The Birthday of the Hebrew Bible
The Jewish Bible governs the Jewish people. From cradle to grave, laws and regulations are clearly stated in the Torah, the Jewish bible.
On Thursday night, May 16th, Jewish people worldwide will celebrate a holiday called Shavuot, meaning weeks, marking the culmination of the seven weeks since Passover.
In the Old Testament there are three pilgrim festivals, Passover, Shavuot and Tabernacles. Shavuot highlights the Divine revelation on Mount Sinai. According to all Biblical accounts it was witnessed by 600,000 men ages 20 to 60, besides women, children and a multitude of emancipated slaves including nobles who accompanied Israel at the time of the Exodus. There were several million eye witnesses to the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The Jews' firm belief in Torah and Divine commandments is not a matter of faith but an absolute conviction. As the saying goes "seeing is believing."
In the year 1312 B.C.E. the Bible records the phenomena known as "the Revelation on Mount Sinai."
In the Book of Education by Rabbi Aaron Halevi of Barcelona, a 13th century sage, it states that "It is a well accepted tradition of all civilized people of the world to accept the evidence of two or more witnesses as conclusive proof, even to the extent of sentencing a man to his death.
That is why the Almighty God gave the Torah to Israel in the presence of 600,000 male adults, so that they could bear testimony to the fact."
My great-grandfather, Zaidy (grandpa in Yiddish) Peretz, came to America in the 1880's and established our American family. Zaidy made a good choice for us. In this land of freedom there were no pogroms.
Shavuot was the time my family held its annual get-together. My American born family members would meet, exchange greetings and hold a grand festive meal. We considered our lives very blessed.
However my European born Jewish classmate, Miklosh, was not so fortunate. He considered Shavuot a time of sadness and anxiety. During World War II, Miklosh lost his family. No parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts were left. In general, he lost over 100 members of his immediate family. When the holiday came, he remembered his martyred family.
Once in school I naively asked him, "What does May remind you of?" I expected to hear him answer, "Spring". He answered, "The liberation of the concentration camp.' This was where he had been incarcerated.
Recently, I received a phone call from my old schoolmate, Miklosh. He did have a miracle happen. After finishing school he found his cousin, a holocaust survivor, and married her. He now had a wonderful family and a great income. We spoke about our past school days. He related that he had learned to deal with his past and to look ahead towards making his life work. The greatest news was that he was going to attend a prayer service with six grandchildren.
Now, that was a modern day miracle worthy of a festive meal.
The Shavuot celebration marks the creation of the Torah, the blue print for the Jewish people. It also commemorates liberation from all oppression and persecution. It was instituted by God to show us how to live justly, to move ahead and to count our blessings.
This year has been a very tumulus one. Many of us have gone through experiences as tragic and terrifying as any previous generation. Many of our military are busy with protecting our democracy. The lands of Israel and Afghanistan are going through hardships of unbelievable proportions. We are all being challenged.
As there is no monopoly on the Bible. Perhaps all religions should celebrate Shavuot. Many dream of the day when there will be peace on earth. I think that's a fine idea. But for me, I dream with my eyes open by supporting our government in its war against terrorism.