This coming Sunday and Monday – May 25 -26, 2015 is the second major Biblical holiday of the year,
Shavuot. We are commemorating and reliving the great event, as
described and recorded in the Bible, and passed down uninterrupted for
3327 years, when G-d in all His glory, revealed Himself to the entire
Jewish people and presented them with The Ten Commandments.
This is the holiday to gain strength and inspiration in all areas of our Holy Torah and all its eternal G-dly wisdom, to guide each one of us in the happiest, most fulfilled way to live our lives.
The bible instructs us in the fundamental belief in a prophet, who will have the spiritual virtue of communicating with the people, G-ds words, as long as it will never contradict any of the teachings in these books.
With this in mind I will share with you another revelation, related to this Holiday, which took place about 500 years ago, and guides us to this very day in all areas of our lives.
The most authoritative book on Jewish Law, was written by Rabbi Joseph Karo in the early 16th century.
Rabbi Karo was born in Spain 1488 and was chased out together with all the Jewish and Moslem people in the year 1492. Moving to Portugal didn’t last very long, when in 1496 the Jews were expelled once again.
The Ottomans invited the Jews to settle within the Ottoman Empire, and the Karo family moved from one city to the other. Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, until finally reaching the city of Safed in Northern Israel, through Egypt.
Rabbi Yoseph Karo became head of the Rabbinical court in Safed. There was not a single matter of national or global importance that did not come to the attention and ruling of his court. Its rulings were accepted as final and conclusive, and Rabbi Karo's decisions and clarifications were sought by sages from every corner of the diaspora. He came to be regarded as the leader of the entire generation.
Much of Rabbi Karo's inspiration and teachings were guided by a very special event that took place years before living in Israel, on the night of our upcoming holiday, Shavuot.
In a dramatic testimonial, recorded in the book of the great and holy mystic Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz (author of the famous mystical hymn Lecha Dodi - sung in all synagogues on Friday nights) testified, that in Salonica, Rabbi Karo had become one of the rare individuals who merited to be instructed by a maggid - a private angelic teacher who revealed to him many Kabbalistic teachings.
"Rabbi Karo and I decided to stay awake on the night of Shavuot and read passages of the Torah/Bible. After midnight, as we reached the section of Mishnah, a sweet voice was heard aloud from the mouth of Rabbi Karo. The voice grew ever louder, until even the neighbors were able hear it, though they were unable to understand it. The voice told us, the great impact our learning had this night, silencing all the prosecuting Angels and piercing all the heavens. It then spoke of our great merit of staying awake this night, and the greater effect it would have, had there been a quorum of 10. The voice then encouraged us to continue learning throughout the night, not wasting even a moment. Finally, the voice instructed us to stand up and say Boruch Shem... aloud, as is done at the conclusion of Yom Kippur.
The Shaloh HaKadosh – Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz concluded: "It is apparent that there was much more that was not allowed to be revealed. "
This spirit exhorted Rabbi Karo to sanctify and purify himself, and he revealed to him events that would take place in the future. Rabbi Chaim Vital explains that this visitation by the “Maggid” is a form of Divine Inspiration. Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai notes that only about one fiftieth of the manuscript was ever published.
The Maggid promised him that he would have the merit of settling in the Land of Israel, and this promise was fulfilled. Another promise, that he would merit to die a martyr's death sanctifying God's name similar to his teacher had merited, did not transpire for an unspecified reason.
His reputation during the last thirty years of his life was greater than that of almost any other rabbi since Maimonides. This entire trajectory solidified, by the honor accorded to the Holiday of Shavuot and the Torah.
This is the holiday to gain strength and inspiration in all areas of our Holy Torah and all its eternal G-dly wisdom, to guide each one of us in the happiest, most fulfilled way to live our lives.
The bible instructs us in the fundamental belief in a prophet, who will have the spiritual virtue of communicating with the people, G-ds words, as long as it will never contradict any of the teachings in these books.
With this in mind I will share with you another revelation, related to this Holiday, which took place about 500 years ago, and guides us to this very day in all areas of our lives.
The most authoritative book on Jewish Law, was written by Rabbi Joseph Karo in the early 16th century.
Rabbi Karo was born in Spain 1488 and was chased out together with all the Jewish and Moslem people in the year 1492. Moving to Portugal didn’t last very long, when in 1496 the Jews were expelled once again.
The Ottomans invited the Jews to settle within the Ottoman Empire, and the Karo family moved from one city to the other. Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, until finally reaching the city of Safed in Northern Israel, through Egypt.
Rabbi Yoseph Karo became head of the Rabbinical court in Safed. There was not a single matter of national or global importance that did not come to the attention and ruling of his court. Its rulings were accepted as final and conclusive, and Rabbi Karo's decisions and clarifications were sought by sages from every corner of the diaspora. He came to be regarded as the leader of the entire generation.
Much of Rabbi Karo's inspiration and teachings were guided by a very special event that took place years before living in Israel, on the night of our upcoming holiday, Shavuot.
In a dramatic testimonial, recorded in the book of the great and holy mystic Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz (author of the famous mystical hymn Lecha Dodi - sung in all synagogues on Friday nights) testified, that in Salonica, Rabbi Karo had become one of the rare individuals who merited to be instructed by a maggid - a private angelic teacher who revealed to him many Kabbalistic teachings.
"Rabbi Karo and I decided to stay awake on the night of Shavuot and read passages of the Torah/Bible. After midnight, as we reached the section of Mishnah, a sweet voice was heard aloud from the mouth of Rabbi Karo. The voice grew ever louder, until even the neighbors were able hear it, though they were unable to understand it. The voice told us, the great impact our learning had this night, silencing all the prosecuting Angels and piercing all the heavens. It then spoke of our great merit of staying awake this night, and the greater effect it would have, had there been a quorum of 10. The voice then encouraged us to continue learning throughout the night, not wasting even a moment. Finally, the voice instructed us to stand up and say Boruch Shem... aloud, as is done at the conclusion of Yom Kippur.
The Shaloh HaKadosh – Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz concluded: "It is apparent that there was much more that was not allowed to be revealed. "
This spirit exhorted Rabbi Karo to sanctify and purify himself, and he revealed to him events that would take place in the future. Rabbi Chaim Vital explains that this visitation by the “Maggid” is a form of Divine Inspiration. Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai notes that only about one fiftieth of the manuscript was ever published.
The Maggid promised him that he would have the merit of settling in the Land of Israel, and this promise was fulfilled. Another promise, that he would merit to die a martyr's death sanctifying God's name similar to his teacher had merited, did not transpire for an unspecified reason.
His reputation during the last thirty years of his life was greater than that of almost any other rabbi since Maimonides. This entire trajectory solidified, by the honor accorded to the Holiday of Shavuot and the Torah.
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