Meat and Ice Cream: ‘Kimcha DeShavuos’ at the Moscow Chesed Center
Publications inviting the public to come to the central “Marina Roscha” Shul on the first night of Shavuos were distributed in advance, along with a call to bring all children to hear the Aseres Hadibros, in all the shuls and Chabad houses scattered throughout the capital, as per the holy request of the Rebbe.
At the Shaarei Tzedek Jewish Chesed Center, aid packages were once again distributed this year to large families and various needy people, as part of the weekly distribution that has been held for many years, at the initiative of the center’s founder, Chief Rabbi of Russia Rabbi Berel Lazar, Shlita. Ahead of Shavuos, the list of recipients has doubled several times over, in order to provide everyone in need with food in honor of the two days of Yom Tov. In addition to meat, poultry and fish, the packages also included dairy foods and more.
In his greetings distributed on Erev Shabbos Achdus– Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar, the Chief Rabbi congratulates all the Jews of the city on the eve of Shavuos, and among other things, he writes:
“…We celebrate the foundations of our faith. After all, our faith is not based on miracles, but on the Torah that G-d gave us. The giving of the Torah is a defining moment in the history of our people; by receiving the Torah we became what we are today – “People of the Book”, the Book of G-d! The central event of the holiday is the reading of the Ten Commandments in the synagogues. The Lubavitcher Rebbe especially emphasized that at this time it is important for everyone to be present – not only men and women, but even small children.
Why is it so important for children to hear the words of the Ten Commandments from a young age? The Midrash says that when God gave the Torah to the people, He asked who would guarantee the observance of the Torah and its commandments. Our ancestors offered sages, elders, and prophets as guarantors – but God rejected these suggestions. And agreed only when the children were offered as guarantors. It would seem that small children, how can they guarantee anything? But in fact, this was the wisest decision: adults were obliged to educate children so that they would grow up as righteous Jews and then pass on the values of the Torah to the next generation.
There is a direct command from God on this subject, which was conveyed to our ancestors through Moses: “And you shall make it known to your children and to your children’s children on the day you stood before the Lord your God.” In other words, we must convey to our children not dry facts, but, first of all, the feeling the people had when they stood around Mount Sinai and saw with their own eyes the Lord giving the people the Torah!
As the Midrash says: “The Blessed One said to Israel: My children, read this portion every year, and I will consider it for you as if you were standing before Mount Sinai and receiving the Torah, as it is written: “On this day they came out of the wilderness of Sinai.” In other words, every time we read the Ten Commandments in the synagogue on a holiday, an unbroken chain of generations united in faith in God and commitment to His Torah is restored – from those who merited to recieve the Torah at Mount Sinai, all the way to us today, and to our children and grandchildren! We have been observing the laws of the Torah for several thousand years, and thanks to this we exist as a people – the only one among the peoples of ancient times that has survived to this day. “
May Hashem grant that we receive His commandments today, just as dozens of generations of our ancestors did, starting with those who stood at Mount Sinai – “besimcha uvepnimiyus!”
Photography: Levi Nazarov
