Cyd, Weissman, Reconstructing Judaism’s vice president for engagement and innovation, was a featured panelist at a high-profile Shavuot program held at the Weitzman Musuem of American Jewish History in Philadelphia and sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
The panel “Only in America: The Evolving Place of Jewish Life and Culture in the United States” kicked off a 12-hour, in-person tikkun-leil Shavuot. The Shavuot custom of staying up all night to study Torah dates back hundreds of years, related to the receiving of Torah at Mount Sinai.
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.
Forty-nine days ago, we began an annual journey, and now we’ve arrived. We’re here at the foot of Mount Sinai. The Jewish people prepare for this moment
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)
At Shavuot, every Jew throughout time stands at the foot of Mount Sinai to recive the Torah. That powerful metaphor — passed down from an ancient midrash, or biblical interpretation — should provide every Jew a way to connect with a holiday that re-enacts God’s revelation.
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