Nothing in life is coincidence

And since nothing in life is coincidence, my conversation with Dan and John, 2 American college students that I met at a local supermarket this week, was also no coincidence. I asked them what they were doing in Israel and they began telling me all about the program they were on for the past 5 months. At the end of the conversation I asked them what they thought of Israel, and one said, “It's like Yom Kippur times 100!”

I replied, “Was it that bad?!”, And he began to explain, “No no, it was great, what I meant was that the only time of year that I see so many Jews is on Yom Kippur, and being in Israel and seeing such large numbers of Jews is just like Yom Kippur for me”

As interesting as it was to hear what Dan thinks about when he counts large numbers of Jews, it's even more interesting to hear what G-d “has in mind” when counting the Jews in this weeks Parsha.

If nothing really is coincidence, why is then that this weeks Parsha, where the Jews are counted, falls out around the holiday of Shavuos every year? What's the connection between the counting of the Jews and receiving the Torah?

[1] Some people think that different people have different jobs in life. Some are doctors, some are lawyers, and some are Rabbi's. The Dr. studies medicine, the lawyer studies law, and the Rabbi studies Torah. And therefore, learning Torah is for certain people, like the Rabbi or Yeshiva guys. Or, “I used to learn Torah very seriously, but now I just don't anymore. “

When the Jews were counted, there was no differentiation made between those that were great in Torah and those that were not, everyone was counted together. The message that G-d “had in mind” when counting the Jews all together, was that Torah is for everyone. Regardless of whether you feel, “I'm too old to start now” or “I had my days of serious learning” It is for everyone all the time. Thats the connection between Shavuos and this weeks Parsha.

I was once working in a public school. And when the month of December came some of the teachers ran christmas programs and some ran Chanukah programs, and to the kids it made no difference. What about to us? What is the difference between a Jewish Holiday and a christian holiday?

[2] One of the major differences is that every Yom Tov in the Jewish calendar is not just a time of year where we remember an event that once happened, but rather there is actually a special potential that is more readily available at that Yom Tov, than any other time of the year.

Imagine a person who owns an ice cream truck, and all year long he tries to sell ice cream. When is his busiest season? The summer! Could you imagine if this guy decided to take off from work from June to August? We would all say he's crazy. Why? Because he missed out on a potential that was there for the taking, and he gave it up.

Shavuos has a special potential for us. It is time for us to ask ourselves how much of a relationship do we have with the Torah that Hashem gave us, and to truly create or build upon our connection with it. But if we wait until the night of Shavuos to ask this question we may miss out on the potential available.

In about 1 week it will be Shavuos. In order to make this Shavuos the most meaningful it can be, try to take a few minutes before it arrives to ask ourselves how this Shavuos is going to be different than last one? What can we do to come out as bigger people after this upcoming YomTov?

Good Shabbos!

Tzvi Sytner

[1] R' Moshe Feinstein

[2] R' Dessler