By: Ora Shulman
Very soon, we will be celebrating the holiday of Shavuot, when we commemorate receiving the Torah as a nation. We have a full night dedicated to collaborative Torah learning, usually filled with treats and joyous celebration to make the night-long learning “sweet” and enjoyable.
One Midrash tells that the sweetness of the Torah forged a special connection between the Torah and the Jewish people, and it is because of this that the Torah was given to us as a gift.
We recently attended a number of Chagigot Siddur, at which the Grade 1 students at Associated celebrated their learning this year, and each received a gift of a Siddur, which they can use to talk to Hashem. Now, on Shavuot, we prepare to receive the Torah – a companion piece to the Siddur, through which Hashem talks back to us.
Last week, we finished reading the book of Vayikra, and chanted “Chazak, chazak, v’nit-chazek” – expressing a hope that we should be as strong in our study of the next book of Torah as we were in the last. This Shabbat, immediately before Shavuot, we will begin the book of Bamidbar when we read the weekly parsha. Starting a new book of Torah is an auspicious way to lead in to the day we celebrate receiving the Torah in its entirety, and a good way to remind ourselves that every year, when we celebrate Shavuot, we accept the Torah anew.
And as we approach Shavuot, the question always arises: how do we prepare to receive the Torah? For this momentous occasion – this great gift and responsibility – how do we make ourselves ready to accept it? Studying, such as in our weekly parsha the day before, and in our night of all-night learning, is a part of it: we learn Torah in order to better understand what we are accepting and receiving. But more than that, one way to become ready to receive the Torah on a personal level, is to recreate that special relationship. To ask ourselves to recall a time when we experienced “sweet” learning – a moment of experiential learning that we truly enjoyed, and that will remain in our hearts.
Crafting these memorable experiences is at the heart of what all of the dedicated teachers at Associated do: fostering in our students a love of learning and, by extension, a love of Torah – a readiness and desire to accept the Torah for themselves, year after year.
Chag Sameach.
