Category — Shavuot

No, this is not an essay mocking the religion of global warming. I wouldn’t dare; for there is no free speech allowed on that topic…

Yossel was a merchant who sold precious stones for a living. Most of his money was made during the yearly fare in the city of Leipzig during the month of January. This was an event that Yossel could not afford to miss.Good old mother Russia’s weather is totally unpredictable, especially in the winter.
So it came to pass one year, that to Yossel’s dismay the winter hit really hard, covering the countryside with snow and sleet, making it nearly impossible to make the three day journey to the fair.
Yossel had to go, so desperately he went around to all the wagon drivers begging them for a ride. No luck. Finally he spotted Moishe the wagon driver who was the adventurous type, so he ran over to him offered him a deal, “Listen Moishe, if you bring to the fair in time, I’ll pay you 10 gold coins, that’s triple the regular pay. But we don’t arrive on time you’ll pay me fifty golden coins for my great loss.”
Moishe, whose brains were the size of a peanut, didn’t hesitate for a moment and without blinking an eye agreed to the deal, ‘This is the best deal of my life’, he thought to himself.ell to make a long story short; Even with all Moishe’s good will, and great talent at schlepping the horses out of the mud, and beating them to a pulp, the inevitable happened; to their great disappointment they pulled into Leipzig as the fair was closing up shop.
Hand over the fifty golden coins!” said Yossel, “a deal is a deal!”Moishe played dumb, “What fifty, where fifty, I’m not paying you a penny!”
Yossel fumed, “Ganef! Thief! Give me the money you owe me!”
Not a chance!”
“I’m taking you to the rabbi!”
“That’s fine with me!”
The rabbi patiently listened to Yossel’s tale of woe, and turned to Moishe, “Is it true that you promised to pay Yossel fifty golden coins if you would not arrive on time for the fair?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m sorry, but you must pay the money immediately!”
Moishe was unfazed, “Says who?”
“The Torah, given to the Jews on Mount Sinai 3000 years ago says so!”
Moishe was not so dumb after all, “Let’s face the facts rabbi. When was the Torah given? In the summer time! Where? In the desert! Well, I could promise you that were the Torah to be given in Russia, in middle of the winter, it would say something totally different…”

Back to the present. I’m sure you recognize the modern day Moishe, the one who has an answer for everything: Blowing a ram horn on Rosh Hashanah? That was before PETA! Modesty? Before the sixties! Shabbat candles? Not healthy for the environment. Respect your parents??? and the list goes on.
Hello! It was the same Torah for Moses in the desert, for King David in Israel, for Daniel in exile, for Moshke in the Shtetel and for Joe in 21st century America. It’s time to go back to the system that has worked throughout the centuries.
Nothing has changed! Except for the global temperature that is (or maybe not).

<

As action is the objective of study, beginning this week, there will be a short “To do” connected to the message. Don’t let yourself get stuck in one place; you can always do more!

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to “honor thy father and thy mother,” she asked “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing a beat one little boy answered, “Thou shall not kill.”

***

Ask any movie producer and he’ll tell you that one of the toughest aspects of production is the preparation of the set. Countless hours are spent planning every detail, building facades, choosing props, finding a suitable location.

A presidential candidate puts much thought into the venues at which he will appear to announce his candidacy or campaign. What message will he send by his choice to speak in that particular place? Where will he, or must he, garner the most support?

With that in mind, is it not surprising that G-d chose to present Himself to the Jewish nation and give the Ten Commandments in the DESERT of all places?

G-d certainly knew of the travel magazines’ 100 best locations to vacation, of the beautiful beaches and majestic mountains high up in the Alps. Why, then, was it a hot desert in middle of the summer? Surely this most dramatic moment in history warranted a more impressive backdrop!

Yet the explanation lies within the question itself. For the same reason that we would never pick Sinai –its simplicity, dullness and emptiness – G-d specifically chose it.

A desert is a no-show for human life, cattle and produce, a desolate area where almost nothing can live. It is a vast expanse of barren land, rendering it a least desirable topographic area. And all the way down there, G-d gave us the Torah. This was to teach us that our job as Jews is to transform a world which is a spiritual desert, lacking morals, ethics and humility, into a world of Torah and peace.

Torah was not given to the angels, but to you and me. At times we may find ourselves in a moral Sinai. Life can seem empty and dull, uninspiring and depressing. There, specifically there, the Torah must help us rise and climb back up. And as we climb, we bring the desert with us, for the useless stretch of dry land has now served a purpose – it has become a springboard for our growth.

Feeling down? Just open your eyes: G-d is talking to you right now.

Do something about it:

On May 23^rd we will celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, commemorating and reliving the Giving of the Torah. It is of utmost importance that all participate in the morning services and hear the Ten Commandments, especially the children. Be there! Relive the moment!

Joey is a nice Jewish boy born to an atheist Jewish (what an oxymoron! But that’s for another week) family. The father is adamant about not giving his son a Jewish education, but, to his utter dismay, the only decent kindergarten in the neighborhood is Jewish. So, reluctantly, he sends Joey there. The first afternoon, Joey comes home from school and the proud father asks him to repeat what he learnt that morning. Joey proudly announces that he learnt that there is a G-d in this world! Slap! The father flies into a rage. “What kind of nonsense are they throwing into your head? There ain’t such a thing…”
When, throughout the week, Joey comes home announcing how G-d made the stars, and the ocean, the father decided to call the quits on this Jewish thing, and transfers his son to the local public school.
After a couple days Joey approaches his father: “Daddy please don’t hit me; I just want to ask you one question. In the first school they taught me that there is one G-d who created every thing. In the second school, I hear about the trinity and the son of G-d. I’m totally confused!”
The father responds impatiently: “Listen Joey, I’ll tell you once and once only: there is one G-d and we don’t believe in him!”

Our sages tell us that when G-d wanted to give the Torah, He approached the Jews asking them for a guarantor that they would keep the Torah and cherish it through out the generations. The Jews presented the sages as guarantors for the teaching and transmitting of Torah values throughout the generations. But G-d did not accept the offer.
They offered to have their ancestors serve as guarantors. And so on. Every offer was turned down by G-d until the Jews hit gold. They presented the children as their guarantee and G-d finally accepted.
Yes, it’s only through education that we’re promised the eternity of the Jewish nation. Parent to child to grandchild and so on; pass on the eternal values and golden legacy forever and ever.
It was the children in whose merit G-d descended on Mount Sinai and it is because of the Jewish children that we will soon merit the greatest and eternal revelation of G-dliness with the coming of our righteous Moshiach speedily in.

Let’s start with a joke: a wealthy Jew buys himself a private island and builds in it to synagogues. When asked for the logic behind it, he replied: one synagogue to pray and one not to go to…
The Torah tells us that when the Jews arrived at Mount Sinai, they dwelled there in peace as one man and one soul.
It’s already been more then forty days since they left Egypt, forty days of spiritual elevation and preparation, for the day that G-d would reveal himself on Mount Sinai.
What took the Jews forty days to realize that the main preparation for the giving of the Torah is to peace?
Well let’s look at these people as a typical Jewish community. (After all weren’t they the first Jewish community in history – albeit a wondering community…). As the saying – “two Jews with three opinions”. It’s just in our blood.
And not always is argument negative, each of us has our own approach in serving g-d, in doing our heavenly mission in this world. That’s OK.
But when it comes time to receive the Torah we have to look for what we have in common, what we all believe in.
That’s the key to peace, to find what we have in common and not in where we disagree.