Exodus Shavuot 5784

кто мы

Publisher: Editor:

Editorial Director:

Editorial Director:

RabbiYosephY Zaltzman

EllaVorovitch

Rabbi Dan Rodkin

Design and Layout: EllaVorovitch

Irene Lipsker

Proofreading:Larissa Tchoumak

Mikhail Khazin

Адрес: Greater Boston Jewish Russian Center 29 Chestnut Hill Avenue Brighton, MA 02135

Телефон: 617-787-2200 617-787-4693

E-mail: exodus@shaloh.org

Website: www.Shaloh.org

Exodus Magazine Boston Edition is published monthly by the GREATER BOSTON JEWISH RUSSIAN CENTER

Февраль-Март 2024 Issue 86

Registration Number 770

Circulation 4,000

Подписка: $ 18

Printed in USA

"ТРЕБУЕТСЯ

ДОКАЗАТЬ..."

Надеюсь, что ваш скептицизм возник исключительно как следствие мучимой вас дилеммы. Поскольку в большинстве подобных случаев люди попросту не желают обременять свою жизнь «древними предписаниями» и ищут оправдания собственному поведению с помощью «философских» размышлений. Полагаю, однако, что это – не ваш случай. Поэтому постараюсь разрешить ваши сомнения хотя бы

были

тельства подобного рода: свидетельства

другие

P.S.УнасвофисевысможетеприобрестикнигуПсалмовнарусскомили английскомязыках.

заинтересован в фальсификации.

Во многих случаях достоверность исторических событий основана на свидетельстве ограниченной группы людей, и всегда имеется подозрение, что свидетели эти были, возможно, не совсем объективны. Тем не менее, если нет явной причины для подозрений и уж тем более, если мы можем проверить достоверность свидетельства и даже перепроверить, оно принимается как факт.

Думаю, что всего вышесказанного уже достаточно, чтобы любые сомнения, которые у вас появились в отношении достоверности еврейских традиций, мгновенно рассеялись. В любом случае, миллионы

9318-2211529-34 10423-2812635-38 11529-3413739-43 12635-3814844-48 13739-4315949-54 14844-48161055-59 15949-54171160-65

ДУША И ТЕЛО МАТВЕЯ

Монотонный гул центрального манхэттенского вокзала Penn Station время от времени прорезают объявления, раздающиеся из репродукторов. От одного из них я однажды чуть было не расхохотался. “Mr. Matthew Rabinovitz, please meet your buddy at the Information booth”, - равнодушно произнес голос диктора, совершенно не согретый заботой о приятеле г-на Рабиновича, ожидавшем его возле информационного окошка.

Развеселило же меня то обстоятельство, что, поскольку слово buddy (приятель) звучит в американском произношении так же, как body (по крайней мере, для моего уха), то все объявление прозвучало просто, как бред наркомана: “Господин Матвей Рабинович, вас ожидает ваше тело у окна информации!”

А чего я вдруг сейчас об этом вспомнил? Ах, да! Вы знаете, такое

(извините за рифму), а действие. Действие человека - симбиоза души и тела - существа, наделенного свыше миссией, которая должна быть выполнена в этом материальном мире. Так было при даровании Торы - души вновь обретали тела. В обычной жизни же все наоборот. Повинуясь воле Вс-вышнего, душа приходит в этот мир, материализуется,

осязаемого, обоняемого, ощупываемого и фотографируемого (уж не помню, как там точно, по Ильичу) тела. Но если телу повезет, то у него, как легкий зуд неясного свойства,

Первый и древнейший Свиток Торы со слов Вс-вышнего записал Моисей во время пребывания в пустыне. Перед смертью он создал 13 полностью идентичных экземпляров, ставших самыми древними копиями первого Свитка Торы. Двенадцать из них были распределены между коленами Израильского народа. Еще один, 13-й, был помещен в Ковчег Завета вместе со Скрижалями. Именно этот Свиток должен был стать образцом для сравнения со всеми будущими копиями. Он являлся свидетельством того, как дол жен выглядеть текст в случаях, если подозревалась ошибка или исправление в новых вариантах.

Экземпляр, находившийся в Ковчеге, перенесли в помещение Храма сразу после завершения его строительства. После этого по нему продолжили сверять все появлявшиеся новые Свитки Торы. Это позволило сохраниться изначальному

единства всего еврейского народа в самые тяжелые

любой ценой, продавать его разрешалось лишь ради исполнения особых заповедей. И сегодня, в эти нелегкие дни, евреи объединяются в молитве в синагогах, чтобы вместе прочитать Свиток Торы, который несет Б-жественную мудрость

с

Она

в Израиле. А

живет

дочь

супруга рава Элиезера Бланка, посланника Любавичского Ребе. В Адаре исполнилось три года их младшему сыну, нашему внуку, Аврааму-Лейбу, и по еврейской традиции должна была состояться первая стрижка волос мальчика – опшерниш. Мы с женой решили, что двоим нам такое путешествие не по карману, и поэтому от семьи полетел я один.

В Одессу прибыл благополучно. О процедуре стрижки договорились так: на исходе Субботы всем составом едем в Гадяч (Полтавская область), где расположен Оэль Алтер Ребе, Первого Ребе ХАБАДа, там совершаем утреннюю молитву, проводим сам опшерниш,

открыл хозяин, Владимир Федорович, очень приятный человек, как

поговорили. Свиток Торы

действительно находился у них. И Владимир Федорович рассказал нам всю историю.

Было это в 1918 году, спустя год после переворота. Как известно, с мракобесием новая

власть воевала не жалея сил, не гнушаясь ни

церквями, ни синагогами. Разрушали до основания, превращали в склады и

конюшни. Кощунство-

вали, как только могли.

Дед Тамары Степановны, жены нашего

рассказчика, был ярый

МУ

СПАСЕНИЕ

В недавнем очерке для Еврейского телеграфного агентства (JTA) Джозеф Сэмюэлс рассказал о событиях, свидетелем которых он стал в детстве в иракской столице. Сэмюэлс, живущий теперь в Калифорнии, является членом правления JIME-NA,

организации, занимающейся

сохранением

культуры и

истории мизрахи и сефардов.

«Когда я

увидел фотографии и видео [зверств, совершенных

7 октября], размещенные ХАМАСом, я

был в ужасе и

шоке», - написал Сэмюэлс.

«Эти изображения вызвали во мне пламя старой травмы, которую я пережил 82 года назад в Багдаде (Ирак), когда мне было всего десять лет».

2 июня 1941 года, в разгар

последующие

муфтий давал указания

-

организатору мусульманских молитв - «мешать еврейским молитвам у Стены своими криками, призывающими мусульман к молитве, и проводить шумную церемонию Зикр с барабанным сопровождением, [во время которой] верующие произносят имя Аллаха в постоянно возрастающем темпе, находясь в состоянии религиозного ожесточения», - пишет Эльпелег.

Пик антиеврейских притеснений пришелся на август следующего года, когда муфтий подстрекал толпу из сотен арабов с ножами и дубинками напасть на евреев у Стены Плача и по всему городу. На следующий день палестинские арабы зарезали 67 евреев в Хевроне. Еще через несколько дней 20 человек были убиты

Пилом.

Рекомендация лорда Пила, опубликованная летом 1937 года, предусматривала создание еврейского государства в крошечной части страны, а рядом с ним - более крупного арабского государства. Муфтий отверг создание еврейского государства и начал новую волну насилия, начав с убийства британского окружного комиссара Галилеи. В ответ британские власти депортировали ряд мусульманских лидеров, но муфтию удалось избежать ареста, спрятавшись в мечети Аль-Акса, куда британцы боялись заходить. Он замаскировался, проскользнул мимо британских войск

МУФТИЙ

власть

свои руки, воз-

такие

создало

Днем 1

мусуль-

толпы при

держке местной полиции и солдат

в

квартале Багдада, как вспоминает в своей статье Джозеф Сэмюэлс. Около 200 евреев были убиты, а около 600 получили ранения. Было совершено множество нападений на еврейских женщин, а многие еврейские дома были разграблены или сожжены. Впоследствии комиссия правительства Ирака изучила факторы, приведшие

что

роль

подстрекательстве погромщиков сыграла нацистская пропаганда. По

ганды - немецкие агенты в Ираке и «муфтий Иерусалима и его

радиопередачи,

Надо только уточнить, что речения эти были на святом еврейском

в начале 1900-х годов еще велись разговоры о том, что идиш – это всего лишь жаргон, язык еврейских домохозяек, «испорченный

По историческим

меркам, идиш существовал недолго, около тысячи лет, но вопросов, не разрешенных до сих пор, он задал филологам предостаточно. Начнем с самого начала: где, когда, каким образом появился идиш?

На этот вопрос нам ответит мой собеседник – профессор Университета Торонто Анна Штерншис.

МОЛОДОЙ

институт, один из моих преподавателей поехал работать в Англию – в Оксфорд, где образовался институт изучения языка идиш. А в то время меня уже очень интересовал идиш и история советского еврейства, особенно песни, театр, литература. Меня пригласили в Англию, выделили стипендию,

родилась в Москве

1974 году. Моя мама - коренная москвичка, папа - из Полтавы. Конечно, мы знали, что мы - евреи, но не очень хорошо представляли, что это означает. Когда бабушки, дедушки и родители говорили между собой на идиш, мы с младшей сестрой ничего не понимали, и никакого еврейского воспитания не получили.

Наступило время поступать в ВУЗ, и я выбрала Историко-Архивный институт, который позже стал называться Университетом. В то время ректором института был Юрий Афанасьев - известный в Москве политик и близкий друг Ельцина - президента России того времени. При нем институт стал демократической альтернативой консервативному МГУ. Поступить туда было очень трудно: конкурс - 30 человек на место. - Как же Вы туда попали? - Просто хорошо училась.

я поехала

на конференцию

в Бостон. Кому-то

понравился мой

доклад, и меня при-

гласили прочесть его в Мичиганском

Университете. В

Америке принято

печатать объявления

в

дирающая история о матери, которая хотела убить мужа, о принцессе, которую Бобо терял и находил, о его сыновьях-близнецах, попавших в разные страны.

- Интересная средневековая мыльная опера! Была ли в ней какая-либо связь с еврейством?

- Никакой. Кроме одного – она была написана на идиш, и была такой популярной, что выдержала 300 изданий в течение 200 лет. Все любили рассказ о приключениях Бобо, которые после небольшой трансформации стали называться «Буба-майсес».

видите, - нет.

- Известно, что вы являетесь автором книги When Sonya Met Boris – «Когда Соня встретила Бориса».

в

архиве Еврейского

научно-исследовательского

института, но он вдруг закрылся

Что мы знаем о празднике Шавуот?

праздников.

• По традиции, первую ночь Шавуот, в этом году со вторника

июня), проводим без сна, посвящая эту ночь изучению Торы.

• В первый день праздника (в среду) слушаем чтение Десяти Речений (Заповедей), желательно в синагоге. Устраиваем традиционный молочный Кидуш: блинчики с творогом, чизкейки, творожные запеканки и, конечно же, любимое детьми мороженое. Во второй день Шавуот

жизни.

Молоко. Молоко лучше хранится в простой (бумажной, пластиковой) посуде и быстро портится в серебряной или золотой. Подобно этому

Тора является уделом смиренных и отталкивает высокомерных.

Мед. Тора сладка, как мед. Примечательно, что мед – кошерный продукт, при этом он производится некошерным насекомым (пчелой). Тора также

может возвысить и очистить нас, даже когда мы духовно низки.

Хлеб. Тора – это пища для души.

Огонь. Глубокие тайны Торы, ее мистика являются источником

вдохновения для нашего духовного развития.

Пчела. Тора может дать сладость, но иногда она может и жалить.

Дождь. Тора спускается сверху. Как непрекращающийся дождь может размочить даже твердую скалу, так и усердие в Торе может смягчить даже самое черствое сердце.

«я». Но в конечном счете такой подход оказался неправильным. Поэтому, чтобы исправить это всенародное погружение в сон, мы проводим всю первую ночь Шавуот в изучении Торы.

Shaloh.org/Kids

Единство,

Ляд, пишет в своей книге «Тания», что на уровне души мы

Фильм

(Frisko Kid)

ально и очень страшно

пуча весь фильм глаза, смог показать тонкую

и чувствительную

душу монстра, потом в фильме «Сверкающие седла», после чего

получил номинацию на премию «Оскар» уже как сценарист.

В 1979-м году выходит фильм-вестерн "Парень из СанФранциско" (Frisko Kid), где напарником Джина Уайлдера по главной роли стал еще один еврей - неутомимый Индиана Джонс, он же - Харрисон Форд. Уайлдеру досталась роль молодого йешиботника Авраама Белинского, которого руководство польской йешивы отправляет в далекую Америку, в Сан-Франциско, где он должен стать новым раввином общины. Из Филадельфии в Сан-Франциско он отправляется в путь на лошади. И вскоре судьба сводит его с грабителем банков, бандитомодиночкой Томи Лиллардом (Харрисон Форд), с которым у него постепенно завязываются дружеские отношения. Это - классический вестерн с погонями, выстрелами, железнодорожными грабителями, индейцами и неизбежным хэппи-эндом.

Затем, в 80-х были и другие фильмы, среди которых особое внимание заслуживает комедия-боевик "Ничего не вижу, ничего не слышу", где помимо Джина Уайлдера главную роль исполнил чернокожий комик Ричард Прайор. На глазах Дэйва (Уайлдер) совершается убийство, но он глухой. Уолли (Прайор) все слышал, но он слепой. Вместе они — идеальные свидетели преступления для преступников и единственные подозреваемые для полицейских. И те и другие начинают их поиски. Очень смешной и в то же время очень трогательный фильм о настоящей мужской дружбе.

Были в карьере Джина Уайлдера и пробы себя как режиссера, однако все резко оборвалось после

и решил больше не сниматься в кино, учредив фонд для

Дорогие друзья,

можно заменить взбитыми жирными сливками, Либо протертым жирным сладким творогом)

Яичные желтки – 4 шт.

Сахарная пудра – 100 г

Ваниль – 1 пакетик

Белки – 4 шт. + щепотка

соли

Заварной кофе – 400 мл

Печенье “Ladyfingers”

Какао-порошок для

посыпки

Приготовление:

Желтки отделяем от белков.

Белки с добавлением щепотки соли взбиваем до пиков.

Желтки растираем с сахарной пудрой. Сюда же добавляем пакетик

ванильного сахара и сыр маскарпоне. Все взбиваем.

Далее взбитые белки постепенно добавляем к этой массе (осторожно вымешивать!).

Затем завариваем крепкий кофе, даем ему полностью остыть.

Готовые печеньки

На исходе прошлого Суккота в школе Shaloh House началось уникальное путешествие по мосту времени, соединившему группу наших сту-

дентов и представителей старшего поколения.

Под руководством ребецин Сары Родкин и препо-

давателя журналистики Марии Шандалов ученики 1-8 классов приняли участие во внеклассном

проекте «Лучше вместе». И этот проект стал не

просто учебной программой, а настоящим экс-

в

ценности и традиции нашего народа. А главное - помог сближению “зеленого”

и “золотого” поколений, которые, к сожалению, в

последнее время почти разучились общаться.

А ведь два эти “народа” - предки и потомки - очень нужны друг другу. Одни любят поговорить, а дру-

вой возможностью для детей узнать о своих семьях, их истории, пережитых трудностях и радостях

становилась но-

с дедушкой, особенно потому, что понимаю: его здоровье ухудшается и в

какой-то момент он, вероятно, перестанет меня узнавать. Я вообще изменила свой взгляд на по-

жилых людей, и участие в проекте помогло мне

понять, что они тоже когда-то были детьми, и

даже не так давно”.

Сочинение Ребекки Наймарк Гольдберг было удостоено первой премии на Всеамериканском

конкурсе. Мы поздравляем Ребекку и гордимся ее успехом!

В декабре, после зажжения шестой ханукальной

свечи, наш клуб молодых журналистов провел встречу с писателем Семеном Рудяком и его женой Руфиной. Наши почетные

шаббата печем халы, наполняя дом ароматным духом, учим малышей

длился наш проект, его участники усвоили много ценных уроков и получили немало мудрых советов. Например, что важно

“Better Together”: meeting with living witnesses of history

With their wealth of experience and wisdom, older people are an integral part of society. Their life journey is full of unique stories that can inspire and teach us to appreciate every moment of life. In the «Better Together» Project, which took place this school year at Shaloh House School, students were introduced to the life stories of older people who showed their strength, endurance, and unwavering spirit.

Under the collaborative guidance of Rebbetzin Sarah Rodkin and journalism teacher Maria Shandalov, students in grades 1-8 embarked on a journey into history, values, and traditions. Together, we met with fascinating individuals from the Jewish community, cooked traditional dishes, explored family genealogy, and listened to the poignant stories of living witnesses of the Second World War who had endured the ghettos and camps.

Our students wrote essays in which they shared stories about generations of their families and their connection with the past.

Our student’s victory was a great success for the project: Rebecca Namark Goldberg’s essay was awarded first place at the Better2Write National Contest, which brought Shaloh House a prize of $25,000!

Arkady Zernitsky

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Shumyachkin

Receiving the toRah today

From the Rebbe's Letters

In these auspicious days, certainly everyone will utilize these days that are designated for additional preparation for receiving the Torah, to prepare additionally well and with extra vigor in anticipation of the great day—“The day when you stood before the L - rd, your G - d, at Chorev [Sinai]” to receive the eternal Torah which shall never be substituted.

Explore and consider how our ancestors prepared in the lead up to this day, beginning from that dramatic day when our Teacher Moshe received the news that “When you will lead the people out of Egypt, you will worship G - d on this Mount,” meaning, that the Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai was the ultimate goal of the Exodus from Egypt, from bondage to freedom, to be servants of HaShem and not servants of servants, including, not servants of “the strange god (the evil inclination) that is within you”—which only this constitutes true and complete freedom;

And it goes without saying, that all the signs and miracles that they witnessed in Egypt and on the sea, which were in a manner of “affliction for Egypt, and healing for Israel,” amazed and directed their minds and hearts to their Father in Heaven with love and awe, “just as water mirrors a face to a face,” as the Alter Rebbe marvels about this topic in his book, the sacred Tanya, using the well-known parable of a great and mighty king who displays his great and intense love for a commoner, etc.

And immediately on the morrow of leaving Egypt with an “upraised arm,” — they began to count the days and weeks longingly, desirously, and thirstily for that auspicious day upon which G - d would descend on Mount Sinai before their eyes and give them His hidden treasure. And they ascended in holiness from day to day in preparation for this event, all based on the guidance (and encouragement, urging and assistance) of Moshe Rabbeinu, the Shepherd of Israel, the Faithful Shepherd from his time until this very day, And meanwhile, the Holy One, blessed is He, further astounded His kindness and fed them “bread from the heavens”

(Manna) and extracted for them (and gave them to drink) water from a rock (the Well of Miriam), and accommodated them and encircled them in the Clouds of Glory, and took them through the desert—far from all the vanities of this world, etc.—

And after all these preparations and more, it was not enough, and when they reached three days before the giving of the Torah, they still needed to add an additional preparation — in the Three Days of Preparation — to ascend to the highest level, in order to receive the Torah, HaShem’s Torah, with joy and pnimius (inwardness).

From this is understood, and all the more so, how the endeavor and preparation must be in our times to receive the Torah, the same Torah that was given at Mount Sinai.

Yet since our Torah, the Torah of Truth, states that the Holy One, blessed is He only demands that which is in man’s capability (and not beyond his capabilities), He has definitely given every individual all the capabilities and everything necessary so that when the Days of Preparation and the Festival of the Giving of Our Torah arrive, man will fulfill and accomplish all of this

(and do so completely, as is the will of the Giver of the Torah), and what is incumbent upon the individual is merely to bring it from the potential to the actual.

And Scripture has said, “The L - rd will give strength to His people” (and a verse always maintains its simple meaning ), and our Sages, of blessed memory, explained and interpreted that “strength” here refers uniquely to the Torah—meaning, that even before the giving of the Torah, the ability and strength have been granted to receive and fulfill it, and to do so completely.

The Three Days of Preparation and the Festival of the Giving of our Torah indeed come once a year, but there is a smallscale version of this preparation and of the giving of the Torah every day. As is known the explanation of the precise wording of the conclusion of blessing on the Torah — recited in the Morning Blessings each day and likewise when receiving an Aliyah to the Torah — is Nosein HaTorah , Giver of the Torah, in the present tense, meaning, that each day the Torah is given anew, which automatically means that a preparation for this is also necessary, and indeed our Sages have said and instructed, “Every day they should be (as) new in your eyes.”

This is similar to “When you will lead the people out of Egypt”—the holiday of Passover, the Season of our Freedom, wherein the yearly remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt is on the holiday of Passover, and particularly, at its start, and in addition to this there is an obligation to remember the Exodus every day, twice a day (“to include the nights”) —and the yearly remembrance (in the manner of every remembrance in the Torah— “remembered and done” ) is what brings additional vitality and light into the daily remembrance,

Likewise with regard to the yearly (“once a year”) Giving of the Torah and the Receiving of the Torah (and the Days of Preparation) in the third month—and from them a great influx flows and adds vitality and light in the fulfillment of the directive “they shall be (as) new in your eyes”—each and every day, throughout the duration of the day. EM

We aRe the MiRacle

Yoseph Janowski

Given the chaos in the world around us and the anxiety that often infiltrates within, we often find ourselves looking around bewilderedly and asking: “How did we get here?” Perhaps we are taking for granted the simple fact that we are here at all, and that we are standing on relatively solid ground – all things considered.

We are here. We shouldn’t have been. Beyond the efforts of our illustrious haters throughout history, Hamas’ plan for October 7 was to overrun Israel, and have terrorists from Judea and Samaria in the middle of the country join them. Miraculously, G-d distracted them. Their plan was for Hezbollah and Iran to be inspired and wage an all out war on Israel’s borders. Miraculously, G-d put in the mind of the US government to immediately send warships that deterred Hezbollah and others from attacking Israel.

We have witnessed extraordinary miracles. Among them, other countries, including Arab countries, rushed to help Israel defend against Iranian missiles and drones.

And even now, as Israel stands alone, committed to destroying Hamas, we can be optimistic that G-d will help us. In the battle of good versus evil, Israel is teaching the world true morality, as defined by the Torah – the Torah we received over 3,300 years ago, the same Torah that continues to guide us and that we celebrate receiving this month.

On Passover the Jews left Egypt. On Shavuot G-d revealed His presence at Mount Sinai, and gave us His Torah, entrusting us with an historic Divine mission to bring its light into the world. Without even reading too much into things, we can see parallels to current events.

Passover is a time when our enemies were defeated, miraculously, against all odds. The Egyptians were smitten with plagues and the Israelites were set free. When their enemies gave chase, they miraculously drowned in the sea. Now too, as Israel confronts barbaric enemies, we can trust that G-d will continue to protect us and our Holy Land. Despite the sense that many in the world are against us, more are actually with us. Despite the lies and propaganda, and despite painful loss of life, we are winning decisively on the battlefield. Even those we can’t (or won’t) reach, are dying under strange circumstances – a heart attack

here and a helicopter crash there, everywhere we look our enemies are falling apart.

Then, after leaving Egypt, the Jewish nation came to Mount Sinai, which was the purpose of the struggle against slavery and the pinnacle of the Exodus. The main description that characterizes the encampment at Mount Sinai, and which was a prerequisite for the Divine revelation and blessing that took place there, was the extraordinary unity of the people. Today, too, we are witnessing a tremendous increase in Jewish unity. Many Jews, especially Israeli soldiers, are overlooking differences as they coordinate efforts to defend Israel. And many Jews are strengthening their connection to one another, to G-d and His Torah.

This Shavuot, as we commemorate G-d’s revelation at Mount Sinai, His giving us the Torah and the Divine mission it entails to be a light, we can ponder the recent miracles and see them as G-d’s way of helping us achieve this goal and empowering us to stay true to our mission. The battle to eradicate evil and eliminate murderers is not only a security necessity, it is a prime directive of the Torah, a spiritual undertaking that is part and parcel of the mission to be the light.

We look forward to the imminent global redemption and the arrival of Moshiach, when evil will disappear, peace will reign for all humanity, and the Divine light of the Holy Temple will illuminate the entire world. EM

the gift fRoM the deseRt

Yitzchak Ginsburgh

Everyone knows where the Giving of the Torah took place: At Mount Sinai, of course. But where is Mount Sinai?

Nobody is exactly sure. Researchers and archeologists point to a number of different mountains as the Biblical Mount Sinai. In truth, however, it is not important for us to know where precisely the Torah was given.

The Torah itself emphasizes that Mount Sinai did not retain its sanctity after the Torah was given: “When the ram’s horn sounds long, they may ascend the mountain.”

When the thunder and lightning, the fire, the cloud and the fog dissipated, anybody could once again ascend the mountain. According to Jewish law, there is no special sanctity to Mount Sinai after the Giving of the Torah. This is in stark contrast to the Temple Mount, where it is of utmost importance to know the precise location of every detail so as to avoid entering into the holy parameters of the Mount – even today, when there is no Holy Temple on the site.

There are other places where memorials of the significant events that took place there were erected, such as the large stones that Joshua placed at the Gilgal. Not so Mount Sinai – there is nothing there. After the momentous event that took place at the Mount, the desert dust covered it once again and it returned to anonymity.

The desert is a desolate place. It doesn’t belong to settled lands –a location that is outside any place. This is where the Torah inherently belongs. It is a “gift from the desert.”

What this means is that Torah does not belong to a specific location. Location is an example of limits, of physical boundaries. The Torah, however, is above the borders of countries and political entities. It is above the limitations of this world. That is why it is revealed outside the lands settled by humans. Doesn’t the Torah belong to the Land of Israel? Obviously, there is an inherent connection between the Torah and the Land of Israel. There is something about the Torah, however, that is beyond the borders of the Land of Israel. We received the Torah in the desert and then went to apply it in the Land of Israel. The Torah was given to the Nation of Israel, but there is something in

it that belongs to every person in the world as in the words of the sages, “If the Torah had been given in the Land of Israel, they would say to the nations of the world, ‘you have no part in it.’ Therefore it was given in the desert, a desolate place, in order to say, ‘Whoever wants to receive it may come and receive it!”

As the Torah does not belong to a specific place, we too, to a certain extent must transcend limitations to acquire its deepest meaning. To merit receiving the Torah, we must go out into the desert. We need to live with a free soul and a mentality that is not bound to a particular location. True, I live and conduct myself in a particular place –that is my personal mission and this is how life should generally be lived. I feel at home, however, in every place in the world. My fellow Jews throughout the world are my brothers and every human being at all ends of the earth concerns me. There is no place without Torah.

A scientific concept provides a deeper understanding of this idea. Modern physics has discovered the “non-localized

phenomenon,” which designates a situation in which two particles, at two ends of the universe, act in perfect coordination with each other. What this means is that they are communicating at a speed greater than the speed of light, which is the maximum speed at which information can pass. On the one hand, each particle is in a specific place. Simultaneously, however, it is connected with another location altogether in the universe. This phenomenon (discovered but not fully understood by scientists) is a wondrous scientific allegory for the Torah, which is above nature. Actually, each of us is a nonlocal particle. We stand at Mount Sinai, outside any borders, and receive the Torah from G-d. EM

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh is founder and director of the Gal Einai Institute and has written more than forty books exploring topics like psychology, education, medicine, politics, mathematics and relationships, through the prism of Kabbalah and numerology.

oveR youR head: Moods vs values

Yosef Y. Jacobson

There is an enigmatic Talmudic passage explaining a peculiar phrase in the Torah reading of Shvauot, from the portion of Yitro: "They (the Jewish people) stood in the bottom of the (Sinai) mountain."

What is the meaning of the words "in the bottom of the mountain"? The Talmud explains that the Jews were actually standing inside the mountain. "G-d enveloped them with the mountain as though it was an upturned vat, and He said to them: 'If you accept the Torah, fine; if not, this will be your burial place.'"

The event at Sinai is viewed as the marriage ceremony between G-d and the Jewish people. Imagine a groom, who on the day of his wedding, placed his bride under an elevator and declared: "If you marry me, great; if not, the elevator will come down on your head." How enduring can such a relationship be? Couldn't G-d have found a more "romantic" way to convince the "bride" to marry Him?

What is even more puzzling is the fact that according to the biblical narrative, the Jewish people had already expressed their willingness to accept the Torah before this event. Why was it necessary for G-d to coerce them into something they had already agreed upon?

Let us present the explanation offered by one of the greatest spiritual masters of all time, the Baal Shem Tov.

There are days when we are emotionally in touch with our inner idealism, spirituality and G-dliness. At such times we are inspired to live deeply and to love deeply.

But then come the days when we feel estranged from our souls. We are emotionally numb, experiencing ourselves merely as selfcentered and materialistic creatures seeking to satiate nothing more than our momentary cravings. We are simply not in the mood for our higher, refined aspirations. G-d does not appeal to us. At such times of spiritual alienation, we often succumb to mundane and selfish behavior. Since we feel disconnected,

we act as though we are indeed disconnected.

This is a mistake. By G-d forcing the Jewish people to enter into the relationship— even though they had already agreed—He demonstrated to them the truth that their relationship was not based on the fact that they were consciously passionate about it. Instead,

the relationship was inherent and essential to their very chemistry. Man is an innately sacred and Divine creature. "Even when you are not in the mood of me," G-d was intimating, "our relationship is as strong as ever. You can act on it." Yet you may still think, "Fine, I will behave, but let's face it, the relationship is not happening. It is all but dead."

So G-d says “no.” By placing the mountain on their heads at the moment of Revelation, during the most profound moment of intimacy between G-d and his people, G-d was saying that a relationship inspired by the knowledge that this is the truth, though you may not feel it, is a genuine and authentic relationship. It is a real union. Though there

is no passion, when you behave in a moral and sacred fashion knowing that this is who you really are, it is a true bond.

I don’t feel like spending time with my children right now. I do not feel like going to the wedding. I do it anyway. But I feel it is lifeless and devoid of meaning. So the

Torah says: Not at all. It is real, authentic and valuable. What I feel or don’t is never the barometer of whether it is right or wrong.

Never confuse your moods with your values. I may not be in the mood of something, for 1000 different reasons. That does not diminish in the slightest my inner connection to it: it remains my value, my innate desire and commitment.

In the Jewish tradition, the marriage of each man and woman reflects the cosmic marriage between G-d and His people. There are the days when we feel truly grateful for our spouses and experience deep love towards them. At such times we crave to give of ourselves to our spouses and make their lives happier.

But at other times we become cold and apathetic. We just want to do "our own thing" and simply are not in the mood of the relationship. Sometimes, a marriage goes through tough seasons.

In the majority of cases, it would be a sad error to act upon those feelings of detachment. For the Kabbalah teaches that a wife and husband are essentially "two halves of a single soul." At their core, they are one. Thus, when a couple enters into marriage, it needs to recall what G-d reminded us on the day of His marriage: Whether we are in the mood of each other or not, we are married and we are one.

Such a commitment could save many marriages when they encounter rocky times. After all, it saved the marriage between G-d and the Jews. EM

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (YY) Jacobson is one of America’s premier Jewish scholars in Torah and Jewish mysticism. He is a passionate and mesmerizing communicator of Judaism today, culling his ideas from the entire spectrum of Jewish thought and making them relevant to contemporary audiences. Rabbi Jacobson founded and serves as dean of TheYeshiva.net.

Meditation on an eMbRace

The Exodus was a romance, Mount Sinai was a marriage—a marriage of the Children of Israel and the G-d who rescued them from Egypt, of a created being and its Creator, of earth and heaven, body and soul, being and not-being.

Marriage is a story in three parts, each part an eternal moment.

First, two must fall in love.

Not a rational love—no, that won’t do. They must be nuts for one another. Obsessed. They must feel they cannot live without one another, as though their very existence depends on their closeness to one another. They must feel that they are truly one, even as they are apart.

But they are not yet one.

There must be a covenant. A covenant that excludes all others, that says “only you and I exist in this space.” He says to her, “You are sanctified to me”—you are separate from all others, distinct and unique.

That covenant is an intertwining of souls, bound by love, and not easily untied, because it is meant to last forever. But still they are not yet one.

The love is not enough, for each feels a different love. The covenant is not enough, because they remain two beings. They must rise and enter a space that can hold the two of them as one, a space in which there is no other, because there is no otherness, there is only One.

And that is the chuppah, the wedding canopy. Here they are one.

From now on, every moment of the rest of their lives together, they will continue to make two into one, in a constant union of love, covenant and embrace.

The chuppah of the Jewish people was Mount Sinai. The chuppah for each one of us is a mitzvah. Any mitzvah. Because every mitzvah of the Torah carries you into a space beyond all things, a space where there is no otherness, only the One.

Every mitzvah is an embrace, a kiss, and a union of spirits.

An embrace, because as an embrace grasps you from all sides, so the mitzvahs of Torah embrace every facet of your being. Not your heart alone, not your mind alone, but your every limb, your every sinew, and all the

kishkes within you.

Give a few dollars to a homeless veteran so he can spend the night in warm and decent quarters. Your hand gave the dollars. Your entire being worked hard to earn it. You could have bought something else for yourself with that money. So now, all of you is tied up in this mitzvah. Divine light embraces your entire being.

The same occurs when you prepare a royal Shabbat meal. Carpool your kids to a Jewish school. Wrap yourself in a tallit—all of you. Bind the leather straps of tefillin on your arm and head. Munch your matzah on Passover. Feel the hunger of Yom Kippur. Immerse in the joy of learning Torah.

Each is a caress and a hug, each grasping another part of you, until every limb of your body and every facet of your life is held tightly in His embrace, pulling you close in oneness from head to toe, enveloping all your being.

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for his love is better than wine.”

So begins King Solomon’s Song of Songs, a parable of the love between us and our G-d.

What is a kiss? It is when love can no longer be expressed in words of love— because there are no words for such love. It is when lips no longer speak as one speaks to another—because there is no other. And so two lips become one.

“When you read and speak words of Torah,” the Midrash tells, “G-d reads and speaks every word along with you.”1 So that every word of Torah is a kiss. Our lips and His in union.

They are His words, the words He speaks to Himself, the words that speak of what he desires from heaven and earth, of His deepest desire.

They are the words of Jewish law—of what we are meant to do, of how His desire is to be expressed in this world.

Tzvi Freeman

Yet they are our words, the words given to us, in our mouths to expand, explain and apply. And they remain His words. Because in them we and Him are one in soul and spirit, as two minds think as one, experience as one, desire as one, in that intimate union of a kiss.

And there is a union of souls.

In the discovery of the wisdom of His Torah as your mind becomes absorbed in a divine way of thinking, and in the heartfelt focus of that prayer, in the tears that drip down your cheek as you return to Him, in the joy of a mitzvah that bursts out in spontaneous song, there your soul calls to the Soul of All Life, and the two are drawn together to merge as one in perfect union.

That is why a Jew doesn’t just do a mitzvah. A Jew says, “Blessed are You, G-d, our G-d, Majesty of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His mitzvot…”

Just as a man says to his beloved beneath

the chuppah, “Behold, you are sanctified to me with this ring…”

Rabbi Schneur Zalman walked out from his study and heard his wife teaching other women. He heard two words. She said, “Mine says…”—referring to him, her husband, who became hers through marriage.

He leaned against the doorpost in a deep trance, uttering, “With one mitzvah, I became hers. With how many mitzvahs, have I become His!”

At Mount Sinai, we became His, and He became ours.

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, a senior editor at Chabad.org, is the author of Bringing Heaven Down to Earth and more recently Wisdom to Heal the Earth. To subscribe to regular updates of Rabbi Freeman's writing or purchase his books, visit Chabad.org. Follow him on Facebook @RabbiTzviFreeman.

MOSHIACH MUSINGS

People differ physically and mentally. Individual distinctions, however, need not separate and divide. They complement and supplement one another. Moreover, in essence we share a common denominator, as Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi writes in Tanya that the souls are “all of a kind, and all having one Father-therefore all Israelites are called real brothers, by virtue of the source of their souls in the One G-d.” Joining and harmonizing the differing yet complementing aspects in everyone thus leads to a higherultimate-unity and perfection.

The Jewish people at Sinai sensed this ultimate and absolute unity joining them together. In that frame of mind, therefore, “as one man, with one mind,” they jointly desired and anticipated receiving the Torah, and that is when G-d gave it to them.

It is likewise, with the redemption, when “the one preoccupation of the entire world will be solely to know G-d.” All knowledge of G-d derives from the Torah. Moshiach’s ultimate function, therefore, will be to “teach the entire people and instruct them in the way of G-d, and all nations will come to hear him.” He will reveal new insights, novel understandings of the presently hidden, unknown and esoteric teachings of the infinite Torah, allowing people “to attain knowledge of their Creator to the extent of human capacity.” In order to make it possible for the world to partake in these new revelations, the Moshiach era will thus be a time of peace and harmony, with “neither famine nor war, neither envy nor strife.”

We must overcome all differences that may lead to dissension and divisiveness, to become as “one man, with one mind” by concentrating on that which unites us, on the common denominator we all share. Peace and harmony among ourselves is assured to hasten the universal and everlasting peace of the times of Moshiach.

WheRe in the WoRld is Mount sinai?

by Rabbi Dan Rodkin

QIt seems like there are a lot of theories about the location of Mount Sinai. Is there any validity to those theories?For such a significant and revered place why is it's location such a mystery?

Yes, it's true. There are many theories about the location of Mount Sinai, but none of them are even close to conclusive. Why is that? Why have the Jewish sages not preserved a tradition regarding the location of the most monumental event in all of history? Why the ambivalence?

Once the Jewish people received the Torah on Mount Sinai and continued their journey to the Land of Israel, there is just one biblical mention of anyone going back to Mount Sinai.

We read in the Book of Kings how, hundreds of years after the giving of the Torah, Elijah the prophet fled the wicked queen Jezebel and took refuge in a cave on “the mountain of G-d, Horeb,” which is identified as none other than Mount Sinai.

But on closer examination, this incident itself only underscores the question.

The day after Elijah took refuge, the word of G-d came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

After the prophet complained about his lot and the bad deeds of the people, G-d told him to step outside and stand on the mountainside. Elijah did so, and then, in one of the most stirring moments in Scripture, we read:

Behold! the L-rd passes, and a great and strong wind splitting mountains and shattering boulders before the L-rd— but the L-rd was not in the wind.

And after the wind, an earthquake—not in the earthquake was the L-rd.

After the earthquake, fire—not in the fire was the L-rd.

And after the fire, a still small sound.

And as Elijah heard, he wrapped his face in his mantle, and he went out and stood at the entrance to the cave, and behold a voice came to him and [again] said: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

G-d then told him to go back to the people, with instructions on how to deal with them.

Mount Sinai was the site of great drama, but G-d told Elijah that His eternal place is not in great noises and rumbling earthquakes. Rather, He can be found in our quiet, humble day-today actions. His message was clear: “You don’t belong here. Go back to the people and do your work!”

Perhaps the rabbis’ attitude toward Mount

Sinai can best be explained by the following piece of Talmud:

It is not the place that honors the person; rather, the person honors his place, as we found with regard to Mount Sinai, that as long as the Divine Presence rested upon it, the Torah said: “Nor let the flocks nor the herds graze before that mountain.”Once the Divine Presence departed from the mountain, the Torah said: “When the shofar sounds long, they may come up to the mountain” [indicating that the sanctity was not intrinsic to the place, but was due to the Divine Presence resting there].

Mount Sinai itself was not inherently holy. Rather, what was done there gave honor and holiness to Sinai, so once the people received the Torah and moved on, Sinai was no longer holy.

Thus, though Sinai was holy during the giving of the Torah, once it had accomplished its purpose it was void of significance. At Sinai we were given a mission to learn the Torah and uplift and refine the mundane, outside world. Simply hanging around Mount Sinai would defeat the purpose.

The Talmud states that in the time of Moshiach, all of the synagogues of the diaspora will be transported to the Land of Israel.

Commentaries explain that this refers to all the synagogues from throughout the generations. Since the Divine Presence rested upon them, and they were considered holy places, their holiness is never entirely erased, and they will be transported to the Land of Israel.

The Rebbe explains that if this is true for all the synagogues and houses of Torah learning, then it is surely true for Mount Sinai itself, which was in a sense responsible for all the future generations’ learning of Torah and performance of mitzvahs. Thus, in the messianic era, Mount Sinai will regain its holiness and be transported to the Land of Israel. EM

Rabbi Dan Rodkin is the Executive Director of the Greater Boston Jewish Russian Center. You can Ask the Rabbi at rabbi@shaloh.org.

We aRe What We ReMeMbeR

Jonathan Sacks

One reason religion has survived in the modern world despite four centuries of secularization is that it answers the three questions every reflective human being will ask at some time in his or her life: Who am I? Why am I here? How then shall I live?

These cannot be answered by the four great institutions of the modern West: science, technology, the market economy and the liberal democratic state. Science tells us how but not why. Technology gives us power but cannot tell us how to use that power. The market gives us choices but does not tell us which choices to make. The liberal democratic state as a matter of principle holds back from endorsing any particular way of life. The result is that contemporary culture sets before us an almost infinite range of possibilities, but does not tell us who we are, why we are here, and how we should live.

Yet these are fundamental questions. Moses’ first question to G-d in their first encounter at the burning bush was “Who am I?” The plain sense of the verse is that it was a rhetorical question: Who am I to undertake the extraordinary task of leading an entire people to freedom? But beneath the plain sense was a genuine question of identity. Moses had been brought up by an Egyptian princess, the daughter of Pharaoh. When he rescued Jethro’s daughters from the local Midianite shepherds, they went back and told their father, “An Egyptian man delivered us.” Moses looked and spoke like an Egyptian.

He then married Zipporah, one of Jethro’s daughters, and spent decades as a Midianite shepherd. The chronology is not entirely clear but since he was a relatively young man when he went to Midian and was eighty years old when he started leading the Israelites, he spent most of his adult life with his Midianite father-in-law, tending his sheep. So when he asked G-d, “Who am I?” beneath the surface there was a real question. Am I an Egyptian, a Midianite, or a Jew?

By upbringing he was an Egyptian, by experience he was a Midianite. Yet what proved decisive was his ancestry. He was a descendant of Abraham, the child of Amram

and Yocheved. When he asked G-d his second question, “Who are you?” G-d first told him, “I will be what I will be.” But then he gave him a second answer:

Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the G-d of your fathers—the G-d of Abraham, the G-d of Isaac and the G-d of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

This is My name forever, the name you shall call Me from generation to generation."

Ex. 3:15

Here too there is a double sense. On the surface G-d was telling Moses what to tell the Israelites when they asked, “Who sent you to us?” But at a deeper level the Torah is telling us about the nature of identity.

The answer to the question, “Who am I?” is not simply a matter of where I was born, where I spent my childhood or my adult life or of which country I am a citizen. Nor is it answered in terms of what I do for a living, or what are my interests and passions. These things are about where I am and what I am but not who I am.

G-d’s answer – I am the G-d of your fathers –suggests some fundamental propositions. First, identity runs through genealogy. It is a matter of who my parents were, who their parents were and so on. This is not always true. There are adopted children. There are children who make a conscious break from their parents. But for most of us, identity lies in uncovering the story of our ancestors, which, in the case of Jews, given the unparalleled dislocations of Jewish life,

is almost always a tale of journeys, courage, suffering or escapes from suffering, and sheer endurance.

Second, the genealogy itself tells a story. Immediately after telling Moses to tell the people he had been sent by the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, G-d continued:

Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the G-d of your fathers—the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’

Ex. 3:16-17

It was not simply that G-d was the G-d of their ancestors. He was also the G-d who made certain promises: that He would bring them from slavery to freedom, from exile to the Promised Land. The Israelites were part of a narrative extended over time. They were part of an unfinished story, and G-d was about to write the next chapter.

What is more, when G-d told Moses that He was the G-d of the Israelites’ ancestors, He added, “This is My eternal name, this is how I am to be recalled [zichri] from generation to generation.” G-d was here saying that He is beyond time – “This is My eternal name” – but when it comes to human understanding, He lives within time, “from generation to generation.” The way He does this is through the handing on of memory: “This is how I am to be recalled.” Identity is not just a matter of who my parents were. It is also a matter of what they remembered and handed on to me. Personal identity is shaped by individual memory. Group identity is formed by collective memory.

All of this is by way of prelude to a remarkable law in the Torah. It tells us that first-fruits were to be taken to “the place G-d chooses,” i.e. Jerusalem. They were to be handed to the priest, and each was to make the following declaration:

“My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great, powerful and populous nation. The Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labour. Then we cried out to the Lord, the G-d of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our suffering, our harsh labour and our distress. The Lord then brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, with great fearsomeness and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land flowing with milk and honey. I am now bringing the first-fruits of the soil that You, Lord, have given me.”

Deut. 26:5-10

We know this passage because, at least since Second Temple times it has been a central part of the Haggadah, the story we tell at the Seder table. But note that it was originally to be said on bringing first-fruits, which was not on Passover. Usually it was done on Shavuot.

What makes this law remarkable is this: We would expect, when celebrating the soil and its produce, to speak of the G-d of nature. But this text is not about nature. It is about history. It is about a distant ancestor, a “wandering Aramean”, It is the story of our ancestors. It is a narrative explaining why I am here, and why the people to whom I belong is what it is and where it is. There was nothing remotely like this in the ancient world, and there is nothing quite like it today. As Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi said in his classic book Zachor, Jews were the first people to see G-d in history, the first to see an overarching meaning in history, and the first to make memory a religious duty.

That is why Jewish identity has proven to be the most tenacious the world has ever known: the only identity ever sustained by a minority dispersed throughout the world for two thousand years, one that eventually led Jews back to the land and state of Israel, turning Hebrew, the language of the Bible,

into a living speech again after a lapse of many centuries in which it was used only for poetry and prayer. We are what we remember, and the first-fruits declaration was a way of ensuring that Jews would never forget.

In the past few years, a spate of books has appeared in the United States asking whether the American story is still being told, still being taught to children, still framing a story that speaks to all its citizens, reminding successive generations of the battles that had to be fought for there to be a “new birth of freedom”, and the virtues needed for liberty to be sustained. The sense of crisis in each of these works is palpable, and though the authors come from very different positions in the political spectrum, their thesis is roughly the same: If you forget the story, you will lose your identity. There is such a thing as a national equivalent of Alzheimer’s. Who we are depends on what we remember, and in the case of the contemporary West, a failure of collective memory poses a real and present danger to the future of liberty.

Jews have told the story of who we are for longer and more devotedly than any other people on the face of the earth. That is what makes Jewish identity so rich and resonant. In an age in which computer and smartphone memories have grown so fast, from kilobytes to megabytes to gigabytes, while human memories have become so foreshortened, there is an important Jewish message to humanity as a whole. You can’t delegate memory to machines. You have to renew it regularly and teach it to the next generation. Winston Churchill said: “The longer you can look back, the further you can see forward.” Or to put it slightly differently: Those who tell the story of their past have already begun to build their children’s future. EM

Rabbi Dr. Sir Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, was the former Chief Rabbi of the UK and the Commonwealth and a member of the House of Lords. He was a leading academic and respected world expert on Judaism. He was the author of several books and thousands of articles, appeared regularly on television and radio, and spoke at engagements around the world.

All times displayed in this guide are for the Greater Boston Area.

Exodus Magazine Holiday Companion

June 11 – 13, 2024

What is Shavuot?

Shavuot, which translates as “weeks,” celebrates the completion of the seven-week Omer counting period following Passover, and commemorates the day of the receiving of the Torah over 3,300 years ago. According to Jewish tradition, each year the Torah is given anew, and we prepare and celebrate accordingly in order to receive it.

Pre-Holiday

• Shop for the holiday needs

to-do list

• Make plans to hear or read the Ten Commandments

• Get some good Torah study material – available online at shaloh.org/Shavuot

• Make Yizkor plans, light candle in advance

Shavuot Customs

• Celebrate with candle lighting, special holiday feasts and days of rest as on all Jewish holy days

• All night learning on the first night of Shavuot (Thursday night)

Hear the reading of the Ten Commandments on the first day of Shavuot (Friday), preferable in synagogue

East dairy foods – traditional cheese blintzes, quiches, casseroles and more (kids like ice cream)

Yizkor memorial service on the second day of Shavuot (Shabbat/Saturday)

• Some communities read the Book of Ruth, since King David, whose passing occurred on this day, was a descendant of Ruth

Some have the custom to decorate their homes (and synagogues) with flowers and sweet-smelling plants in advance of Shavuot

i Learn more at shaloh.org/Holidays

Holiday Candle Lighting

Holiday candles are lit by women and girls on Tuesday and Wednesday evening.

On the second night of Shavuot (Wednesday evening), make sure to light from a pre-existing flame. Light a 48-hour candle before the onset of the holiday to be used for this purpose.

The blessings for lighting, with instructions, can be found in your prayerbook and some Jewish calendars.

Learn more at shaloh.org/ShabbatCandles

We’re Here to Help. Shaloh House is here to assist with all your Shavuot needs. For assistance in making your Shavuot plans or any other assistance, visit shaloh.org/Shavuot or contact us.

Ten Things The Torah is Compared To

Water. Torah quenches our thirst. Just as a fish cannot live out of the water, so too the Jewish nation, and the world at large, cannot exist without the Torah.

Wine. Torah gladdens the heart, and it becomes better with age.

Oil Torah brings light into the world. And just as with olive oil, the more it is crushed the better it becomes, so too the more you go over any topic in Torah, the better the understanding becomes.

Light. Torah enlightens the person, shines a light regarding what we should do, and brings light into the world.

Milk. Just as milk keeps best in cheap utensils and spoils quickly in silver or golden utensils, so too the Torah remains with humble people and is repelled by the arrogant Honey. Torah is sweet like honey. And just as honey originates from a source that is not kosher (the bee) yet becomes kosher, the Torah can also elevate and purify us even when we are spiritually low. Also, like the bee, the Torah is a source of great sweetness, but sometimes it can sting.

Bread. Torah is food for the soul.

Fire. Torah is mystical and magical, and can be used to fuel your growth.

Bee. Torah can produce sweetness, but it can also sting sometimes. Rain. Torah descends from above. And just as a steady rain can erode even a hard rock, so too diligence in Torah can soften even the hardest heart.

All Night Learning

When:Tuesday night, June 11-the first night of Shavuot

When the actual moment arrived to give the Torah, the Israelites were sleeping. Mystical teachings explain that it was an intentional attempt to connect to the subconscious, transcendent self in preparation for revelation of divine wisdom. Ultimately, it was not the right approach, so to rectify it we spend the entire first night of Shavuot studying Torah. i Download and print some texts to study at shaloh.org/Torah

Yizkor

When: Thursday, June 13

Yizkor is the remembrance prayer for departed loved ones, where we implore G-d to remember the souls of our relatives and friends that have passed on. The main component of Yizkor is our private pledge to give charity following the holiday in honor of the deceased. By giving charity, we are performing a positive physical deed in this world, something that the departed can no longer do, especially if our goods deeds emulate theirs. Yizkor renews and strengthens the connection between us and our loved one, brings merit to the departed souls, and elevates them in their celestial homes.

Children and Shavuot

When G-d was about to give the Torah, He demanded guarantors who would ensure it would be purely preserved and authentically transmitted. The people made a number of suggestions – including their ancestors and their prophets – all of whom were rejected. When they declared, “Our children will be our guarantors,”

Why were the children chosen as the guarantors? There are many reasons given. Perhaps one of them is that children live in the present. They don’t dwell too much on the past, which hardly exists for them, or the future, which seems distant. To succeed in living a well-lived life according to the Torah’s vision, we need to focus the majority of our energy on the here and how – not to get overly obsessed with past regrets or reflections, or drawn too much into future plans. Both are necessary in moderation, but the real gift of life is developing the ability to live in the here and now – which sometimes required the simplicity of children, and the ability to tap into the inner child.

Bring your kids to hear the Ten Commandments in synagogue on the first day of Shavuot (Wednesday, June 12).

i Find great Shavuot content for children at shaloh.org/Kids

One Time

At Sinai, unlike the other experiences in the wilderness, the Israelites experienced an unprecedented level of unity – “as one man, with one heart” as the Sages teach. By virtue of this unity they received the Torah. In a sense, this is the purpose for which the Torah was given, to bring peace to the world – peace between people and within people, peace between materialism and spirituality.

Differences need not separate and divide. They complement and supplement one another. And on the soul level, we are all one, as the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, writes in Tanya, chapter 32. Joining and harmonizing the differing yet complementing aspects in everyone thus leads to a higher-ultimate-unity and perfection.

The Jewish people at Sinai sensed this ultimate and absolute unity joining them together. In that frame of mind, therefore, “as one man, with one mind,” they jointly desired and anticipated receiving the Torah, and that is when G-d gave it to them.

At Sinai, this was achieved temporarily. With the coming of Moshiach, it will become our regular state of being. Humanity will be occupied with attaining spiritual knowledge. By extension, since at the soul level we are all one, we will experience unity, and there will be no war or famine or strife.

We can help make that happen now by focusing on that which unites us, on the common denominator we all share, a Divine source and purpose, and help usher in the peace, prosperity and harmony we all need and crave.

i Learn more at shaloh.org/Moshiach

Shavuot concludes on Thursday, June 13 at 9:15pm.

Bracha for Shabbat Candle Lighting:

Baruch a-ta A-do-nay Elo-hei-nu me-lech ha-o-lam a-sher ki-dee-sha-nu bi-mitz-vo-tav vi-tzi-va-noo li-had-leek ner shel Sha-bbat ko-desh

Bracha for Yom Tov Candle Lighting:

1 Baruch a-ta A-do-nay Elo-hei-nu me-lech ha-o-lam a-sher ki-dee-sha-nu bi-mitz-vo-tav vi-tzi-va-noo li-hadleek ner shel Yom Tov.

2 Bo-ruch a-toh Ado-noi E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ho-olom she-he-che-ya-nu vi-kee-yi-ma-nu vi-hi-gee-an-u liz-man ha-zeh.

SIVAN / TAMUZ SHABBAT & YOM TOV CANDLE LIGHTING

SIVAN

Friday, June 7 – 8:01 pm (Bracha for Shabbat)

Eve of First Day of Shavuot Tuesday, June 11 – 8:03 pm (Yom Tov Brachot 1 & 2)

Eve of Second Day of Shavuot Wednesday, June 12 - 9:14 pm (Yom Tov Brachot 1 & 2)

Friday, June 14 – 8:05 pm (Bracha for Shabbat)

Friday, June 21 – 8:07 pm (Bracha for Shabbat)

Friday, June 28 – 8:07 pm (Bracha for Shabbat)

Friday, July 5 – 8:06 pm (Bracha for Shabbat)

TAMUZ

Friday, July 12 – 8:03 pm (Bracha for Shabbat)

Friday, July 19 – 7:58 pm (Bracha for Shabbat)

Friday, July 26 – 7:52 pm (Bracha for Shabbat)

Friday, August 2 – 7:44 pm (Bracha for Shabbat)