We have entered the month of Sivan. In a few days we will be celebrating the holiday of Shavuot. This is the traditional day that we received the Torah at Mt. Sinai. We celebrate because we realize that the Exodus story is leading to this moment.
Now for a quick devar Torah.
This is Rosh Chodesh Sivan, and in just a few days we will celebrate Shavuot, traditionally the time when the Jewish people received the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Sivan is a very important month because it represents the culmination of the journey from slavery to nationhood.
Throughout the Torah, God repeatedly says, “I am the Lord your God who took you out of Egypt.” The Torah is emphasizing something very important: God did not take the Jewish people out of Egypt simply to free a group of slaves. Freedom alone was not the final goal. God took us out with a purpose — to create a nation based on Torah, law, morality, and responsibility.
The Jewish people were chosen not because of race or superiority, but because God saw the potential to build a special society founded on justice and holiness. A nation where freedom would be tied to obligation and moral purpose.
What is fascinating is that even before Sinai, the Jewish people already began receiving mitzvot in Egypt. The very first national commandment given to the Jewish people was the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh — the sanctification of the new month.
Why was that the first mitzvah?
Because a free people control their own time and their own destiny. Slaves live according to someone else’s clock. Free people determine their future. God was telling the Jewish people: you now have the power to elevate yourselves or lower yourselves. You can become a great people, or simply another nation in history. The choice is yours.
Now, as we approach Sinai, we are about to receive the Torah — the laws and values that would shape the Jewish people into a nation.
And the Torah makes a remarkable point when the people arrive at Sinai. It says, “Israel encamped there opposite the mountain” — in the singular. The commentators explain that the Jewish people stood there “as one person with one heart.”
Unity was necessary before receiving the Torah.
That may be one of the great lessons of this season. Freedom alone is not enough. A nation also needs shared purpose, shared values, and a sense of responsibility toward one another.
Hopefully, we can find our way back to that kind of unity again.
Something to think about.
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