Rabbi Menachem Mendl of Kotsk teaches that we call Shavuot zman matan Torateinu—the time of the giving of the Torah, to center the giving as a moment, an event that was. The giving, he teaches, was at Mount Sinai. The receiving, though, that is eternal and it is constant. Sinai was a moment; revelation is forever. To celebrate Torah, then, is to celebrate what can be—more than what is. It is to celebrate a world not yet known, and the world we can offer, a world the next generation may inherit.
I am always moved by the story told of David Ben Gurion, who consulted his friend and advisor Yitzchak Tabenkin before making some crucial decision around the founding of the State of Israel. Tabenkin gave Ben-Gurion his counsel, and, impressed, Ben Gurion said: I like what you are saying—from whom did you seek advice? “From two people,” answered Tabenkin. “From my grandfather who died 10 years ago, and from my grandson who is not yet born.”
And so here we are, in the moment of receiving Torah. We are standing between what was—a moment of revelation, and what is yet to be—our own revelation, the lives we are yet to live.
Today, right now, there is us, there is a mountain, there is a moment—there is Torah. What is the Torah—the wisdom, guidance, and values— you have received? What is the Torah you are teaching, in this moment? And, what is the Torah you have yet to learn?
Chag Shavuot Sameach.
—Rabbi Sari Laufer