Shavuot 1
Shavuot 2
Additional reading: Book of Ruth
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This d'var torah is offered in memory of my beloved father, Martin Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Saturday, May 27 (Sivan 7). Y’hi zikhro barukh – his memory is a blessing.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my beloved grandfather, Jacob Slome, whose yahrzeit falls on Sunday, May 28 (Sivan 8). Y’hi zikhro barukh – his memory is a blessing
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.
Monday is Memorial Day. Don't forget to raise Old Glory and remember those who died in service to us.
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Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live.
We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov.
On May 23, we'll be at BT Shabbat 77b, page 158 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 - "...אמר רב יהודה אמר רב כל מה שברא" - "R. Juda in the name of Rab said...”
Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at:
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria:
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents
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Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at:
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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FROM OUR ANCESTORS TO OUR DESCENDANTS
The holiday of Shavuot is often called Chag Matan Torah, the Festival of the Giving of the Torah. I have some difficulty with that. If one receives a gift, one is under no obligation to use it, or even to keep it. How often have you stashed that gift sweater in a closet, taking it out only when you are likely to see the giver? How often have you taken a gift back to the store where it was purchased, in order to get what you really wanted? We all accept this practice - that's why the stores put gift vouchers in the box. Many of us do that with the Torah, too! We trot it out, in a sense, for the High Holy Days and our children's b'nai mitzvah, which are often the only times some of us go to synagogue services. The rest of the time, we leave it in the closet, with the mothballs. The Torah should not be treated in that way.
‘The Ten Commandments’ (Providence Lithograph Company, 1907)
Our Rabbis understood that little bit of human nature. That is why a better name for Shavuot would be Chag Kabbalat Torah - the Festival of the Acceptance of the Torah. The midrash teaches that, not only did the Israelites accept the Torah, they affirmatively sought it ought! And God did not want to give it to them! According to Song of Songs Rabbah, God said to them, "Before I give you My Torah, you must provide sureties - a guarantee that you will keep the Torah." The Israelites proposed in their turn their ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but each was rejected by God as insufficient. They proposed all of their prophets, but God said they were not acceptable either. Then the Israelites said, "Let our children be our sureties." And God replied, "Verily, those are good sureties; for their sake will I give you My Torah."
Our ancestors wanted the Torah so much that they promised that they, and we, and our descendants, would keep it. And Torah observance has kept us intact as a people for a hundred generations. If the Torah is constantly being given to us, as implied in the Blessing Before the Torah Reading ("notein hatorah" - the One Who gives the Torah), then we are constantly accepting it. And God is giving it to us only because our children are our sureties. For the sake of our children, and our descendants, "na'aseh v'nishma" - we should do it, and we should listen to it!
Chag Shavuot Sameach! Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
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