This week, as we prepare for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which marks the moment we received the Torah at Sinai, I explores why G-d made Sinai happen: G-d was lonely. In this big, overwhelming world, we understand all too well what it feels like to be lonely. However, because of Sinai, because of our connection with G-d, because of Torah, because all of the people who stood at Sinai and are still standing with us today, forming community, Judaism gives both us and G-d ways to overcome loneliness and be together.
Sources: Genesis 2:18; Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; B’Midbar Rabbah 13:6; Psalm 102:8; Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim on Leviticus 25:23; Psalm 119:19; Psalm 27:8; Tree Of Souls The Mythology Of Judaism by Howard Schwartz, Genesis Rabbah 5:1, Exodus Rabbah 5:14, 15:22, Midrash Tehillim 68:3, Midrash Aleph Bet 1:1-5; Abraham Joshua Heschel, Between God and Man on partnership between God and humanity; Rabbi Eliezer Berkowitz, Between Yesterday and Tomorrow III, The Breath of His Lips 13:27; Berakhot 7a:1-3; Shemot Rabbah 5:9; Rabbi Margaret Wenig, “God is a Woman and She is Growing Older.”