Dear Congregational Family,
As many of you know, Parshat Bhar was the portion of my Bar Mitzvah in 1973. Being a leap year, the second of this week's double Parsha, Bchukotai, was read a week later.
The two portions are unified in the following way. Bhar begins "God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai as follows." Bchukotai concludes, "These are the commandments that God gave Moses for the Israelite people on Mount Sinai."
The repetition of "Har Sinai - Mount Sinai" unites the double Parsha and teaches us that Torah is much more than nice or interesting literature. While Jewish theologians throughout history have debated the nature of how Torah came to be, they agree that Torah was divinely revealed or inspired. Thus, every word is infused with the presence of the divine. As Jews, our challenge is to grapple with the Torah's ideas and to find the presence of God in its words and in our lives.
Perhaps it is no accident that the third book of the Torah concludes with the words "Mount Sinai." In two weeks, we will celebrate the Festival of Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of Torah. We can perceive the expression "On Mount Sinai" as being more than a geographical place. It refers to the Torah's origins as being from the divine.
Given today's health realities, our shul continues to be closed to the public. Shavuot officially begins on Thursday night, May 28, for two days. For the Beth Emeth community, we will commemorate Yizkor on Zoom Erev Shavuot, Thursday May 28, at 9:30AM.
On Wednesday May 27, the entire clergy team will provide pre - recorded topics on the Beth Emeth Facebook page, in lieu of the night time vigil called, Tikun Leil Shavuot. The topics for your private study will center around the giving of Torah, the book of Ruth, the special Shavuot poem called Akdamut, Hallel, and the Torah reading.
The words "Mount Sinai" already appear this Shabbat. Let's get ready.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison
