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The Gifts of Torah
This month we virtually stumble upon the poignant but lesser known holiday of Shavuot. The origins of Shavuot are agricultural. It is the festival outlined in the Torah to celebrate the "first fruits" of the spring harvest. Over time, however, we have endowed it with historical meaning as well: on Shavuot we imagine ourselves standing at Sinai, receiving the Torah as if for the first time.
Shavuot is often seen as the end of the journey that began on Pesach. Pesach puts us back in the shoes of our enslaved ancestors. We leave Egypt in haste, wander in the desert, counting the days (as we have been counting the Omer) until we reach that pivotal moment of receiving Torah. On Shavuot we experience joy and awe and wonder, standing at Sinai with the Israelites to hear (actually the Torah says "see") the voice of God transmit teachings that will sustain us and our future generations. What a journey we are privileged to make each spring! We move from the depths of slavery to the heights of Sinai.
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