Second Day Of Shavuot

Shavuot. “Z’man Matan Torateinu.” And, given that we see these days as the time when we received the Torah’s laws, (when we heard the ten pronouncements directly from Hashem at Har Sinai)) we would expect Chazal to choose a prophetic section that, in some

In the winter of 2016, I went with our oldest son Shalom to Eretz Yisroel in honor of his bar mitzvah. While there we had the zechus to meet a few of the gedolei Yisroel, including Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, zt”l. It wasn’t easy even getting into Rav Shteinman’s home, as we had to be pulled through the crowds waiting by his door. When

A couple of years ago, we hosted a guest for a Shabbos meal. At the end, we passed around benchers for Birkas Hamazon from our collection of benchers at weddings we attended. One guest looked at his bencher and said, “Hey, this was my wedding bencher!” Oops! We felt bad, as he was recently divorced. Subsequently, we removed any wedding

Shavuos was a time of change and great expectations. Instead of being slaves and subjected to the will of Pharaoh and the Egyptian people, this was going to be the start of something new. God himself—after having executed a miraculous exile from Egypt—had brought the Jewish people to Mount Sinai. With a spectacular presentation, he gave

How much of the Torah did Moshe receive at Har Sinai?

The most popular answers I’ve heard when asking students this question are “Ten Commandments” and “all of the Torah until that point.” The midrash (Shemot Rabbah 47:1) expands it much further: all of Tanakh, Mishna, Gemara and Aggadah and

How much of the Torah did Moshe receive at Har Sinai?

The most popular answers I’ve heard when asking students this question are “Ten Commandments” and “all of the Torah until that point.” The midrash (Shemot Rabbah 47:1) expands it much further: all of Tanakh, Mishna, Gemara and Aggadah and

Shavuot has slowly been creeping up on us as we count the days until we receive the Torah. In sefer Bamidbar, there is a lot of counting! The Jews are counted by different groups and as a whole many times. Rashi points out that the reason the Jews are counted multiple times is because of Hashem’s love for us.

Shavuot is called by three names in the Torah: 1) “chag ha-katzir,” 2) “yom ha-bikkurim,” and 3) “chag Shavuot” (=seven weeks “from when you put the sickle to the grain,” Deut. 16:10).

In our present liturgy, following the text of R. Saadiah (10th cent.), the holiday is referred to as

Ezra’s Admonitioning Enactment

A few weeks ago we read the oscillating narrative found at the beginning of Parshas Bechukosai. The parsha opens, “Im bechukosai teleichu, if you follow in my ways, v’nasati gishmeichem, I will supply you with rain, adequate food, secure dwelling in

My favorite ride every year takes place in the dark.

Usually on a fall Sunday following the chagim, my bike-riding buddies and I (known as the Papa Wheelies) head down to the city, way before the sun rises, to participate in the ride for MS research. And as we exit Grand Central Station and make our way

Preparing for Shavuos

Shavuos is called Zman Matan Toraseinu. Originally, this event occurred in the Hebrew year 2448 (3324 years ago). As we know, Rav Dessler in his Michtav M’Eliyahu explains that time does not flow as a straight line, but rather as a circle. The day of Shavuos,

Through the traditional readings on Shavuot, we experience revelation in multiple forms. In the Torah reading on the first day, we prepare our bodies for a grand revelation, and are shaken at the blasting sounds of shofar, God’s word from the blazing Mount Sinai, and a synesthetic experience of thunder and lightning. The content of