Dear Friend,
In a small community like mine (my wife and I co-direct the Chabad center in Munster, Indiana), coordinating a minyan of 10 men for every Shabbat can be a challenge. Despite our best efforts, we often end up with a minyanless service.
Not so for Shavuot.
Beginning a week or so in advance, I will call, e‑mail and text our friends in the community asking them to make an extra effort to attend. Of course, in typical Chabad style, we offer a delicious dairy buffet of cheesecake, blintzes, pasta dishes, and more (and, of course, ice cream with lots of toppings for the kids).
Why all this? Because on Shavuot, as we stand in the synagogue listening to the Ten Commandments read from the Torah, we are actually standing before G‑d, agreeing to become His nation once again. And just like at Mt. Sinai, where every single Jewish soul of all future generations was present, every Jew should also make an effort to attend a Ten Commandments reading at her or his local synagogue.
And, the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—would always emphasize that this applies particularly to children, who are our future and the guarantors that Torah observance will always be a part of our being.
So click here to find a local Ten Commandments reading, and make sure to come and bring a friend.
Let us celebrate the Torah and internalize its messages.
Eliezer Zalmanov,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
