Rabbi Zauzmer: Receiving the Torah Within (Shavuot Day 1, 2024)

On Shavuot, we read about the giving of the Torah and the entire community's acceptance of it, but what about individual acceptance? Rabbi Zauzmer leads an interactive discussion encouraging us to think about when and how we personally receive the lessons of the Torah, perhaps uncovering gifts that have been within us all along.

[@mattr.1310]

This was an excellent sermon! I would rather call it a great question & answer session! It was very important & relevant to all. Rabbi Zauzmer is very good at doing this type of work.
Since, this was on Shavuot it's important to understand what was going on. As our Rabbi said it's the time of Matan Torah-the time of the giving of the Torah to Bnei Yisrael- the children of Israel at Sinai. One of the overriding questions proposed here was as follows: was the time of B'nai Mitzvah (Our Bar or Bat Mitvah time, when we become of age in Judaism.) the time we are responsible for accepting the Torah for ourselves? Good question for a very informative discussion that took place with Rabbi Zauzmer. This question brought up some very important responses. However, I think this Rabbi knew there was no one correct answer. Our Rabbi raised this question to elicit some wise & various responses of that important question she raised. All the answers were very revealing & thoughtful!
Now I will give my response to this question & go over some of the highlights of her important Shavuot sermon. My answer goes like this: IMO at the time of B'nai Mitzvah is a good answer. Although there is no one correct answer. There are many answers to this question & I enjoyed listening to all the responses. Conversion would be my answer to the question raised in this session. This is why I think the book of Ruth is read at this particular Jewish festival. Ruth who was a sincere convert. She, Ruth is accepting the Torah like Bnei Yisrael did at Mount Sinai & accepting the precepts contained in it! The person of Ruth reflects many of the themes of the holiday of Shavuot. There is another important convert who could fit into this conversation his name is Onkelos, let me discuss who he is & why he fits into this discussion.
Onkelos was a convert to Judaism during the first & second century C. E. His lifespan was estimated to be from 35 to 120 C.E. Onkelos is often mentioned in the Talmud. He was a Roman nobleman said to be related to the family of the emperor. His most important work is to be found in the Chumash- the first five books of the Torah. His work in the Chumash is called the Targum Onkelos usually with Rashi's commentary. We still learn it today! Onkelos is in Aramaic, Rashi's commentary is in Hebrew. Rashi's script is a different type of Hebrew. As I close my comment, I would like to focus
on this theme of conversion & how it relates to the Festival of Shavuot.
The reason I chose this theme of conversion is it relates to Shavuot, Torah & Judaism. What happened to our ancestors at Sinai is very similar to the word conversion how you change & accept something & become better people and a new people. This is what happened after the Torah was received by our ancestors at Sinai. We became different people.we accepted the essence of the Torah & we started to practice it. This has been going on with our people ever since the revelation at Sinai. The Torah is the main basis of Judeo-Christian values.The Torah is also one of the foundations of western civilization. It is also a continuing & ongoing process of our lives. Our ancestors converted to a new life after the revelation at Sinai. This process is an ongoing process. It continues every day, week, month & year. We are always learning something new. This is the essence of the Torah & a very important theme of the festival of Shavuot! Thank you Rabbi Zauzmer for this very important sermon. May Hashem bless you & give you joy! All the honor to you for a great session & sermon on this festival of Shavuot, Kol HaKavod & may G-D bless you greatly! Thank you, sincerely Matthew 🕎🙏