By Rabbi Dovid Sapirman, Dean, Ani Maamin Foundation
First and foremost, Shavuos is the time to remember what took place at Har Sinai. The Ramban explains that this memory is the foundation of our faith. Several million witnesses experienced a Divine revelation, transmitting this testimony to their children and through the generations. We have no reason to believe that we have inherited a false belief. While others do indeed transmit false beliefs to their children, the original believers of these claims were duped by individuals who professed to have experienced a private revelation. No other religion or people have ever declared that the whole nation directly communicated with the Creator of the universe.
Many years ago, the Rambam received an urgent letter from the Jews of Yemen, who were suffering under a new ruler who was coercing the population to accept Islam. The Rambam responded with a classic letter now known as Iggeres Teiman, the letter to Yemen. Among other divrei chizuk, he stresses the importance of the Revelation at Sinai as a foundational Jewish belief.
“It is imperative, my brothers, that you engage your children in this great Revelation at Mount Sinai. Proclaim its momentousness at public gatherings. For this event is the pivot of our religion, and the proof which demonstrates its veracity ... Remember, my coreligionists, that this great, incomparable and unique historical event, is attested by the best of evidence. For never before or since has a whole nation witnessed a revelation from God or beheld His splendor. The purpose of all this was to confirm us in faith so that nothing can change it, and to reach a degree of certainty which will sustain us in these trying times.”
We, too, are experiencing trying times. What keeps us going is our faith in the absolute truth of the Torah that we received at Sinai. In spite of all that we have endured and are currently enduring, our emunah keeps us strong.
This love for Hashem and His Torah is described in Shir Hashirim: “Many waters cannot extinguish the love, and rivers cannot flood it. If someone would [offer to] give all the treasures of his household [in exchange], they would scorn him.”
All the attacks, the toil, the exiles will never stop am Yisrael’s love for Hashem. All the money and honor in the world cannot entice us. We remain true to the commitment we made to Hashem when we stood by Har Sinai and declared naaseh v’nishma.
