Torah Portion TEMPLE ISRAEL'S FAMILY LIFE CENTER In Conjunction with The Caring Community Committee A Look To See God's Presence In Continuous Gift Of Torah The second point we should remem- ber is that the revelation at Sinai was not just about hearing. The Torah records several times an element of "seeing" at Sinai and before. Our people "saw the sounds" at Sinai (Exodus 20:15). God says, "You yourselves saw that I spoke to you (-Exodus 20:19) and previously, at the Exodus we read that the people "saw the mighty hand," a vision that led them child once brought his to awe and faith. (Exodus 14:31). mother a picture he had just Some of the commentaries under- drawn and said proudly, "It's stand seeing in these cases as referring to a picture of God." His "experiencing" or "understanding" or as mother said, "But, honey, no one knows describing an experience that over- what God looks like." The child whelmed the senses. But, it is also possi- thought for a moment, looked at the ble to understand these words picture, and said, "Now they literally. Our ancestors lived in a will." time in which they more readily It seems that hearing has saw the presence of God. always been more important While we might say "seeing than seeing in Jewish tradition. is believing," our tradition We avoid representations of seems to say "hearing is believ- God. We discuss and read ing" or "hearing leads to believ- Torah aloud. Our rituals are ing." But that is only part of usiially accompanied by spoken the story. In addition to listen- liturgy. We summarize our RABBI ROBERT ing for God's voice, we, like faith with the words "Shema DOBRUSIN our ancestors, must attempt to Yisrael— Hear 0 Israel." Special to the see God's presence in the Shavuot, ZMan Matan Jewish News world. Torateinu, the commemoration . - Where can God's presence of the giving of the Torah, is no be seen? For some, it is the view of the different. On this holiday devoid of world from a mountaintop. For others, visual symbols, we listen closely for the it is the sight of our children playing in echoes of God's voice at Sinai. a grassy field. Perhaps it is in a great According to tradition, we all stood at work of art or in the effects acts of kind- Sinai and all received the Torah. Shavuot is a reminder of what God once said and ness can have on others. The sights of God's presence are as different as the what we once heard. varied sounds of our tradition. But we should be careful to remem- God continues to give the Torah and ber two aspects of the Sinai experience. continues to give us reasons to believe. First, God did not give the Torah But I think that we concentrate far too once; the Torah is given every day. The much on talking and listening. brachot for an aliyah to the Torah bless Sometimes, we need to take a step God who, ratan lanu, gave us the Torah back, stand quietly and open our eyes. and who, notayn haTorah, is the giver of Perhaps then, we will find, like our Torah. Each of us understands this idea ancestors did, that seeing can lead to in a different way, but the message is faith and that, even without a child's clear. We stood at -Sinai at one time in picture, we really can sometimes see the our history; but we receive the Torah face of God in our world. II every time we study, every time we con- front its words, every time we fulfill one of the mitzvot as our way of navigating our way through the world. For kids and all of us, what would So, on this day in which we look it have felt like to stand at Mt. back to the moment of revelation at Sinai? What have you seen lately Sinai, we must also look at revelation as that has encouraged thoughts an ongoing process that inspires us, about the presence of God? The sanctifies us and challenges us. world isn't always beautiful. How do we fit that into our beliefs Robert Dobrusin is rabbi ofBeth Israel about God? Congregation in Ann Arbor. His e-mail address is dobrusin@bethisrael_aa.org Shabbat and Shavuot, day two: Deuteronomy 15:19-16•17; Numbers 28:26-31• Habbakuk 3:1-19 Conversations OUR MONTHLY SENIOR ADULT PROGRAM presents THE UAN JCES OF MICHIGAN 0,14 . A & the Temple Treasures, Presents: 014 Thursday, June 12, 2003 1:30-3:00 pm at Temple Israel Please join us for coffee, cookies and good company. Come alone or bring a friend. Open to the community free of charge. No reservations necessary. A Please call Kari K. 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