went out out of great excitement when they heard אנכי השם אלוקיך, we can understand. When they heard this the depth of אנכי השם אלוקיך, that made the neshamah leave the body, they couldn't take it. But when they heard לא תרצח, for instance, when they heard to not commit murder, so what was so special about that that should be יצתה נשמתן? But the answer is like we said before, at the time of Matan Torah, Hashem put into Yidden the koach that they should serve Him and do what He wants higher than seichel, from their etzem. When it comes to higher than seichel, then לא תרצח and אנכי השם אלוקיך are the same. When is there a difference between לא תרצח, for instance, and אנכי השם אלוקיך? When you deal with seichel. So in seichel, אנכי השם אלוקיך is a very deep thing. When it says speaks about Shabbat, it's a very important mitzvah. But when it says לא תרצח, לא תנאף, לא תגנוב, when it says all these very simple things, so in seichel they're very simple, nothing to get excited about. But if, but if that we do it because of our etzem, essential connection to Hashem, as far as the etzem is concerned, which is beyond seichel, there is no difference between a very simple mitzvah and a very deep mitzvah, and therefore על כל דיבור ודיבור פרחה נשמתם, on every dibbur the neshamah went out.

This also explains the difference between Shavuot and other yamim tovim. Why is it that other yamim tovim have specific mitzvot, for instance Pesach has a mitzvah of סיפור יציאת מצרים, we have to talk about יציאת מצרים, there's a mitzvah of eating matzah, there's an issur of chametz etc., on Sukkos there's a mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah, the mitzvah of taking the four minim etc., but Shavuos has no specific mitzvah. And as Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Berditchever explains in Kedushas Levi, in the דרוש of Shavuos in the beginning, why Shavuos is also called Atzeres, because Atzeres means to hold back, because on Shavuos there is no mitzvah other than holding yourself back from work, and that is a mitzvah that applies to all Yamim Tovim equally, but there's nothing specific in the Yom Tov of Shavuos. Why is it? Because when we say that there is a specific mitzvah on a Yom Tov, that means that this represents a certain specific form of connection a Yid has to Hashem. Because as we know every mitzvah connects a Yid to Hashem, but every mitzvah connects the Yid to Hashem in a specific way that's shayach to that mitzvah, and therefore every Yom Tov has a specific mitzvah because that represents a specific connection. But Shavuos, being that that represents the general connection of the בחירה, of the choice that Hashem chose the Yidden and the Yidden choose Hashem, and that represents their connection essentially, that has nothing to do with anything specific but completely the עצם, the whole person, the עצם of the Yid, therefore there is no specific mitzvah on Shavuos, just this general mitzvah that all ימים טובים have, the ענין of not working. This is also the reason why the תשלומין of Pesach and Shavuos are davka on Yom Tov, but the תשלומין of Shavuos is in ימי החול, on weekdays, because when we're talking about a specific connection that a Yid has to Hashem, which is done through the Yom Tov and through everything that we do on Yom Tov, which is the קרבנות, then it has to be on a special day. Since this is going to strengthen the connection between the Yid and Hashem, so it has to be a holy day in order to have the koach, the power to bring about this connection. But the essential connection that a Yid has to Hashem, that is always, and that is beyond any levels, and therefore even if a person is not on a Yom Tov, even if the day is not special, even it's a regular day, that essential connection is there. And therefore, the קרבנות of Shavuos that represent this essential connection, because it's the קרבן of Shavuos, which is the day that Hashem chose the Yidden and the Yidden chose Hashem, so the קרבנות of that day are not connected davka to the ענין of Yom Tov, saying that davka in a specific form that's when this ענין happened, the connection that's brought about through the mitzvot happened. On the contrary, because the connection is essential, therefore specifically the תשלומין, the קרבנות that you're supposed to bring on Yom Tov can also be brought in ימי החול, on weekdays, to show that this is not because of a certain level, because of a certain holiness, because it's a special day, but this is just because he is a Yid, he is able to bring about this essential connection between himself and Hashem, no matter in what level he is and what type of day it is.