Sermon Parshat Yitro - "The Letter from G-d"

I want to tell you about a meeting I had a few weeks ago in my office (I will change some of the details to obscure the identity of the man I met with). The individual came into my office and after exchanging a few pleasantries, I asked him why he wanted to meet with me. He told me that on September 22, 2004 at exactly 7:32 PM he was sitting in his living room and he heard a rustle out in the backyard. He opened his back door to see what it was and there was this bright light, the likes of which he had never seen before. And then the light started talking. It introduced itself as G-d. G-d explained all of the  mysteries of creation and history and then G-d said that all previous Law was no longer binding and instead there would only be two laws. G-d then said that this man had to go convince the world to follow the laws.

As I am sitting there (trying not to look shocked!), I was thinking, “my rabbinical school certainly did not train me for this one!

The man then asked me a question. “I know that people will think I am crazy for claiming to see G-d but how different am I than Moses at the Burning Bush?” How different am I than all of the Jews who received the Torah at Har Sinai? How different am I from Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah? Why is it that if you had a vision of G-d thousands of years ago in the Sinai Desert you are a Prophet but if you have a vision of G-d today in Potomac, people think you should be in the Psych Ward?
I am not going to answer that question, that is your homework?

But then he asked me a second question which is even more significant.
He asked me, “Did G-d ever talk to you?” This is such an important question on Parshat Yitro. There was a revelation at Sinai, G-d spoke directly to the people. This is the foundation of our religion. But the problem is that we never experienced it so what is our religion based on. Does G-d ever talk to us?

I will get back to this question in a few minutes but first, I would like to share a gemara with you that begins to answer the question.
The gemara quotes the posuk from Amos.

הנה ימים באים נאם אדני יהוה והשלחתי רעב בארץ לא רעב ללחם ולא צמא למים כי אם לשמע את דברי יהוה

Days are coming when there will be a famine. But what kind of famine. Not a famine for bread nor thirst for water but a famine from hearing the words of Hashem
And the posuk continues:

ונעו מים עד ים ומצפון ועד מזרח ישוטטו לבקש את דבר יהוה ולא ימצאו

They will go from sea to sea and from North to East to seek out the word of Hashem, but they will not find it.

The Gemara in shabbat asks, what is this Dvar Hashem (Word of G-d) that they are trying to find but cannot find? Three answers.
One answer is דבר ד’ זו קץ. they are trying to figure out then end of times. when will Moshiach come?
A second answer is דבר ד’ זו נבואה. They are going all over the world to find a prophet, a guru. Someone who can give them the direct word of G-d with certainty. They travel to India, they travel to the Far East, but they cannot find what they are looking for.
And then there is third answer which the gemara seems to adopt. דבר ד’ זו הלכה. the word of Hahsem is the Halacha. It is torah. We dont have to go around the world to hear the voice of Hashem. All we have to do is go to the bookshelf and open a Chumash, open a Talmud. Everytime we study a Posuk or a passage from the Talmud it is a letter from G-d (or an email or a tweet!) giving us a message that is relevant for us at that moment.

So now let me return to the fellow who set up the meeting with me. He asked me, “Does G-d ever speak to you?” I told him, “Yes. Every day.” I pointed to my bookshelf full of sefarim (jewish texts) and I said, “Everytime I open up any of these books, it is a letter from G-d.” G-d is talking to me! G-d is telling me what I need to know at that moment. The message is not always crystal clear. Sometimes, I have to really think about it. Turn the text over and over until it becomes clear. And sometimes, I am still not sure at the end, but I am sure that G-d talks to me all the time.

Allow me to quote a beautiful passage from Rabbi Chaim Volozhin (from Nefesh Hachaim Shaar Daled).
He quotes the beautiful posuk from Tehillim which everyone should meditate on every day.

טוב לי תורת פיך מאלפי זהב וכסף

Hashem - The Torah from your mouth is better than thousands of gold and silver coins.
What does it mean when it says the Torah of your mouth. Reb Chaim explains that every time I utter a word of Torah, it is, literally, right now coming out of the mouth of Hashem. Everytime we learn, G-d is talking to us. It is a letter from G-d.

This is why Torah is so valuable. It is the most important thing. More important than wealth. More important than our houses and cars.

Here is the difficult question. Do we really believe this truth? Do we live this truth?
We say in the Blessing on Torah study, והערב נא, Hashem please make the torah sweet for us and for our children and grandchildren. Do our children and grandchildren know how how sweet it is to us? How important it is to us? Do we demonstrate (in word and deed) that Torah is more important than our houses, Than our cars, than our poker nights and favorite TV shows. Do we let them know that Torah study is more important than their secular educations and professional degrees (Uh Oh. I am going to get in trouble for that one!).
Lets let them know that Torah is more important because Torah is a letter from G-d. Hashem talks to us every time we study Torah.

Let me conclude with a story. When I was in the 4th or 5th grade I went to the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland Ohio for a shabbat to celebrate the Siyyum Hamishnayot (completion of mishnah study). We were a group of about 200 4th - 6th grades boys. The highlight of shabbat was when Rabbi Mordechai Gifter (one of the greatest Torah sages of the last century) came to talk to us. I will never forget what he said.
“Boys, I want you to remember something for the rest of your lives. Every time you open the gemara and it says, ‘amar abaye, amar rava’ (Abaye Says or Rava Says) it is really answering the following question. “vas zakt der Ribbono shel olam” What does G-d have to say? Everytime we read a posuk, we should think, “what does G-d have to say to me right now.” G-d has a message for me to help me with whatever I am going through. Whether I am suffering and I need some comfort. Or I am struggling with a dilemma and I need a direction or I am feeling uninspired and looking for a spiritual infusion all I have to do is open the Torah and its a letter from G-d talking to me, encouraging me, comforting me and challenging me.

On this week as we read Parshat Yitro, the parshah of revelation, let us remember that revelation was not only an historical event that happened thousands of years ago. It happens each and every day. Every time, we study Torah, it is a letter from G-d. G-d is talking to us. All we have to do is listen.