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The Mountain Still Calls

by Ram ben Ze’ev


The Mountain Still Calls
The Mountain Still Calls

On Sunday evening, as the sun dips below the horizon, we will gather to celebrate חג השבועות (Chag HaShavuot), the Festival of Weeks. It is the culmination of seven weeks of counting the עומר (omer) since the festival of פסח (Pesach), a sacred journey that leads us to this moment — the giving of the תורה (Torah) at הר סיני (Har Sinai), Mount Sinai.


But Chag HaShavuot is more than a commemoration of a historical event. It is an eternal call, echoing across time and space, to each Jewish soul — whether close or distant — to remember who we are and what was gifted to us beneath the mountain.


A Story for All Generations

The sages teach that before offering the Torah to ישראל (Yisrael), the Children of Israel, G-D in His infinite wisdom offered it to the nations of the world. To each tribe, He presented the Divine covenant. But when they heard its commandments — prohibitions against theft, murder, adultery, falsehood — each nation declined. They sought to preserve their way of life, unwilling to accept a law that would demand inner transformation and submission to a higher truth.


Only ישראל stood at Har Sinai and declared with one voice, נעשה ונשמע (naaseh ve’nishma), “We will do, and we will hear.” We did not ask for terms or guarantees. We embraced the covenant in faith, accepting that through the Torah, we would become a light unto the nations. This moment of acceptance was not merely a historical agreement; it was a spiritual birth — the forging of an eternal bond between G-D and ישראל.


A Teaching for the Distant Heart

Yet today, many among us have become distant from this truth. Assimilation, secularism, and the noise of the modern world drown out the still small voice that once thundered from Har Sinai. Some Jews say, “The Torah is not for me. It belongs to the rabbis, to the religious.” But this is not so. The Torah was given to every Jew — man, woman, child — all souls present at Sinai and all who would ever be born from those souls.


When a Jew distances himself from Torah, he distances himself from the very essence of who he is. The Torah is not an external system of laws; it is the blueprint of the Jewish soul. Just as a body withers without nourishment, so too the Jewish soul yearns for the sustenance of Torah.


Chag HaShavuot invites us to return. It reminds us that the mountain still calls. The covenant is eternal — not based on our level of observance but on our very being. Whether one is learned or unlearned, observant or secular, every Jew carries within a spark that was present at Sinai. And that spark can be reignited.


A Reflection for Today

In this generation, when identity is often confused and values shift like sand, we must remind ourselves and our children: we are the nation who heard the voice of G-D. No other people can claim this. It is not arrogance; it is sacred responsibility. And it calls us to live lives of holiness, justice, compassion, and truth.


So as we celebrate Chag HaShavuot, let us open our hearts to the Torah anew. Attend a learning session. Light a candle of remembrance. Read even one verse from the holy ספרים (sefarim), sacred books. Speak of Sinai to your children. No act is too small when it comes from the soul.


A Call to Action

To my fellow Jews, especially those who have drifted: the Torah was given to you as much as to the most pious. You do not need to be perfect to return. All you need is the will to take one step toward Sinai. The mountain still stands. The covenant still lives. The voice still calls.


This Chag HaShavuot, answer it.



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