On Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the first day of the third month after the exodus from Egypt, we reached the Sinai desert and camped near the mountain. During the few weeks of traveling in the desert—under Hashem’s protection, with daily miracles such as the manna, the sweetening of the water, and the defeat of Amalek—the Jewish people had become more and more conscious of Hashem. Faith grew more intense daily, until they attained a standard of holiness, solidarity, and unity never achieved before or since by any other nation.
Moshe ascended Mount Sinai, and Hashem spoke the following words to him: “So shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel. You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and I have borne you on eagles' wings and brought you to Me. And now, if you obey Me and keep My covenant, you shall be to Me the most beloved treasure of all peoples, for Mine is the entire earth. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of princes and a holy nation.”
Moshe returned from Sinai, summoned the elders of the people, and placed Hashem’s words before them. Unanimously, with one voice and one mind, the people answered: “Naaseh Venishma – Everything Hashem has said, we will do.” Thus, they accepted the Torah outright, with all its precepts, not even asking for a detailed enumeration of the obligations and duties it involved.
When I was a child, my non-Jewish neighbors—and yes, we had non-Jewish neighbors in Brooklyn, New York—would always point out, on each Jewish holiday, how the Jews had a holiday but they perfected it in the right way. There was only one holiday on which they would not say that, and that was Shavuos. The reason is that there is no non-Jewish holiday of Shavuos. For that matter, there is no holiday like Shavuos, on which—literally, and not figuratively—every Jew that would ever live, somewhere between 5 million and over 1 billion Jews, were spoken to by Hashem personally. Why did Hashem do that? Because He wanted every single one of us to feel His love and have a relationship with him. Another point: This is something that cannot be taken away from us ever, since it is not something physical. It is a feeling Hashem wants us each to have every moment of our lives.
The Midrash teaches that when Hashem spoke to us, we all died. Why did we have to die? The answer is that all of us, at one time or other, want Hashem to reveal himself to us. Hashem is showing us what would happen if he listened to us.
Hashem should bless us all to feel the beginnings of the miracles of Shavuos and have an amazing Shabbos and Shavuos.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Ari
P.S.: Thank you to all that have helped to make our Shavuos a success.
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SCHEDULE
Friday, June 7, 4 Sivan
Mincha: 7:20 pm
Light Candles: 7:18 pm
Saturday, June 8, 5 Sivan
Mincha 7:05 pm
Shabbos ends 8:20pm
Say erev tavshillin after
candlelighting at 8:20 pm
Shavuos—Sunday & Monday
Mincha on Shavuos,
both days 7:15 pm
Sunday, June 9, 6 Sivan
Light candles after 8:21 pm
Friday, June14, 11 Sivan
Mincha 7:20 pm
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