In just a few days, we celebrate receiving the Torah on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. It may not always feel like we receive the gifts that we want and “deserve” or even have what to offer others or ourselves. Then, what did we receive that fateful day over 3,000 years ago? What are the gifts you celebrate this Shavuot?
Did It Really Happen?
Our brothers and sisters in Israel are on the brink of war. Perhaps, they are past that point, though I genuinely hope not! My prayers go out to all Israelis and Palestinians living in the Middle East and to all those affected by the fighting.
It must be a terrible feeling! To live life with the reality of terror, humiliation, bloodshed, and all that is war for the entirety of one’s life. For generations! I cannot even imagine!
The family wounds between the sons and daughters of Isaac and Ishmael run deep and millennia long. I will not pretend the reasons are simple. What are they fighting for? Some say it is based on the words written in the Bible, the Torah received on Shavuot.
But did it really happen? And does it really matter?
The “Truth”
Scholars debate the historical truths of the Bible. With academic tools such as literary analysis, carbon dating, and archaeology, Biblical scholars have identified with a fair amount of unanimity when and where books from the Bible were written, in which languages, and by whom and for what audiences?
Some ask, “Does it matter?” Yes… it can! When attending Church services with Christian friends over the years, I often enough heard gospel stories speak of “the Jews” and “their” wrongdoing for opposing Jesus and murdering who became Christ. It has grated my ears! And pains my heart to know how much Jewish blood was spilled by this understanding.
But it is incorrect! And according to scholars, it is a mistranslation of the Greek word for a “Judean”. The New Testament is in part a story of intra-family strife between the Judean kingdom and remnants of the northern Israelite kingdom. Just as the Book of Genesis is a story of family conflict marred by traumas which we see reverberations of today! Literally, as we speak!
Accurate translations can really matter! Yet, can scholars identify which “only” son of Abraham, which “favorite” son of his, God commands to take atop Mount Moriah and through whom to establish the Divine covenant? No! This question is being asked in the streets and skies above Israel as we speak. But there is no answer!
When it comes to the Bible—and to religion or spirituality of any kind—are the tools of scholarship enough? While academia can teach shards of historical and scientific truths, can scholarship teach us the Truth? This is what we receive on Shavuot. The same revelation you and I can still receive if we “have ears to hear”.
A Love Letter
Just this past year, I have come to see the Hebrew Bible as a love letter between God and each one of us. Torah is a living reflection of the relationship, intimacy, and eternal love shared between the Divine and humanity from its very beginnings of creation.
It teaches us about the importance of love and feeling loved and how to establish a safe and intimate relationship with the Divine and each other alike.
In the Bible‘s pages, we see the joys and challenge of vulnerability and intimacy. We experience how we and our Divine partner stumble on our way, misunderstand one another, get caught by our emotions, fall flat on our faces, and after making one mistake after the next find our way back through comforting our beloved and easing each other’s pain.
The Voice in the Desert
Each sabbath before Shavuot, Jews in synagogues across the world read from Parashat Bamidbar (“In the Desert”), the opening chapters of the Book of Numbers (1:1 – 4:20). The reading begins with the words, “And All That Is-Was-Will Be spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai” (Numbers 1:1). This is no accident!
There are times in our life when it feels like we are just travelling in circles from one dessert mirage to the next. We feel the pains of our life drilling through us like the desert sun, thinking little of ourselves still as slaves, and make demands on each other and the world wagging our finger at whomever might listen.
Like our ancient Israelite ancestors, we wander endlessly in hunger and thirst. We forget the gifts we are given, the cloud of shade during the day and the pillar of fire to keep us safe and warm at night.
We can sometimes forget the voice of the Divine that calls out to us which is always there, even in moments when we feel most deserted. “I am yours. I don’t want you to be—or ever feel like—a slave. I want you home safe and sound. With me!” (cf. Exodus 29:46; Leviticus 25:38; etc.).
Betrothed to God
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch (1880 – 1950), the sixth Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch, comments on the opening sentence of Sefer Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers:
It is customary that on the Shabbat before a wedding, the bridegroom is called to the Torah. Shavuot, the festival which coincides with the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, represents the marriage of G‑d and Israel; this is why the Torah portion of Bamidbar (“in the desert”) is usually read on the Shabbat before Shavuot. (https://w2.chabad.org/media/pdf/91027.pdf)
When we are in our darkest hour, feeling like we are just beginning our desert journey, the Divine makes a bid for connection, and like a nervous groom to be, God prepares for the commitment of His entire life.
On the night of Shavuot, God proposes marriage to each one of us, offering the Torah and Her eternal love as our engagement gift.
An Instructional Manual
Please don’t mistake it. Having God as our partner is a huge pain in our ass! As we are for God! God makes for a terrible spouse! Especially at first! For real! Just open the Bible and read! It is all there!
While God in the Hebrew Bible is loving, caring, loyal, and forgiving, She is also cruel, vindictive, rageful, and jealous.
We are no different. Created in the Divine image, we also bear the perfection and faults of the Divine. The Hebrew Bible is this very story. It is our very story!
The Torah is our personal instructional manual that we and the Divine gift to one another to help each other grow in vulnerability, intimacy, and wisdom. Even God needs our instructional manual! What a true revelation!
Seeking Home
There is a tradition to read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot, but God is barely mentioned in the story, and there are no passages about the Exodus or receiving the Torah at Sinai. So, why do we read the story of Ruth on Shavuot?
The Book of Ruth is a love story. It is a beautiful and touching story of two woman who care for each other deeply and are unafraid to show one another their caring. The Book of Ruth is the love story between Naomi and Ruth, a grieving mother and her recently widowed daughter in law following their mutual loss of Elimelech.
It is the story of our homecoming and finding our ready place in the world, if only felt as an outer corner of a barren field during famine and lean times. “I must seek a home for you, where you may be happy” (Ruth 3:1; JPS).
What is revealed on Shavuot is that home is where we make room for intimacy with others and their happiness. Home is where we offer our shelter and protection to others, for their sake and ours. This is not easy. Too many of us have experienced hurts and disappointments which may harden our hearts and close our bodies to others, and even ourselves.
“You” are my Home, and I am “Yours”
Stricken by grief and heartache, Naomi tells Ruth to return from Judah to her family in Moab. Despite what Naomi needs, she pushes Ruth away. Pain can do that! So can we! Yet, Ruth clung to Naomi and showed her great tenderness and commitment.
Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. (Ruth 1:16-17; JPS)
Centuries after the Divine revelation on Sinai, Ruth exposes herself and completely reveals all of herself to Naomi. Ruth reveals the same vulnerability and commitment revealed by God to the Israelites in the desert. “Your home shall be my home; my home shall be your home.”
Like the revelation we experience on Shavuot, Truth always calls us home. The voice of the Divine always calls out to us, “I am Yours! And You are mine.” Can we hear it? Can you hear it? “I shall be Your home, and You shall be my home. Take refuge in me, as I take refuge in You.”
The great joy of Shavuot is hearing these words too and offering them to others. “There is no one to redeem but you, and I come after you” (Ruth 4:4; JPS). Ruth heard these words. She really heard them! And received them completely! As rockets fly overhead and blood spill in the streets, may we also hear these Divine words! And offer them to others!
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Adam Fogel
www.mindfuljudaism.com