Vulnerable Mountain Climbers
Has the economic news got you down? Are your personal finances making it hard for you to sleep at night? Are you worried about the future?
This coming week is the special holiday of Shavuot, the celebration of the giving of the Torah. It can be quite difficult to celebrate when you are feeling down. When you are worried about the future it is hard to be happy now. Where can we turn for some good news, where can we find some peace of mind during these trying times? Is there anywhere we can escape to?
When G-d gave us the Torah, He chose to give it to us in a wilderness. It was certainly easier then finding a ballroom with seating for 3,000,000. Jokes aside, why would G-d choose such a G-d forsaken place (pun intended)? Why not bring the Jewish people to the land of Israel and give it to them there?
There are many answers given to this question giving us many perspectives and lessons. An answer with timely relevance is that in the wilderness we had nothing. We were without a homeland, we had no permanent shelter, we did not even have a natural food supply, and we had to rely on a daily miracle of Manna to survive. It was under these conditions that G-d gave us the Torah. When we were most vulnerable we received the Torah. This teaches us many relevant lessons: 1) Being most vulnerable can be the greatest catalyst for change and growth. 2) Even when we are most vulnerable we always have the Torah. 3) When we are most vulnerable the Torah is our mountain to lean on.
What is the Torah? The Torah is G-d’s story, the story of history, where we come from and where we are going.
Just imagine walking out of Egypt with millions of your family members and closest friends, and marching into the great Sinai wilderness, with limited food and limited water. Living in tents and not really knowing where you were going or what the future held for you. No stock portfolio, no permanent roof over your head, and a very hostile environment.
You have just narrowly escaped total annihilation by miraculously crossing the sea. Your survival is precarious at best.
Your eyes are closed and you are not feeling particularly good, you are worried about your future and the future of your family. You hear loud thunder and lightning and as you open your eyes you are standing at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses is climbing the mountain and G-d begins to communicate, and He says, “Have no fear, you are not your stock portfolio, you are not your home, I am your G-d and you are my people that is who you are and we have a bright future together. Don’t get distracted and allow other things to become who you are, don’t worship them they are not you”.
This has carried us for many years and through the most difficult of times. This is the message for us in our time as well.
Sometimes we need to go out to the wilderness to be able to hear that message. When we are surrounded by so many things that are important but don’t really define us it can be hard to focus and hear the message.
Every day we need to take some time and go out into the wilderness and let go of all the things that aren’t really who we are and listen to G-d’s voice.
Everyday we have the opportunity to open the Torah and reconnect to the timeless message emanating from our own Mount Sinai.
This Shavuot let us all take some time and escape to a place within our souls that deeply remembers standing at the foot of that mountain. Let us replay that scene in our minds and reconnect with those comforting, empowering and enriching words G-d shared with us then and now.
Let’s do it together this coming Wednesday. Join us for the reading of those awesome words as we read them from the Torah.
See you at Sinai.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Zalman Marcus