From The Rabbi

Reb Zalman z"l — Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, of blessed memory; a formative teacher for me before and during rabbinical school — used to say that revelation is like the radio. God is the Source of the broadcast, and that broadcast is always streaming into creation. And as for us? We're radio receivers. We receive revelation on the levels to which we're attuned.

This year April overlaps, more or less, with the lunar month of Nissan. At the full moon of Nissan we retell our people's core story as we celebrate Pesach, festival of our liberation. As it says in the traditional haggadah: We were slaves to a Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Holy One brought us forth from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm... Therefore it is incumbent on each of us to see ourselves as though we, ourselves, had been brought forth from Mitzrayim.

"...The thing is, there's holiness in the not-knowing. There's holiness in opening ourselves to the uncertainties of wilderness. It's no coincidence that our ancestors hear God's voice most clearly in the wilderness. The midbar (wilderness) is where God m'daber (speaks) -- or at least, where we hear...."

In this week's Torah portion, Yitro, we receive Torah at Sinai. Tradition teaches that every Jewish soul that ever was and ever will be was present at Sinai. At Sinai we stood together as one. This week some of you have told me that…