Why Do We?

…Not have a connection to Har Sinai today?

Good Question! The most important thing in history happened on Har Sinai, and yet, it plays very little role in Yiddishkeit today! Strange no?

There is a lot of Torah on this, but perhaps we’ll think of it this way. here was actually a second time Har Sinai was visited after Matan Torah. In Malachim Beis, Eliyahu Hanavi runs away from Queen Ezevel and hides in a cave on Har Sinai! Hashem asks him, “What are you doing here Eliyahu?” Then the pesukim say there was a powerful ruach (wind), but the Shechinah was not in the ruach. Then there was a big ra’ash (noise or earthquake), but Hashem was not in the ra’ash. Then an aish – (fire) but Hashem was not in the aish. After that was a kol dimama dakka, a soft still voice. Hashem then spoke to Eliyahu Hanavi.

Hashem was telling Eliyahu the avodah of Har Sinai. Har Sinai was heilig for a few days. There was thunder and lightning, noise and fire, and it was very exciting, but really that’s not what we need to serve Hashem. After Matan Torah, we don’t need all the “bells and whistles”, the ruach, the ra’ash, and the aish in order to serve Hashem! We can connect to Him in the kol dimama dakka; when it’s quiet. In the midbar, in shul, in the street, or in the quiet of our room. 

Shavuos also has no special mitzvos, for a similar reason. We don’t need the perfect, exciting situation to connect with Hashem. We can learn wherever we are, and that’s what Matan Torah is all about!