|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By: Chaya Sora Jungreis-Gertzulin
There are some childhood memories that one never forgets. Memories that remain etched in your heart and soul. Memories that even years later can be seen in your mind’s eye. For me, one such memory is of a special Shavuos.
I grew up in North Woodmere, where my parents were the Rabbi and Rebbetzin of Ohr Torah, at the time the only Orthodox shul in the area. They settled there with the dream of bringing Yiddishkeit and Jewish life to the community. Their home had an “open door policy”, and so many were drawn in by the warm and inviting atmosphere.
Sharon was one of the many who found inspiration in the Rabbi’s and Rebbetzin’s home.
It was spring break. Sharon came home from college, only to hear that her beloved grandmother, who was so much a part of her life, was diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis wasn’t good. The doctors didn’t have much hope.
Sharon turned to my parents for support during that difficult time.
Pesach was approaching. My mother a”h suggested that Sharon, together with her grandmother, Mrs. Block, take on the mitzvah of counting Sefira, as a z’chus, a merit.
Sharon and Mrs. Block began to count. One week, two weeks, three weeks… never missing a night. Grandmother and granddaughter counting together. Five weeks, six weeks, defying the doctors’ prediction. A miracle. Seven complete weeks. Forty-nine days. And then it was Shavuos, the count was complete.
Shavuos day. After shul, my father zt”l lovingly wrapped the holy sefer Torah in a taalis. Together with my mother, members of the shul and their families, we all marched down Hungry Harbor Road, from the shul towards Sharon’s home.
My father brought the Torah into the living room where Mrs. Block was resting on a hospital bed. Even though she was weak and ailing, she gathered her strength and cried out together with my parents “na’aseh v’nishmah – I will do and I will listen”, the very same pledge our ancestors recited over three thousand years ago at Har Sinai.
Na’aseh v’nishmah. A pledge we continue to say today.
The next day, Mrs. Block’s neshamah ascended to the heavens and returned to its Creator, taking with it the mitzvah of counting Sefira, and declaring na’aseh v’nishmah.
“With our young and our elders we will go… with our sons and our daughters…” (Shemos 10:9) Moshe’s words to Pharaoh come to mind as I recall the story of Sharon and her grandmother. “With our young and with our elders…” From the ancient civilization of Egypt, to the modern-day suburb of North Woodmere, young and old together, we turn to HaShem.
Shavuos night was always special in my parents’ home. My father would lead a Torah study learning with members of the shul seated around our dining room table.
At midnight, my mother would take us children out to the back porch. She would tell us that at that very moment, the heavens were opening up. HaShem is waiting for us to proclaim “na’aseh v’nishmah” just as the Jewish nation did at Sinai.
My mother told us how our ancestors pledged their children as the guarantors of the Torah, and that now, we were the guarantors of our generation. HaShem was waiting to hear the powerful words of “na’aseh v’nishmah” from us. It was up to us to continue on with the unbroken chain from Sinai.
As I looked upward, gazing into the night sky, I was certain that I saw the heavens open.
“The giving of the Torah happened at one specific time. But the receiving of the Torah happens all the time, in every generation.” (Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, the first Ger Rebbe; 1799-1866)
Shavuos isn’t merely an historical event, commemorating the past. It marks a continuous commitment for each generation to reaffirm its acceptance of HaShem’s Torah. That no matter what comes our way, we stand ready to proclaim “na’aseh v’nishmah”. While the word “Shavuos” means “weeks”, representing the seven weeks between Pesach and the receiving of the Torah, it also alludes to the word “shevuah”, meaning a vow, a promise, for it is on Shavuos that we renew the vow to make Torah the centrality of our lives. In return, HaShem vows His eternal devotion to us, and keeps His promise to us as His chosen people.
HaShem gifted the Torah to us, but unlike other gifts, it comes with the responsibility of “living the gift” — keeping mitzvos, doing good deeds and being an ohr lagoyim, a light unto the nations of the world.
We learn about our nation standing at Sinai and receiving the Torah in Parshas Yisro.
“In the third month from the Exodus of Bnei Yisroel from Egypt, on this day, they arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai” (Shemos 19:1)
“Bayom hazeh, on this day”. Rashi questions why the words “bayom hazeh – on this day” are used. Wouldn’t it have been more correct for the Torah to state “bayom hahu – on that day”?
Rashi explains that the receiving of the Torah should be chadoshim – fresh and new, k’ilu hayom nesanam – as if it was given to us each and every day.
Bnei Yisroel arrived to Sinai on a spiritual high in anticipation of receiving the Torah. The Chumash tells us “on this day…” Don’t lose the inspiration, the excitement of something new. Like the first time we put on a special outfit, drive a new car, or visit an exotic new country – we get a thrill. So too, when it comes to Torah, that special feeling of chadash – newness, should remain with us always.
Bayom hazeh. On this day. Every day.
Na’aseh v’nishmah. We will do, we will listen, we will accept. Words not just for Shavuos, but words for each and every day. Words of the soul.
Wishing you an inspiring and joyous Shavuos and Shabbat Shalom!
Chaya Sora
Chaya Sora can be reached at [email protected]
This article was written L’zecher Nishmas / In Memory Of HaRav Meshulem ben HaRav Osher Anshil HaLevi, zt”l and Rebbetzin Esther bas HaRav Avraham HaLevi, zt”l
