Every year Time, CNN and other media publications put together lists of the most significant events of the past year. Sometimes these lists are nothing more than a compilation of notoriety and have little to do with actual significance and impact on human history. Just because something is known or unknown isn't always the barometer of its importance to history. On the contrary, the more sensationalized an event is often is an indicator of how little it matters to our lives.
This week on the Jewish calendar we commemorate an event in human history that must be according to all logic the single most important event to ever happen, with the exception of the first human coming to life. This week is a less known major holiday called Shavuos; the day that God spoke to the world. Upon leaving Egypt, the Jewish people travelled through the desert to Mount Sinai. Unlike the depiction in Cycil B Demille's great film; The Ten Commandments, God then spoke to the entire nation! An entire nation heard God speak. Just think of the importance of that statement. There are millions, if not billions, of dollars being spent on simply listening to the galaxies. Just listening, waiting to hear something other than white noise. Should some form of sound be heard that is clearly artificial, and not just the natural noise of matter, the world would become mesmerized. We would be obsessed with knowing where did it come from? What does it mean? Why was it sent? The questions would go on. And this is even if the sound was entirely indecipherable. This is even if the sound wasn't even meant for us, it could have been unintentionally received. Now imagine if the actual Creator of the Universe intentionally spoke to His creation.
A colleague of mine told the following parable. A group is sitting in the middle of a large warehouse under a single exposed light bulb. Each one begins to discuss why they are there. One says, we were put here to be storage boxes, we have a door and open space inside. Another one says, no, we are more than storage spaces, we are a cooling unit for our inside is considerably colder than the outside. Finally a door at the end of the warehouse opens, flooding the space with light and a man walks in. He tells the group that he is from GE, informs the group that they are refrigerators and they have the power to create ice.
We all walk through life with so much doubt. What is life about? What am I living for? Can I truly be happy? If the Creator of the Universe not only spoke to us but gave us the secrets of the Universe than we should be able to spin this world on our fingertips. We can create much more than ice; we can create life. Not just the act of procreation but life beyond the physical. We can create ourselves into great human beings. We can create a world filled with unity. We can change the world. Simply because God said we can.
On the holiday of Shavuot we remember that God spoke to the world and told us what life is all about. There can be no greater event in human history than that. And even the atheist would have to acknowledge that if there was a God, and He told us how to live our lives and that we can achieve greatness with His help then there is absolutely nothing that we can't accomplish.
this blog is in the merit of Shoshana Rachel bas Elimelech
This week on the Jewish calendar we commemorate an event in human history that must be according to all logic the single most important event to ever happen, with the exception of the first human coming to life. This week is a less known major holiday called Shavuos; the day that God spoke to the world. Upon leaving Egypt, the Jewish people travelled through the desert to Mount Sinai. Unlike the depiction in Cycil B Demille's great film; The Ten Commandments, God then spoke to the entire nation! An entire nation heard God speak. Just think of the importance of that statement. There are millions, if not billions, of dollars being spent on simply listening to the galaxies. Just listening, waiting to hear something other than white noise. Should some form of sound be heard that is clearly artificial, and not just the natural noise of matter, the world would become mesmerized. We would be obsessed with knowing where did it come from? What does it mean? Why was it sent? The questions would go on. And this is even if the sound was entirely indecipherable. This is even if the sound wasn't even meant for us, it could have been unintentionally received. Now imagine if the actual Creator of the Universe intentionally spoke to His creation.
A colleague of mine told the following parable. A group is sitting in the middle of a large warehouse under a single exposed light bulb. Each one begins to discuss why they are there. One says, we were put here to be storage boxes, we have a door and open space inside. Another one says, no, we are more than storage spaces, we are a cooling unit for our inside is considerably colder than the outside. Finally a door at the end of the warehouse opens, flooding the space with light and a man walks in. He tells the group that he is from GE, informs the group that they are refrigerators and they have the power to create ice.
We all walk through life with so much doubt. What is life about? What am I living for? Can I truly be happy? If the Creator of the Universe not only spoke to us but gave us the secrets of the Universe than we should be able to spin this world on our fingertips. We can create much more than ice; we can create life. Not just the act of procreation but life beyond the physical. We can create ourselves into great human beings. We can create a world filled with unity. We can change the world. Simply because God said we can.
On the holiday of Shavuot we remember that God spoke to the world and told us what life is all about. There can be no greater event in human history than that. And even the atheist would have to acknowledge that if there was a God, and He told us how to live our lives and that we can achieve greatness with His help then there is absolutely nothing that we can't accomplish.
this blog is in the merit of Shoshana Rachel bas Elimelech
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