Ep. 591: What’s the Most Important Way to Prepare for Matan Torah?

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:
 Rosh Chodesh Sivan 

• What is the unique power of this day? 
• What does “like one person, with one heart” mean? 
• What’s the most important way to prepare for Matan Torah? 
• It’s gratifying to see that Rabbis in Jerusalem reacted to your program last week, warning against harassment. 

• What are we celebrating on Shavuos? 
• What is the historic and cosmic significance of the Giving of the Torah? 
• What exactly is Torah? 
• Since Torah is the purpose of creation, why was it not given to Adam in the beginning of creation? 
• What was the purpose of the patriarchs keeping the Torah before it was given?  
• Why is the holiday called Shavuos? 
• What is its connection to oaths? 
• Is Shavuos the anniversary of our nation’s birth? 
• Why is the 50th day not counted? 
• Why don’t we begin the new cycle of reading the Torah after Shavuos, when we received the Torah? 
• Why don't we dance with the Torah on Shavuos like we do on Simchas Torah? 

• Why were there thunder and lightning when the Torah was given? 
• What did we receive at Sinai – the entire Torah, or just the Ten Commandments? 
• Why do the Ten Commandments begin with an Egyptian word – Anochi? 
• Is there any connection with Adam using that word when he hid from G-d after eating from the Tree of Knowledge? 
• Why are there differences between the two texts of the Ten Commandments documented in the Torah? 

• Why is naaseh v’nishma considered a great act? 
• What is the virtue of committing and acting before listening and understanding? 
• If action is primary, why the need to understand? 
• What is the meaning of the two crowns given to us at Matan Torah? 
• What does the Rebbe Rashab say about this in his magnum opus Hemshech B’Shaah She’hikdimu Ayin Beis? 

Shavuos – Matan Torah The Ten Commandments Naaseh V’Nishma and the Crowns Why don't we recite the chapter about Manna in our daily prayers? Follow-up