Sivan 6-7, 5786 / May 21-23, 2026
Shavuot I - Friday
Torah: Exodus 19:1 - 20:23; Numbers 28:26-31
Haftarah: Ezekiel 1:1-28; 3:12
Shavuot II - Saturday
Torah: Deuteronomy 14:22 - 16:17; Numbers 28:26-31
Haftarah: Habakkuk 3:1 - 3:19
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, 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, Sivan 8. Y’hi zikhro barukh – his memory is a blessing.
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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. NO meeting on Monday, May 25. On June 1, we'll be reading and discussing Ramban's Commentary on the Book of Genesis. You can find the material here:
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Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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PRESENT TENSE
"In the third month after the exodus of the Children of Israel from the
land of Egypt, on this very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai."
Exodus 19:1
"It was only necessary to write 'on that day'; what
is the meaning of 'on this very day'? In order that the words of the
Torah should be new to you as if He gave them today." Rashi, citing Talmud
Berachot and Midrash Tanchuma Yashan
Ever sensitive to the meaning of the words, the Rabbis
questioned why the Torah uses present tense rather than past tense.
We should be familiar with at least one answer.
After all, the Rabbis formulated the blessing recited before the public reading
of the Torah in the present tense - "Barukh atah ... notein hatorah"
- "Blessed are You ... the One Who gives the Torah".
Ruth in Boaz's Field - Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1828
But I ask, what do the Rabbis and we really mean by
"new to you as if He gave them today"? At one level, at every
public reading of the Torah, we should consider ourselves to be standing at the
foot of Sinai, receiving the Torah for the very first time. We re-enact
this by standing when we read the Ten Commandments, in Parshat Yitro, which is
also the reading for the first day of Shavuot, and in Parashat Va'etchanan.
At a deeper level, whenever we study Torah, as well as
the Talmud, commentaries, or any other holy text, it not only ought to be
"as if" new, it _is_ new. Every day brings with it new
experiences, knowledge and insights. That means that today's
understanding of a verse or passage is not necessarily what it will be
tomorrow. This is why Ben Bag Bag (Pirkei Avot 5:22) taught: "Turn
it again and again, for everything is in it; contemplate it, grow gray and old
over it, and do not swerve from it, for there is no greater good."
The Torah is not a relic of the past - for on this very
day and every day, God is giving it to us.
Chag sameach v'shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim
הרחמן הוא יברך אותנו כולנו יחד בברכת אחוה, ובברכת אהבה,ובברכת שלום
May the Merciful One bless us, all of us as one, with the blessing of brotherhood, the blessing of love, and the blessing of peace.
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