Shavuot

Shavuot is the day that the Israelites stood at the base of Sinai and received G-d's Torah. There are SO many stories about this moment. There is a custom of staying up all night to study so that we do not miss the giving of Torah, to make up for the Jews who slept through the night and had to be awakened by a shaking earthquake, thunderous and fiery skies, and the blowing of a shofar. Let me just say that I have never made it. I would have been that one snoozing soul who needed to be awakened. 

And perhaps that is really who I am...a soul who needs to be awakened to the wisdom around me. This past week I found myself in the company of wise women...quite by accident. At a fund-raising gala, that I attended very last minute, I ran into a woman that I had studied with a few years ago. She lost her husband during that time to a horrible disease, but through it all the two of them continued to live a life worth examining...or reading about. There she was, chatting about her experience while 2600 people swirled around us. She talked about volunteering with Hospice and awoke my desire to do the same.

Exactly a week later I found myself at another event with 300 women watching a kosher cooking demonstration. I was sitting next to a dear friend who I had not seen in months. We talked about her son's wedding, about acceptance and change and trying to stay healthy AND honoring Jewish traditions around food, all the while reading recipes. I awoke to the comfort of being surrounded by my "tribe" even if we have different ways of honoring our traditions. I awoke to the desire to actually spend time with those I love.

The next week continued the theme with a visit to a concert at my temple. Rabbi Joe Black talked about a song in which G-d asks Adam "where are you." Clearly G-d new where Adam was...but did Adam? Are we awake enough to know where and who we are, or are we sleeping through life waiting for the volcano to awaken us? Is the holiday of Shavuot really just a call to "wake up" and listen to the still small voice...that at times needs to thunder to get our attention>

I feel awake for  that first time in several weeks, which is odd since I did not know i was sleeping. Let me try this as a goal for summer...stay awake to who and what and where and why I am.