In Jewish community gatherings over Zoom, we often celebrate our ability to connect while we are home. We sing Hinei MahTov, recognizing how great it is that we are all together on this day with our brothers and sisters, and we continually offer thanks for the transition our community had into an online space.

Shavuot serves as a moment of clarity,particularly in a time when the Jewish people cannot gather as one community. Shavuot pinpoints the moment that we became one community; it is the reason behind our constant want to gather and connect. When the Jews received the Torah, they were asked if they would keep it, to which they responded, “Our children will be our guarantors,” and by doing so they set up a Jewish future that relied on a shared history and that shared experience at Sinai.

We must recognize that we are the guarantors. It was our ancestors who stood together at Sinai to receive the text that would guide our faith and our lives for generations after. So,when we log onto that synagogue Zoom call, attend that Virtual Shabbat experience, and continue to find ways to connect with other Jews, we exemplify the guarantors our ancestors wanted us to be. By simply engaging in Jewish acts each day, we keep that moment at Sinai alive, regardless of the time that separates us from it.

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