The Confirmation service was originally scheduled to be held on May 15th. The pandemic kept us from joining on that date. So now we moved it to May 30th and these two wonderful young people are celebrating it today. What makes this extra-special is that today is indeed the day it SHOULD be celebrated because in addition to Shabbat, today is Shavuot (ok, the second day, but let’s keep that to ourselves) when we commemorate the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. In fact, the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, is only symbolic. Tradition tells us that we received the entire Torah on Shavuot.
Shavuot is the third of the three pilgrimage festivals when our ancestors brought their offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem. The first is Succot which falls just five days after Yom Kippur; the second is, of course, Passover, and this is the third. I call Shavuot the “Orphan Festival” because while people surely know about Passover and maybe about Succot, the same cannot be said about Shavuot…plus it always falls on a most inconvenient day between spring and summer, during final exams, when people are thinking about vacation, etc.
So the meaning of the holiday is often lost. There was a survey taken on Park Heights Avenue in Baltimore many years ago. That location was very significant because it’s also called Rue de la Shul, the Street of Synagogues…scads of them are on this long avenue. The question asked was, “What is Shavuot?” I only wish I had kept the responses. Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox passersby mumbled something and most of the time even those identifying as Orthodox didn’t give a straight answer. It was worthy to be on a Jewish equivalent of America’s Funniest Videos.
But while Shavuot is the “Orphan Festival” it is very important. The fact that Grace and Owen read the Decalogue is evidence of its significance. The day is called z’man matan Torahteinu, the season of the giving of the Torah. Since we cannot read the entire Torah (otherwise we’d be until next Shavuot), we read the Decalogue as a symbol.
Later sages said in so many words, that the label is only partially correct. God gave us the Torah, yes…but did we ACCEPT the Torah? It’s one thing to get a gift but under normal circumstances when retail stores are open you can return that gift. Do we return the Torah? Do we accept the gift graciously? How do we say “thank you”?
These questions are for Owen and Grace to think about. For all of you in the sanctuary or in Zoomland, in your own way you have accepted the gift of Torah because you are here, maybe not in body but surely in spirit. But these two, while they have confirmed/affirmed that stuff written down for them to read, do they confirm/affirm in their lives?
I’ve had almost forty years of Confirmation classes, each containing an average of twenty-five teens. All of them were completing tenth grade, but Beth El confirms when high school is over, and the kids are on their way to college. It’s more than admirable to extend the age; it’s evident from working with Owen and Grace that maturity yields understanding, at least as far as they are concerned.
Working with them has, as I mentioned in my writings across this year, made me feel so much better about the Jewish future, about those who are heading to college, as I call it, the quicksand of Jewish identity, when college life sucks the Jewishness out of students, drawing them into the abyss; when the last thing on earth 18 year olds think about is their congregation, their religion, their culture and, as their rabbi (albeit for only one year). But I think these two will take who they are – and I emphasize WHO they are – and not be sucked into the quicksand. Rather they will be strong foundations and role models for others. They will take the foundation of this congregation and its superb religious school and continue to build their identities upon it, making us all proud.
Grace and Owen did indeed confirm/affirm with words. I believe fervently they confirmed/affirmed with deed now and tomorrow. And that’s what counts. Ken y’hi ratzon, May it be God’s will.
(Speaking of the consequences of the virus, these are signs seen all over the place: “Uninstall 2020! It’s got a virus” “Denny’s Always Open. Closed” On the marquee of the World Theatre: “The World is Temporarily Closed” On the marquee of the State Theatre: “Now Playing…NO Close Encounters of ANY Kind” Over a Gentleman’s Club: “Clothed till April 30” On a church bulletin board: “Had Not Planned on Giving Up Quite This Month for Lent” On the bulletin board of Walnut Grove Baptist Church: “This Too Shall Pass. It Might Pass Like a Kidney Stone, But it’s Gonna Pass” “Feeling Guilty About Your Kids Watching Too Much TV. Just Mute it and Put the Subtitles on. BOOM. Now They’re Reading” “Stepped on my Scale This Morning and it Said: Please Use Social Distancing. One Person at a Time!)