A Shared Experience

In honor of Akiva S.: “One stormy night when my nephew Roger was about twenty months old I wrapped him in a blanket and carried him down to the beach in the rainy darkness. Out there, just at the edge of where -we-couldn’t-see, big waves were thundering in, dimly seen white shapes that boomed and shouted and threw great handfuls of froth at us. Together we laughed with pure joy, he a baby meeting for the first time the wild tumult of the oceans, I with the salt of half a lifetime of sea love in me. But I think we felt the same spine-tingling response to the vast roaring ocean and the wild night all around us.” (Rachel Carson – The Sense of Wonder) I study bible once a week with a twelve-year-old, spectacular young man. Together, he, who has not studied much bible, and I, who has spent all my life studying, exult in the magic of the text. There is no age difference, no gap in knowledge, as we listen in to the joyous thundering of the words, showered with a fresh spray of insights and questions. It is at such moments that I experience my greatest joy in Torah. I revel in its ability to speak to all, the young and old, the student and the rabbi, with the same power and intensity. Perhaps that sharing was the role of the Levites in the Mishkan. The Cohanim stood above us, directing us in our offerings and service. The Levites connected us and allowed us to share the experience of standing in God’s Home. Author Info: Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone™ is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.