Find Your Enthusiasm by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

by rivki D. rosenwald esq., LMFt, cLc, SDS

OK, so tell me the truth: did you stay up all night learning?

Hey, no pressure.

It seems you can rest easy. It’s sort of a tradition. There are lots of reasons that it’s done.

There’s a medrash that says that the Jews slept the night before getting the Torah and we should rectify that with enthusiasm now! Because, after all, it’s true that if we are excited about something it should be hard to sleep! But, then again, who doesn’t get tired in a dry, hot desert? But we were about to get the Torah! Who could sleep?

Rav Yosef Karo, of Shulchan Orech fame, adds, based on the Zohar, who instituted the staying up to learn practice, that we should be like a helper preparing the bride for the wedding. The receiving of the Torah was our occasion to unite with G-d more formally. So, we should have anticipated it and been up and busy with it.

Shavuot is a springboard event with the goal of starting the relationship with enthusiasm, like jumping off the high dive. But it doesn’t mean you can’t go low dive, or use the edge of the pool, or just step into the water. The idea is to get in.

But now, it’s after Shavuot. What can we do?

It’s not too late. It’s just the beginning.

The holiday informed us that we got

this gift. And we should remember the anniversary of getting it.

Like all anniversaries, it’s a wakeup call to appreciate something that came into our lives.

And who feels worse than a spouse on an anniversary how yucky it feels to be forgotten?!

We didn’t forget! But maybe we just didn’t make a big enough deal.

Even a spouse can try and make it up every day by being invested in the rela-

tionship. (Not that they usually get off the hook so easily.)

We didn’t forget Shavuot. If we didn’t learn through the night or celebrate it the right way, with the right intentions, we can certainly celebrate the right way by investing every day in our most important Relationship.

We can pick any aspect of life that we’ve always wondered about and start to explore it through the Torah.

We can look at the world and its mysteries and ask questions and seek answers.

We can work on being better versions of ourselves.

We can look at the gifts we have and find gratitude

We can look at the challenges we have and find perspective.

What we can’t do is wait around till next year Shavuot and say I’m too tired to learn all night. Because we have a whole year to do it – starting right now!

So let’s get cracking. G-d put a lot of answers into this world. We’ve got lots of questions. And now we have a whole year, not just one night, to find our enthusiasm!

Rivki Rosenwald is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist working with both couples and individuals and is a certified relationship counselor. Rivki is a co-founder and creator of an effective Parent Management of Adolescent Years Program. She can be contacted at 917705-2004 or at rivkirosenwald@gmail.com.