Shavuot: Torah, Temple and Israel | CAEF Bulletin – June 3, 2022

What is Shavuot, and Its Meaning Today

“Shavuot commemorates the moment in history when we Jews were assigned to be the agents of bringing ethical monotheism into the world. Whenever we recite the Aleynu prayer, we praise G-d for giving us this assignment, but also pray that eventually all humanity will accept those tenets for which we are supposed to be the ‘walking commercials’.”

Rather than work to remove from the public sphere the Voice that spoke at Sinai and reverberated throughout the world, we Jews are called, along with other G-d-fearing people, to amplify it and make it reverberate again however and whenever we can. If we don’t, the world will ultimately become deaf. And… if we truly are called to be “a light to the nations”, then our failure will mean the world also sinking into moral darkness. At the end of the day, G-d says to us: “You are my witnesses…I’m depending on you.” As always: It’s time for the chosen ones to choose.

Excerpts from Shavuot in the Shadow of Uvalde by Rabbi Cary Kozberg in The Blogs, in the Times of Israel.  (Cary Kozberg has served in congregations, Hillel, and health care chaplaincy. He is currently rabbi of Temple Sholom in Springfield, Ohio)

Israel Forever Shares Shavuot Recipes

Traditionally, Jews eat dairy products on Shavuot. For exciting recipes with an Israeli twist, read here.

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