At ShavuotShavuot is the holiday fifty days after Passover and commemorates when the Israelite liberation from Egypt culminates with the giving of the Torah. Traditionally, Jews study in an all-night study session, eat dairy products (one interpretation is that the Torah is like milk to us), and read both the Ten Commandments and the Book of Ruth. 5783 I was introduced to the teachings of Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael by Cathy Schechter.
All the crags of Mount SinaiAccording to the Torah, God, in the presence of the Jewish people, gave Moses the Torah on Mount Sinai (Har Sinai). float
Over me like a huppahMarriage canopy symbolizing the couple's new home. in a breeze
God will come to me bringing TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general.
As a gift to all for love.
Past present future we are brides
And also bridegrooms of the One most holy.
Perhaps the mountain will even dance
And clap hands at the beauty
Of the transmission of law.
Past present future we will not know
Where the mountain is
Except in our minds and hearts.
