Receiving the Torah Today - Bamidbar pre-Shavuot 5786

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In a week, we will be receiving the Torah from Hashem.  Wait a second, you might say, that happened 3,338 years behind the times!  The Jewish people stood at the foot of Mount Sinai in the year 2,448 from Creation, 3,338 years ago, and Hashem came down onto the mountain and gave the Torah.  But even though it happened then, what I said is still accurate, for a few reasons.


First of all, every one of our holidays is not just celebrating an event that happened in the past, but reliving the events that happened the first time.  On Rosh Hashanah, the birthday of humankind, we celebrate the creation of the world.  Chassidus explains that every Rosh Hashanah the world is renewed, with a new revelation of Hashem’s will to create that lasts for another year until next Rosh Hashanah.  


Every Pesach we celebrate not just the first Exodus from Egypt but the concept of freedom that is one of the greatest values of the Jewish people.  And on Shavuot we once again renew the commitment that our forefathers made, “Na’ase Venishma,” we will observe [everything in the Torah] and we will learn it.  That commitment means that we are bound to Hashem through the Torah in a way that goes far beyond logic.  Of course we will learn and try to understand what the laws mean and their spiritual significance, but our observance is not conditional.  Ultimately our mission is to bring Hashem’s Presence into the world, and we do that by following His will.  


Of course, as limited human beings, it is impossible for us to expect to understand Hashem’s will and why He wants this or that particular act.  In His kindness, Hashem has given us insights that we can learn and try tio understand, so that it is also personally meaningful to us.  In addition, we need to use every one of our faculties to fulfill this mission, and as thinking human beings, that means our minds and hearts need to be fully engaged.  And that is the value of the second commitment, “Nishma.”  But first comes “Na’ase, we will follow the commandments because they are what Hashem wants of us.


This is a commitment that we renew every year on Shavuot.  There is more.  In the Shema, we say: These words that I am commanding you today shall be on your heart.  Our Sages explain that each day, the commandments should be new, as if they were commanded today. Another Biblical verse says (Devarim 26:16):  This day I am commanding you..., and it means “This day” that we are reading it, in 5786 in Palo Alto, CA.  (Or wherever you may be.)  So yes, next Friday, we will be reliving the receiving of the Torah once again, and renewing our commitment of Na’ase Venishma.


This is why it is so important that you and your entire family be present at the reading of the Torah next Friday, and why it is customary to bring even newborn infants to Shul on this day to hear the Torah reading of the Ten Commandments.  The Torah tells us that every single Jew had to present at mount Sinai in order for the Torah to be given, and we try to recreate that now.  I am writing this today instead of next week to encourage you to make arrangements to be within walking distance of a Shul on Shavuot so that you can observe this beautiful custom while fully respecting the holiness of the Holiday.


Now, I have heard people say things like this doesn’t really apply to me.  I am out of it, not connected to Torah observance and far from the connection to Hashem that you describe.  My heart is like a desert when it comes to this holiness stuff.  Well, this is one of the reasons we read the Parsha of “Bamidbar” the Shabbat before Shavuot.  Bamidbar mans in the desert.  This week’s Torah reading reminds us, just in time, that the Torah was given in the desert.  There is no place that Torah cannot permeate and no person who cannot relate to the Torah and its precious gifts.  That means me an you and all Jews everywhere and in any spiritual situation they may be.


We have a week to prepare.  There are thousands of articles with the traditional perspective  about Shavuot and its relevance available online.  The more we spend time reading and studying about the Holiday and the Torah, and about the significance of the Sinai experience, the more meaningful the Holiday will be.  Especially with the deep and sweet explanations of Chassidus.  You can start here.


In the words of our Rebbe’s traditional Shavuot blessing, may we receive the Torah with joy and internalize it.

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