A Sleepless Night

{Next Thursday, May 31, my youth organization, "JTeen", we will be hosting an end of year banquet. We would love it if you could join us, and if not, you can be a virtual attendee. To reserve, please visit: www.JteenBanquet.eventbrite.com}

From this Saturday night until Monday night., Jews worldwide will be celebrating the major Biblical holiday known as Shavuot. On Shavuot there is the custom to stay up the entire night (many spend it learning Torah or listening to classes at synagogue.) So what's exactly up with this strange custom?
The source for the custom of staying up comes from the Midrash, which details how the Jewish People slept in on the morning of the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai (celebrated as the holiday of Shavuot). Say What!? How does someone sleep if he knows that the next morning he’ll be meeting & hearing from G-d Himself! I can’t even sleep well when I know I have a flight to catch the next morning!

So to understand how the Jewish People could have slept so soundly the night before this momentous event, let's back up & take a look at what sleep really consists of froma Jewish perspective. What happens when we go to sleep? Jewish Mysticism explains that during sleep, our souls leave our bodies and ascend to heavenly realms, leaving the sleeping body below. A bit of soul energy is left to maintain the body in its seemingly dead state, while the soul - free of the constraints of the body - leaves to enjoy a greater feeling of closeness to G-d while learning greater Torah wisdom. So now we can look back to the Jewish people's plan to sleep in the night before the giving of the Torah.

They had a seemingly great plan! “We’re right before the holiest event in history. We’ve spiritually prepared for the last 49 days since leaving Egypt, refining ourselves to the most humanly possible degree. The last thing we can do is sleep! To let our souls go beyond our bodies for a little bit, and get as close to G-d as possible before the giving of the Torah!” Sounds good right? So then we can ask the other way: why do we stay up every year on the night of Shavuot to make up for the fact that the Jewish People slept? It was a good idea!

In this question & answer lies a very fundamental concept of the Torah. The giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai to the Jewish People, was that the spiritual & physical - heaven & earth - should meet; G-dliness could now be infused into physicality. When a mitzvah is done, the physical object and body of the person doing it could now become infused with G-dliness.

A unique and beautiful aspect of Judaism, a revolutionary concept in fact, however counter intuitive, is that true spirituality - true G-dliness, can ultimately be found only in the physical. The Torah argues that the oneness of G-d is expressed when He is found down here in the physical world. It’s very important to be spiritual and transcend the body sometimes to connect to G-d, but ultimately He desires that materiality be elevated and made a vessel for His Dwelling. And that’s why we stay up on Shavuot night, avoiding the sleep that our ancestors thought a correct preparation. Because sleeping, having the soul leave this world for more loftier places, is not the ultimate G-dly intention. The intention of G-d in creating us & this amazing world, is that we "stay up" - that we engage the physical, fixing ourselves and the world around us, soul in body.

Happy Shavuot!

-Daniel

P.S. It's a mitzvah to hear the 10 commandments read from the Torah in synagogue on Wednesday. [For more Shavuot info., go to: Shavuot]

Strolling With Us

After touring Europe for the last 2 weeks, I saw something in this week's Torah portion that resonated with me. In Bechokotai , G-d tells the Jewish people: "I will place My dwelling in your midst...I will stroll among you, I will be your G-d, and you will be my people." (Leviticus 26:11-12) Commenting on this verse, Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno of the 16th century writes: "The word stroll denotes that G-d will be among the Israelites wherever they go and not limited to one specific place, the sanctuary. 'I will stroll among you' - G-d's glory will be manifest wherever His children venture."


When I traveled through Europe, I definitely found it harder to feel G-d there compared to Israel, where I lived in Jerusalem for 2 years. The same can be said here in America (although the threat to Jews is felt more in Europe, and therefore one feels more out of place). But this verse is telling us, that the truth is that G-d "strolls" with us wherever we find ourselves. And we can feel that anywhere. During my trip, primarily because I was more isolated with less support to rely on in unfamiliar surroundings, I was able to also feel a greater connection to G-d. Ultimately, the place for teh Jewish people is in Israel where "I will place My dwelling."

But in the Torah elsewhere, G-d Says "Make me a dwelling, and I will dwell in it." What's interesting to note, is that the word translated "it" is "b'tocham" which really means "in them" - "I will dwell in them." Ultimately, G-d Desires to dwell with each of us personally. Through good deeds, Torah & Mitzvot, each of us form ourselves into a comfortable dwelling for G-d. And then wherever we find ourselves, He is strolling with us as much as if we were standing 2,000 years ago in the temple in Jerusalem.

May we always remember that there is a G-dly presence near us at all times. As the holy Baal Shem Tov said: "Always be joyful. Think and believe with perfect faith that the Shechinah (G-dly Presence) is at your side and watches over you. You look at the Creator, blessed be He, and the Creator, blessed be He, looks at you." (Tzava'at Harivash 137:8)

Shabbat Shalom!