Zman matan torateinu... the time of the receiving of the Torah. It's coming!

This Shabbat, Shabbat Bamidbar (May 16) is our last Shabbat before Shavuot. It is on Shavuot that we relive and celebrate the receiving of the Torah. Midrash holds that we were all present at Sinai when the Torah was originally given. So we received the Torah at Sinai, but we are also receiving the Torah anew this year, and we will continue to receive the Torah in all the years to come. 

We are supposed to carefully prepare for the event. 

Let us spend time remembering to accept people for who they are and trying to respect where they come from without too much judgment, even if we don't agree with them.  This holds for relationships with Jews and non-Jews alike. 

We live in times where acceptance and respect are the exception rather than the norm. Anti-Semitism, gender issues, political divisions, immigration, and citizenship - these are all areas where the world has gone off kilter.  

If God had wanted the world to be full of creatures who are identical, the world would have been given to the Angels. 

Pluralism and respect. Without them, Judaism - and maybe the world - won't survive. Zman matan torateinu... the time of the receiving of the Torah.  It's coming.  

And don’t forget to eat some cheesecake!