Mansfield Chabad Center Celebrates Shavuot

The holiday of Shavuot is Sunday and Monday, May 27-28, commemorating the revelation on Mount Sinai when the Jews received the Ten Commandments (and subsequently the entire Torah [Bible]) - 3,324 years ago.

The Talmud describes a conversation between G-d and the Jewish people as a prerequisite to receiving the Ten Commandments:

G-d asked: “Who will be the guarantors?” The Jewish people answered: "The heaven and the earth." Said G-d: "No, those will not be appropriate guarantors." They offered: "The merit of our forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will guarantee it." G-d replied: "No, that will not do either.” They countered: "Our children will guarantee it." G-d beamed: "THESE ARE EXCELLENT GUARANTORS!"

“This is the key to the survival of our people,” said Rabbi Yossi Kivman, Director of the Chabad Jewish Community Center. “Shavuot is the best opportunity to instill within children a pride in being Jewish, a connection to the previous generations as well as creating a sense of purpose and contribution to the world; to actualize the Divine potential for goodness imbued by the Creator within each and every one of us.”

As part of Chabad’s mission statement to reveal the beauty and joy within Judaism, there will be a special family program for this Shavuos.

The Ten Commandments will be read in the original Hebrew – live. Followed by a dairy Kiddush buffet and a fun “Ice Cream Party” scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 27 at the  – 88 Chilson Avenue. The event is free of charge and no prior membership or knowledge of Hebrew is necessary.

“Shavuot reminds us that the only hope for Jewish children not to be swept by the shackles of spiritual and mental confusion in our society, lies in a Torah education, where the golden chain of the Torah from Sinai is maintained; the Torah in all its sanctity, the Torah of Truth which must always remain intact, and cannot be subject to compromise or concession,” wrote the Lubavitcher Rebbe. “This is what the wisest of all men meant when he said, ‘Train the child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it when he grows old’ (Prov. 22:6).”

It is for this reason Chabad devotes so much energy into Jewish education.

“Few have better understood or more successfully promoted these ideas than the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who emphasized the importance of education and good character. Through the establishment of educational and social service institutions across the country and the world, Rabbi Schneerson sought to empower young people and inspire individuals of all ages,” proclaimed President Barack Obama during a speech in honor of “Education and Sharing Day USA”. The President continued and implored “I call upon all the people of the United States to look to the future with a renewed sense of civic engagement and common purpose.”