If there was ever a holiday created for the Aish family, it is Shavuos.
Shavuos is the anniversary of the giving of the Torah, the celebration of wisdom itself. It is the highest point in the relationship between the Jewish people and the Almighty. Shavuos serves as a reminder that the answers to life’s deepest questions are not hidden from us. They were given to us lovingly at Sinai.
Throughout my career, I have spent a great deal of time in the business world, dealing with organizational leadership, fundraising, and operations. I read countless business books, listened to famous speakers, attended conferences, and studied leadership theory from every possible angle.
Whenever I hear theories expounded that are supposed to shed some new light and understanding on how to be a leader, I find myself having the same reaction over and over again.
Everything they are saying is already in Pirkei Avos: Ethics of our Fathers.
The wisdom was already there.
The Torah spoke about leadership before modern leadership theory existed. The Torah spoke about relationships before modern psychology existed. The Torah spoke about purpose, discipline, ethics, responsibility, communication, gratitude, humility, and personal growth thousands of years before the modern world rediscovered them.
But the Torah is much more than simply a book of wisdom. Wisdom exists in all cultures, and even in leadership conferences. The Torah is more than that.
Many years ago, a student once asked me a difficult question. She struggled with why the Torah cannot simply change with the times. Why can we not modernize it completely? Why do certain boundaries remain fixed?
We brought the question to Rabbi Hershel Schachter Shlita, the great Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University. He gave a beautiful and lengthy answer, the central idea of which remained etched into my mind forever.
Not only is the Torah the way we come to know God. The Torah is God.
God is infinite. God is beyond human comprehension. The Torah is His communication and representation to humanity. The Torah is not merely wisdom. The Torah is a relationship. The Torah is a connection. The Torah is how finite human beings encounter the Infinite.
When we attempt to fundamentally reshape the Torah outside the framework of our mesorah and tradition, we are attempting to redefine God and the very relationship He created with the Jewish people.
God does not change.
His love for us never changes.
His truth never changes.
His relationship with us never changes.
Our task is to draw closer to Him.
The Founder of Aish, Rabbi Noach Weinberg, understood this with extraordinary clarity. He understood that the key to transforming a Jew’s life is helping that Jew access Torah wisdom in a meaningful and understandable way. So many Jews never had the opportunity to grow up with Torah learning. So many Jews are searching deeply for meaning, purpose, spirituality, and connection.
The more accessible we make Torah, the closer Jews come to God.
That is why, for decades, we have invested so deeply in our world-famous Yeshiva and Seminary in Jerusalem. Thousands upon thousands of students have walked through our doors searching for meaning and found a relationship with Torah, with the Jewish people, and with the Almighty.
That is also why we are working so hard to launch Aish University this summer.
For years, people around the world have asked how they can access the same transformative classes and experiences that take place every day in Jerusalem at Aish. Through the power of technology and artificial intelligence, Aish University will help bring those classes directly into homes around the world. Jews everywhere will be able to access authentic Torah wisdom, engage in meaningful conversations with incredible teachers, and take part in serious Jewish learning in ways that were never before possible.
Technology itself is not the goal.
Connection is the goal.
Transformation is the goal.
Building a relationship with God is the goal.
Our Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits, has often pointed out that one of the greatest crises facing the Jewish world today is that so many Jews simply do not have a relationship with the Almighty.
That relationship changes everything.
At Aish, we are very simple people.
We believe Jews should learn Torah.
We believe Jews should access Jewish wisdom.
We believe Torah brings people closer to God.
We believe closeness to God transforms lives.
We believe transformed Jews can transform the world.
That is why Shavuos matters so much.
On Shavuos night, Jews across the world stay awake learning Torah, some throughout the entire night until sunrise. Here at the Dan Family Aish World Center, the building will remain open all night long. Classes will be taking place throughout the night. Jews from every background will sit together learning Torah, surrounded by the stones of Jerusalem and overlooking the Kotel.
Then, as the sun rises over the Temple Mount, thousands will stand together in prayer.
There are few moments in Jewish life more powerful than this.
I encourage every person reading this to take time to learn Torah in a deeper way this year than you have ever before. Pick up a book. Read an Aish.com article. Study Pirkei Avot. Learn a parsha. Attend a class. Open your hearts and minds to a stronger relationship with God.
It does not matter where you begin.
Every word of Torah matters.
Every sentence matters.
Every moment matters.
Each word brings a Jew closer to the embrace of the Almighty, to the Creator who loves us more than we can imagine.
May we merit to see the day when the entire Jewish people reconnect to God with strength, clarity, and love.
May we merit the ultimate redemption.
May we merit to once again build the Beit HaMikdash and learn Torah together in Jerusalem in peace.
Wishing everyone a beautiful Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom.
