Next week our community will gather together virtually to study and learn as we celebrate Shavuot. As I prepare for the holiday this year I have been thinking about themes through my children’s eyes (we spend a lot of time together these days!). Our favorite PJ Library book right now is Sadie and the Big Mountain, written by Rabbi Jamie Korngold. In this sweet book Sadie and her classmates prepare all week to hike up “Mt. Sinai.” They learn about the Ten Commandments that Moses received on Mt. Sinai, they prepare blintzes, and they create hiking sticks to help them traverse the trail.
All week Sadie’s anxiety rises because she does not like hiking, and she insists she will not be able to reach the top of the mountain. At the end of the story, Rabbi Jamie explains to Sadie that God did not pick the biggest mountain in the area from which to give the Ten Commandments to Moses; rather, God picked a small mountain in order to teach the Jewish community that each and every one of us can reach God and find ourselves at the top of Mt. Sinai.
The lesson in this story is one that I hope will inspire you to join us in study and prayer throughout Shavuot. Jewish learning may sometimes feel like an anxiety-producing endeavor. Perhaps you have not opened up a Tanakh since your time in religious school. Maybe the books of the Talmud, or the study of Kabbalah, sound very interesting, but also quite intimidating. Jewish learning often comes with baggage, but it doesn’t have too. Shavuot is the holiday for new and seasoned learners; it is the holiday for Talmud scholars and beginner Hebrew students. The learning that is offered is intentionally accessible to whoever wants to learn. We offer our gratitude to God for giving us the Ten Commandments at Sinai through our study of Jewish thought and wisdom that came to be in the thousands of years since Sinai.
This year, more than ever, we need inspiration to get us through each day and we need surmountable mountains to climb. Climb with us up Mt. Sinai this Shavuot. This year the Union for Reform Judaism is offering virtual learning from some of the most respected educators in the movement, and our community will be learning together at the community Tikkun Leil Shavuot. We will also be praying and studying together on Friday, May 29, and we will welcome in Shabbat that evening as we celebrate this year’s confirmation class, during our livestreamed Shabbat evening service.
Don’t miss these opportunities to engage in high level and extremely accessible Jewish learning and prayer as we all climb together, one step at a time, as we experience Torah from Sinai this year.
