Shavuot – Zeman Matan Torah- The Source of Our Survival

In memory of our father, Sigmond Shore, who after having lost his first wife, Hela and son, Zev, in the Holocaust, began a new family with our mother, Dr. Thérèse Lena Shore

How did Rabbi Akiva celebrate

Shavuot, only seventeen days

After twenty-four thousand of his students died?

Solely, with five left, he taught, yet again.

What, then, gave Rabbi Akiva strength?

To begin anew, to affirm life’s length,

By carrying the mission of the Torah

As a beacon of light to the nations’ fora

When sadness and happiness do collide,

To what then has history been tied?

Not to situate ourselves on either side

But to acknowledge in Whom to confide.

The true source of our life and survival

Is G-d’s timeless promise of our revival.