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The Two Sinais - Part 2: Part 2: The Desert of Sinai
You may already know that the giving of the Torah -- which we celebrate on the holiday of Shavuot -- took place at Sinai. But what is Sinai? The Torah speaks of a wilderness called Sinai as well as a mountain by the same name. What is the difference between the desert and the mountain? And how does that shape our understanding of what happened there years ago?
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Rabbi Mendel Kaplan is the Spiritual Leader and Executive Director of Chabad Flamingo in Thornhill, Ontario, serving one of Canada’s most dynamic Jewish communities. He also serves as Chaplain of the York Regional Police Service. He is an active member of Toronto’s Vaad HaRabbanim (Council of Orthodox Rabbis), and a voting member of the COR Kashruth Council of Canada’s executive rabbinical board. Rabbi Kaplan is featured regularly on many local television and radio shows. He is a sought after speaker, with hundreds of lectures on Chabad.org. He and his wife, Faygie, are blessed with eight children. Artistically endowed, the rabbi enjoys drawing, sketching and creating charcoal portraits.
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Y Durante
Royersford, Pa
May 21, 2010
The two Sinais
wonderful lecture for those of us that feel alone and challenged. Our job is to represent the will of G-d in desert places.
Thank you
Reply
Maria Martinez
Monte Vista, Colorado
May 21, 2010
The Two Sinai's Part 2 I enjoyed the lecture very much. I learned many knew things. Thank you very much! Reply
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Pepperell, MA
May 13, 2010
Midbar
What about the etymology of "midbar" - "bespoken" - from the shoresh d-b-r?
Thank you for the wonderful lectures.
Reply
Anonymous
Huntington Beach, Ca
May 11, 2010
to George I'm pretty sure it's that there's the actual physical Sinai and then the spiritual Sinai within every Jew. Reply
Anonymous
Murrieta, CA
May 6, 2010
Two Sinais
What is the second Sinai?
George
Reply
I spent some time working on a moshav near by the Dead Sea and to me the desert and sea is a very Holy Place, by the nature of the desert it is unchanging except for small parts and it is (or was) much the same as it would have been for hundreds or thousands of years, unchanged by man, a place where the heaven and earth meet and I felt the presence of the eternal I AM more than anywhere. Far from deserted it felt very alive in spirit, I was the healthiest and fittest I have ever been, it is the place I would rather be more than anywhere else in the world. I only spent a few hours in Jerusalem but the feeling of tension and conflict and the history of all the blood that has been shed there put me off going back before I left Israel as I did not want to spoil the experience. It makes perfect sense to me that Moses received the Torah in the desert to give to the people before they entered Israel.
Thank you so much for this amazing and informative interactive multimedia.