B"H

Tuesday Sivan 5, 5777 / May 30, 2017 (49th day of the Omer)

Tonight, Tuesday night, begins the holiday of Shavuot, celebrating G-d’s giving the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai.

Although this event took place over 3,000 years ago, yet the Torah is as true and valid today as ever. If there is one truth which lasted throughout all these generations and stayed the same, it is the Torah.

In fact, whenever people tried to dilute and make changes to the Torah and its mitzvot, it didn’t last for more than one generation or two. The eternity of Torah depends on its authenticity. Anything less is not G-d given and thus is not everlasting. The richness, wisdom and holiness of Torah is only when it is in its original, G-d given, formula.

Once before Shavuot, a poor man said to his wife, "I just passed by the home of a rich man and they were preparing cheese blintzes for the holiday. What a fragrance those blintzes had!  Oh, if only I could, once in my life, have cheese blintzes for the holiday!"

"I would gladly make them for you," said the wife, "but I have no eggs."

"Then make them without eggs," he suggested.

"But I have no cream either!"

"You'll have to do without cream."

"I hate to tell you this, but I don't even have a grain of sugar."

"Be inventive. Do the best you can!" he persisted.

Determined to please her husband, she made "blintzes" without eggs, cream or sugar.  On Shavuot, when her husband came home from the synagogue, she served him the blintzes.  He took a few bites, and exclaimed, "My dear wife!  How can anyone eat this? I will never in my life understand why rich people love blintzes!" 

It is the same with the Torah. Deleting and diluting parts of the Torah ends up making it taste like the poor man's blintzes…

The Torah reading for the first day of Shavuot, Wednesday, is the Ten Commandments.  It is important that everyone, men women and children attend synagogue to hear the reading of the Ten Commandments. 

CHAG SAMEACH – HAVE A WONDERFUL SHAVUOT HOLIDAY

Montreal candle lighting time: Tuesday night: 8:16 / Wednesday night: 9:31