On Shavuot, we celebrate the gift of Torah, the substance of revelation. As Rabbi Rachel Barenblat writes, “Revelation isn’t just the things we learn, or realize, or recognize. It’s how we allow those things to change us.”
According to the Midrash, on Mount Sinai, God’s voice divided into seventy human languages to guarantee that everyone who was there would understand. Regardless of age or background, Torah is meant to reach all of us in a way that speaks to our hearts, minds, bodies and spirits.
This week, as we prepare for revelation, I am particularly grateful for our multi-generational community at Shaare Torah, and the way we are committed to creating meaningful and transformative moments for people in all stages of life. On Wednesday, I was blessed to visit the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore with our Jewish Culture Chavurah. Thursday night, many of us came to Shaare Torah to laugh in good company as standup comics shared their revelations. Tonight, Rabbi Yosef and I will sing Jewish songs from around the world with our Shaare Torah Early Childhood Center families during a multicultural potluck Shabbat dinner on the lawn inspired by the book Chik Chak Shabbat. Tomorrow, Ilyssa Loewentritt will be called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah, rooted in a loving circle of family, friends and community. On Sunday, we will pray together at our minyan, and we will honor our religious school teachers and teen madrichim as we conclude our religious school year. Then, we will close out this week of abundance with a Truck Day in our parking lot.
Life at Shaare Torah is full and vibrant.
How fortunate we are to be in community with one another.
We pray that as we stand at Mount Sinai once again next weekend,
we will each hear the Torah we need for this season in our lives.
May we open our hearts to the voices of one another.
May our relationships and experiences in Jewish community change us.
May we grow and thrive together.
