If Pesach may be compared to the Declaration of the Independence of the Jewish people, then Shavuot surely is the Constitution. Or, if Pesach may be compared to the first flowering of love in a new relationship, Shavuot surely is the Ketubah — the marriage contract — spelling out the day-to-day responsibilities of spouse, house and children. Ultimately, the high ideals and experiences of a heart and mind in flight must be grounded in the hardheaded truths of contracts and obligations to self, society and God.

 

However, the Torah — the Constitution of the Jewish people, and its Ketubah, or marriage contract to God — was never meant to be kept to the Jewish people alone. From our very inception as a people, God intended us to be OHR LA-GOYIM — a light to the nations — who would spread the message of the One-ness of God and humanity throughout the world. And indeed, today, through the mechanism of Christianity and Islam, the ethical monotheism first articulated in the Torah has become the fundamental spiritual orientation of half the planet.

 

The development of modern communications and transportation technology has only increased the universalizing trend of Jewish truths in the world. At least in North America, relations between Jews and Christians are more cordial and harmonious than at any time in the history of either religion. Today, Christian organizations actively promote the immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union and South America to Israel. These same organizations are also politically supportive of Israel, the Zionist movement and the current close relationship between the United States and Israel. Fifty years ago, who could have predicted such a development?

 

Today, the words of Isaiah ring true more powerfully than at any time in history: “I will bring them to My holy mountain, that they may rejoice in My house of prayer. For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.” Whether it is in the workplace, in our homes or on the street, we find ourselves relating to more people, of more varied national, cultural and religious backgrounds than in the whole history of mankind.

 

As we meet, and invite one another to our B’nai Mitzvah, confirmations, weddings and funerals, we start to become familiar with houses of worship very different from our own. And once we actually enter these places of worship, instead of contemplating them from afar, we begin to see that religious traditions differ only superficially; and that at the deepest levels of who we are, and what we believe, much more unites us than divides us.

 

In recognition of this essential unity of all religious truths, on the holiday of Shavuot, Thursday, June 5 at 7:00 PM, Shaarey Zedek will celebrate the Festival of the Revelation of Torah by hosting an evening of outstanding music from four community choirs: the Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Choir, the St. Andrew’s United Church Choir, the Fort Garry United Church Choir, and our own Shaarey Zedek Choir.

 

This evening of inspiration will focus on music drawn from the Old Testament — the 75 percent of the Bible that Jews and Christians share in common. The book of Psalms invites us to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” Here is an invitation to “ taste and see ” — on the basis of your own experience — that God is not only truly good, but truly One — One and the same for all of humanity, regardless of the differing names with which we call upon Him; regardless of the differing rituals with which we worship Him. This is the new Sinai, being progressively revealed to humanity by the Ruach Ha-Kodesh — the Holy Spirit — for the unique time and place in which we live.

 

The late, great Raimundo Pannikar, a Catholic priest and professor of religion at UCSB, once memorably said, “It’s not only true that all religious paths lead to the same mountain top. It’s also true that without these paths, there would be no mountain.”

 

Mo’adim L’Simcha. Here is wishing everyone a joyful Shavuot season of growing unity and universality throughout the world.