SHABBAT SHALOM AND THEN NAG SHAVOUT HAMEAGH

SUNSET AT MOUNT SINAI

Shabbat Inspiration

On the holiday of Shavuot, which begins at the conclusion of the Sabbath, we celebrate the great joy of the receiving of the Holy Torah on Mount Sinai; no less do we also commemorate the eternal relationship between God and His Nation that was concretized with the giving of this great gift. Most appropriately, we read the Megillah of Ruth on this holiday which illustrates the essential bond between God and His people.  

Where do we see this in the story of the Moabite princess who converts to Judaism? Ruth refers to Boaz, whom she encounters collecting wheat, as a 'go-ayl', her ‘nearest kinsman.’  The 'go-ayl' in Hebrew, had great significance in Biblical times.  In the Book of Ruth, Boaz is a 'go-ayl' because he is meant to rescue Ruth through a levirate marriage.  In Leviticus (25:25) the word 'go-ayl' is used to refer to a relative who comes to bail out his kinsman from debt, saying “His redeemer closest to him shall come. Once again, the redeemer of a person is his closest relative. God is also referred to as a Redeemer, as in the “Redeemer of Israel” (Isaiah 49:7). 

By referring to God as our redeemer, we are saying that He is even closer to us than any of our closest relations.  In this way, the Book of Ruth reinforces the God-Nation relationship that was bonded at the foot of Sinai, commemorated on the holiday of Shavuot.

TORAH AT THE KOTEL

Tomorrow night we celebrate the Holiday of Shavuot when God gave the Torah on Mount Sinai. In our verse, the Torah is referred to as a "morashah" - a heritage. But our Sages find a hint to a similar word in Hebrew - "me-orasah" which means "betrothed." We learn that the giving of the Torah created a special, unbreakable bond of marriage between God and Israel. In honor of the Sabbath and festival...

We Wish you a Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach / חג שמח!