Nasso-Shavuot
Dear Friend,
On Shavuot we celebrate the anniversary of our nation’s “marriage” to G‑d. It wasn’t until we received the Torah at Mt. Sinai that we officially became His nation, a people with a divine moral and religious code.
The Talmud tells of a certain Rabbi Yosef who was fond of saying: “If not for this day [the holiday of Shavuot], how many Yosefs are there in the street?” Meaning, if not for the Torah, I am no different than any average Joe. Through studying and living the Torah, we can lift ourselves up to His reality and bring Him into our world. In chassidic parlance, “hugging G‑d.”
And what better way to celebrate our anniversary than by joining together with our fellow Jews—adults and children—to listen to the Ten Commandments read from the Torah for the 3,326th time. This Shavuot, come give G‑d an anniversary hug (and enjoy some delicious dairy afterwards), at a Chabad center near you.
Eliezer Zalmanov,
Responder for Ask the Rabbi @ Chabad.org
Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. The Ten Commandments are read in synagogues, just as they were in the desert on Mt. Sinai over 3,300 years ago.
The Torah was given more than 3,300 years ago. Every year on the holiday of Shavuot we renew our acceptance of G‑d’s gift, and G‑d “re-gives” the Torah. Learn how to celebrate this special holiday . . .
Shavuot is the only holiday when dairy foods are traditionally on the menu. There are many reasons for this delicious custom…
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The world is a place of constant change and unrest.
Each point in time is distinct from the point before and the point after.
Each point in space is its own world, with its own conditions and state of being.
It is a world of fragments, a perpetual rush of traffic and noise.
Look at your own life: You do so ...
