Shavuot
This week, I am privileged to present a guest blog by Rabbi Tzali Freedman, NCSY Regional Director of the Central East region.
In just a few days, on Shavuot, millions of Jews from across the globe will celebrate the moment when G-d gave over His Torah at Mount Sinai, thus giving birth to the Jewish Nation. In anticipation of this holiday we count down forty-nine days starting from Pesach in order to prepare ourselves to commemorate the day when three million Jews sat at the foot of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah and where they uttered the immortal phrase, “na’aseh v’nishma” (we will do and we will listen).
Tragically however, less than three million of the world’s fifteen million Jews will observe the festival of Shavuot this year. The main cause of this distressing reality does not lie in the ideological rejection of G-d and Torah, rather it stems from these Jews’ ignorance of their heritage and their apathetic feelings toward their Jewish roots. This devastating state of affairs means that on this Shavuot holiday four-fifths our Jewish brothers and sisters will inadvertently exclude themselves from celebrating their heritage simply because they are not even aware of the existence of such a Jewish holiday. Lack of a Jewish education enables countless Jews to turn away from their ancestry in search of a more familiar, albeit assimilated life. Ignorance cripples the Jewish people more severely than any persecution the Jews have endured.
In America, the land of personal and religious freedom, ignorance has thoroughly devastated the Jewish people. In 1950, American Jewry numbered at approximately six million and the Jewish community was projected to flourish into twelve million people. Yet, in a mere two generations American Jewry has actually shrunk by one million, and we are currently only five million Jews strong. We are literally fading before our eyes.
Despite modern Jewry’s self imposed destruction, Jews are not without hope. This past Memorial Day weekend five thousand young Jewish teens attended their NCSY Spring Regional Conventions in fifteen regions across the United States and Canada. Throughout North America five thousand sparks of hope were ignited with the light and passion of Torah. These young individuals will return to their home towns – some surrounded by Jews, some isolated in their thirst for Torah – and take the words of inspiration and wisdom they gleaned from Regional and act as beacons of light to their families, friends, and communities.
This year I was privileged to attend the Central East Spring Regional in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio. As I looked around the room of the banquet hall and listened to countless stories relating the struggles of Jewish teens trying to abide by the Torah, I was filled with an intense sense of pride. I felt proud to be part of an organization solely dedicated to leading the Jewish people back to their roots. This weekend was a testament that with thoughtful programming and people dedicated to helping their Jewish brothers and sisters reconnect to Judaism, we can reverse the nature of these past two generations and rebuild Klal Yisrael so that all Jews will benefit from their G-d given Torah.
I wish all of you a very meaningful Shavuot.
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