When we speak of the “revelation” of Torah, what do we mean? Elsie Stern shared three perspectives from traditional Jewish texts, viewed with a Reconstructionist eye.
How are we to understand the traditional claim that the Torah is divinely revealed? And what exactly is the Torah that was revealed? Rabbi Jacob Staub examines Reconstructionist theology through the lens of the holiday of Shavuot. This article is excerpted from the Guide to Jewish Practice.
Reconstructionist Jews believe that the Jewish people created the Torah and the Torah, in turn, has created and recreated the Jewish people throughout history. Shavuot, the festival of giving and receiving the Torah, should be central to our communal life.
The giving of Torah happened at one specific time, but the receiving of Torah happens all the time, in every generation.
—Rebbe Yitzchak Meir Alter (1799–1866)
