THE EARTH TREMBLED

Dear Family,

Hope everyone is well.

2 Mazal Tovs in Sharon next week.

Mazal Tov to Reuven and Chana Lieba on their Anniversary. You should have many happy years together, and we look forward to seeing you in London soon. Please confirm your arrangements.

And on the same day, Mazal Tov to Sara on her birthday. Have a happy year Sara.

Mazal Tov to Baty and Shmueli in Sydney on moving into your own new home. This is such nice news! It should be meshaneh makom, meshaneh mazel for good! Wishing you much hatzlocha in both gashmiyus and ruchnius.

Shavuos is coming up next week, and besides the Giving of Torah, there is also a connection on Shavuos to DAVID HAMELECH and the BAAL SHEM TOV.

And so I would like to focus on a pasuk in the Tehillim (of David Hamelech) related to my age, as we are supposed to say our own personal Chap of Tehillim every day. Ie if one is 67 it means we are in our 68th year and we say Chap 68.

And so in my kapitel (68), some of the verses are speaking about matan Torah. Ie 'THE EARTH TREMBLED, the sky rained because of G-d.'

(The Ibn Ezra says that this occurred at Sinai before the Torah was given. Ie thunder, lightning, thick cloud and a very powerful blast of a Shofar.)

In a sicha of the Rebbe ( and Chassidus was revealed initially by the BAAL SHEM TOV) he asks the following question - If all the above effects were to cause a dread to the People surely this was unnecessary, because nothing could have been as frightening as the Voice of G-d Himself, which followed, at the time of the Giving of Torah?!

The Rebbe explains that it has always been and it will always be that Hashem is in the upper realms and is associated with dread.

But with matan orah, a major change occurred in the world ie the Divine would now penetrate and influence the physical, at a conscious level, in addition, whereby we could now relate directly with Hashem through the physical (mitzvos)

And so 'The earth trembled', was not a preparation, or even an incidental detail.

IT WAS THE PURPOSE OF MATAN TORAH - ITS VERY GOAL.

Wishing everyone a Gut Shabbos, Gut Yom Tov, and we should receive the Torah once again with joy and inwardness.