Shmoozy Nuz, May 19th

SHMOOZY NUZ

Events, News, and Shmooz

Rabbi Hannah's Letter

Bemidbar Rabbah 1:7

(7) "And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Wilderness" (Numbers 1:1). Why the Sinai Wilderness? From here the sages taught that the Torah was given through three things: fire, water, and wilderness. How do we know it was given through fire? From Exodus 19:18: "And Mount Sinai was all in smoke as God had come down upon it in fire." How do we know it was given through water? As it says in Judges 5:4, "The heavens dripped and the clouds dripped water [at Sinai]." How do we know it was given through wilderness? [As it says above,] "And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Wilderness." And why was the Torah given through these three things? Just as [fire, water, and wilderness] are free to all the inhabitants of the world, so too are the words of Torah free to them, as it says in Isaiah 55:1, "Oh, all who are thirsty, come for water... even if you have no money." Another explanation: "And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Wilderness" — Anyone who does not make themselves ownerless like the wilderness cannot acquire the wisdom and the Torah. Therefore it says, "the Sinai Wilderness."

Dear Friends,

This week, we enter Bamidbar -- The Wilderness -- and prepare for Shavuot, where we receive the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Mount Sinai piece here is actually really important: It matters where we got it. There’s a saying from Bamidbar Rabbah, a medieval midrash, that the Torah was given through three things: fire, water, and wilderness. I love the idea that nature brought us the Torah -- that our connection to God comes, in such a big way, through nature.

The midrash gives us various prooftext s from scripture for why fire, why water, why wilderness, but then it says, “And why was the Torah given through these three things? Just as [fire, water, and wilderness] are free to all the inhabitants of the world, so too are words of Torah free to them.” Of course, our world is set up now such that it’s not free to access clean water or even nature that truly feels like the wilderness; but I love the intention here. Nature should be accessible. Torah should be, too.

But then it says something else: “Another explanation… Anyone who does not make themselves ownerless like the wilderness cannot acquire the wisdom and the Torah.” Let’s leave aside the fact that no wildernesses are truly ownerless anymore in the legal sense. We must be in order to acquire wisdom and Torah.

What does it mean to be an ownerless person? And how does ownerlessness, how does true freedom, allow us to learn and to grow wise? I’m leaving this as an open question, and we’ll also have the chance to explore it this evening at our service. Our goal isn’t to lose all commitment and responsibility; it's the opposite, in fact. Torah is filled with mitzvot, and receiving it means taking that on. But if we’ve got some external owner, we’re not able to wholly engage with those mitzvot and that Torah. For that, we have to be truly free.

To a Shabbat of peace, of ownerlessness, and of readiness for Torah!

Rabbi Hannah

UPCOMING EVENTS

To learn more about these events (including how to register, which we require for almost all events), please visit our website calendar HERE .

All events are in person and indoors, unless otherwise noted.

Friday, May 19th

Yavneh Shabbat Pre-Service Gathering

at 6:00 pm

Kabbalat Shabbat Service & Potluck Dinner

at 6:30 pm