From this Thursday night until Sat. night-Jewish people around the world will be celebrating the holiday of "Shavuot." Shavuot commemorates the time, a few thousand years ago (3,321 to be exact),
that G-d Rested His Presence on the Mtn. of Sinai, in the Egyptian desert, and Spoke the 10 Commandments to the Jewish People.
Now in any other religion, like Christianity, Islam, Mormanism, Buddhism, you name it, the entire philosophy, code of law, and religion are all based upon ONE individual claiming to have had a revelation of G-d - that he alone has the new path for the world to follow (christianity claims 12 saw jesus come back). Why don't they claim more people witnessed such a revelation, to give more authenticity? Well simply, b/c it may be that other people will disagree and argue that such a thing never happened.
In Judaism, we claim that over 3,000,000 men, women, and children-our ENTIRE people-witnessed 1st hand the revelation of G-d and the Giving of the Torah. EVERY major religion acknowledges this revelation as the true original path that G-d Instructed, but that G-d was Angry at us later on & Changed his mind and chose a new people [eventhought throughout the Torah it says "You will ALWAYS be my people, even when you sin"] - hey, go figure.
No time, anywhere near that time, was there any dissenting opinions of Jews that such an event never happened (and as you know, 2 Jews=3 opinions). I don't know about you, but I wouldn't keep kosher or separate from my wife for a week every month if it wasn't 100% true. Not only that, but we were exiled throughout the world (Africa, Europe, Far East, you name it) and the text of the Torah and its tradition NEVER altered. The Torah I have in CA, is the same in Israel and China. Now you might say,
"that was over 3,000 yrs. ago! Come on, how do you know that really happened??"
Well, for starters, if you think about it, if parents told their children about what they saw at the revelation on Mt. Sinai, and they to their children, etc. (let's say when the parents were 60 and their child 20) - there has only been about 80 generations since the giving of the Torah!
And throughout this time, throughout our history, Jewish mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, have sacrificed their lives for this very belief - that the Torah was given to us. Jews who love life (חי is definitely one of Jew's favorite words. In my yeshiva, the word "L'chaim!"-'to life' is used QUITE often :) were tortured, and saw their own children tortured, in Ancient Israel, in Spain, Eastern Europe, etc. on a constant basis throughout time. "Just give up your religion!" That's all. And we won't kill your child. YOU have to have had a very strong tradition passed down from your parents, to be so strong and resolute in your belief.
The Rabbis note, that even after the 10 plagues and the splitting of the sea, after ALL the miracles that G-d Had performed for the Jews in the desert, the Jews didn't truly believe in G-d, until He revealed Himself and Spoke directly to them. They wanted proof! No games! we're not the people that follow blindly. G-d Understood this, and therefore Revealed Himself to us.
As we commemorate this amazing event of Shavuot, let's celebrate it with the praise of Hashem that He Gave us such a true and beautiful way of life; a book that teaches us how we can connect to the infinite. To learn G-d's own diary.
Our Rabbis tell us, that G-d's Coming to the Jewish people on Mt. Sinai, was like a groom coming to meet his bride. And the Torah is the bride's ring, which connects us to Hashem forever.
Wishing you a happy Shavuot! Let's receive the Torah anew this year - internally & with joy.
-Daniel
To learn more about the holiday, see:
http://www.chabad.org/library/
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