Shavuos Nugget
by 06/07/2011
Shavuos Nugget
By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
Judaism is alone among the religions of the world in so thoroughly embracing the physical. From the sanctified sexual bond between husband and wife to the blessing to pursue commerce and wealth so as to be charitable and philanthropic, Judaism has never had a tradition of austerity or monasticism. Our is a philosophy of sublimation rather than denial. We elevate rather suppress, consecrate rather than reject.
There is good reason for this.
On Shavuos, the festival of the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, the Jewish people did not go up to G-d. Rather, G-d came down to Mt. Sinai. Judaism celebrates the art of bringing the spiritual into the material, celestial truths into terrestrial realities. It was never better expressed that Moses’ famous pronouncement on the last day of his life, captured so eloquently in the book of Deuteronomy (30:12): It is not up in the sky. You do not have to ask, "Who will go up and bring it down for us, so that we can hear it and obey it?' Nor is it on the other side of the ocean. You do not have to ask, "Who will go across the ocean and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?' No, it is here with you. You know it and can quote it, so now obey it. Today I am giving you a choice between good and evil, between life and death....” By choosing a life sanctified by the divine presence, we choose life.
I know many people who are experiencing a malaise in their life. They feel restless, like some great destiny awaits them if only they could bring radical change to their existence. The lesson of Shavuos is that all which we seek is already within us. It is not outside us. A Congressman does not need to search for erotic thrills outside his marriage. It is right here with his wife. A worker does not need to win the lottery in order to find happiness. In meeting his financial obligations, however modest, and providing for his family, he finds nobility and purpose. And America does not need some radical, life-altering Messiah figure to rescue her from challenges. Rather, her answers lie in the ingenuity of its citizenry.
It is all already here – within us.