A Sweet Time of Year
Dear Yoela,
This week, we read Parashat Bamidbar and embark on the fourth book of the Torah (also called Bamidbar, meaning "In the Wilderness"). This is also the Shabbat before Shavuot, the ancient harvest festival that ultimately came to be referred to in our prayer liturgy as "z'man matan torateinu," "the time of the giving of our Torah. Our tradition derives a lot of meaning from the juxtaposition of these two ideas: wilderness (midbar) and Torah!
One famous midrash, from Mekhilta De-Rabbi Yishmael (Tractate Bachodesh 1:18) states:
"The Torah was given publicly and in an ownerless place. If the Torah had been given in Eretz Yisrael, people could say, 'The nations of the world have no share in it.' That’s why it was given in the midbar, publicly and in an ownerless place. So that anyone who wants to come and accept the Torah can come and accept it!"
In other words, because no one group "owns" the midbar, the giving of the Torah in the wilderness means that it is meant for and available to everyone.
Another beautiful drash can be found in the Babylonian Talmud, Eruvin 54a, where Rabbi Matna is cited as saying:
"If a person makes himself humble like this wilderness, which is open to all and upon which everyone treads, his Torah study will endure and be given to him as a gift [mattana]. And if not, his Torah study will not endure."
Just as the desert is humble enough to let people walk upon it, so too must we be humble, in order that our Torah will "stick."
Reading both of these midrashim, it's clear that our tradition urges us towards a posture of humility. When we learn Torah, we do so knowing that we are not the sole purveyors of knowledge, nor do we have a monopoly on the truth or know everything there is to know. In addition, it's also clear that our tradition understands "Torah" quite expansively. Torah means all sorts of learning: not only the revelation Moses experienced on Mount Sinai, but also the learning that we do in the world when we learn from and with other people.
In this spirit, Kavana's Shavuot event this coming Tuesday evening will feature a range of teachers -- both rabbis and community members -- and a range of modalities -- including text study, discussion, singing. Of course, there will also be delicious desserts to share! We'd love to have you join us in this celebration of learning: please click here to register.
Finally, in our academic calendar rhythm, Shavuot also happens to correspond quite well to the end of the school year and to graduation season! This week, as we prepare for Shavuot and as all of Kavana's kids/family education programs wrap up for this year, it feels like a great opportunity for me to pause to thank the many teachers who have taught our children and families, including staff members Maxine Alloway, Liv Feldman, Jack Hogan, Rebecca Mather, Rachel Nagorsky, Sophia Nappa, Anaelle Oiknine, Noah Segal, Michael Taylor-Judd, Lon-Mari Walton, Morgan Weidner, Danial Zelinger, and Yoela Zimberoff. In addition, I also want to recognize our Director of Education, Rachel ("RLO") Osias, who has done a beautiful job of supervising this team and making it all happen! If you're interested in enrolling for the coming academic year, it's not too early to start exploring our full array of kids/family education programs (Tinker Gan, Prep & Practice, Moadon Yeladim, Havdalah Club, Middle School Program, High School Program) -- click here to check out the offerings, or reach out to RLO with any questions, and know that registration for 2024-25 will go live over the summer!
For now, I'll conclude for now with one of my favorite prayers -- "V'ha'arev na" -- which is part of the daily blessing for the study of Torah. It says:
May the words of Torah, Adonai our God, be sweet in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people, so that we, our children, and all the children of the House of Israel may come to love You and to study Your Torah on its own merit.
Amen, Shabbat Shalom, and Chag Shavuot Sameach (the holiday is this coming Tuesday evening - Thursday evening),
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
