There is no way in the world to do justice To All the portions we read this Holy Weekend.
BUT - In a few words - let me remember to you the Shavuos of my youth.
A bunch of us kids and teenagers would always stay up and study Talmud all night.
But at Midnight we would go out and see the sky open -
as it did for the Jewish People when the 10 Commandments were given.
What did the Israelites see - and what did we kids see - and what will YOU see?
Was the Almighty visible sitting on his throne (as it were)? Will we see that again?
Rabbi Yaskil uses the Rebbe Nachman approach to explain:
FIRE came out from the throne, to CLEANSE THE WORLD,
but the ALMIGHTY sat ABOVE it all and
sent messages of Mercy and Kindness - that we all need to learn from.
What do we need to see? THE STRENGTH OF SINAI AS TRANSMITTED TO ISRAEL
AND
MAYBE the mercy and kindness of G-d so we can learn from it!
Maybe see G-d's glory and gifts of life - instead of complaining that life is NOT PERFECT
So we won't give excuses for not doing mitzvot - like
"That happened to him, so I don't need to like G d".
Love G-d and one another this Shavuote
Look out for all the signs of the Almighty,
Study and receive the Torah this Saturday night thru Sunday AM!
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Andy Eichenholz