But this light-hearted diversion has distracted us from a serious problem in the Jewish community, one that has persisted for generations. While many of us rightly embrace Shavuot as an opportunity to renew our commitment to Torah study, there are so many others who find the holiday daunting and inaccessible.

For those new to textual analysis and Bible study, the all-night learning programs are often off-putting, serving as a stark reminder of the sheer multitude of Jewish texts that one must master in order to become truly knowledgeable. And while synagogues and educational centers plan for months to line up incredible speakers and educators from all walks of life to ensure that there is "something for everyone," the reality is that there are rarely offerings for those grappling with the basics. Sadly, this leads to those with limited backgrounds in Jewish learning feeling despondent and rejecting the idea of attending a class entirely.

As this is assuredly not in the spirit of the day, I believe that we must reverse this trend by promoting a different view of the opportunity presented to us on Shavuot.

While Shavuot by its very nature is a communal holiday, the acceptance of the Torah is a very personal experience. At Mount Sinai, the entire Jewish nation – every man, woman and child, regardless of scholastic ability – accepted the Torah sight unseen ("Naaseh V'nishma" – "We will do and we will listen"), entering into a special covenant and relationship with God. Thus, the Torah belongs to each of us equally, and the ongoing process of true acceptance is an individualistic pursuit. Each person has a different starting point, as well as the capacity to plot a truly unique route to Torah study that leverages his or her abilities.

The Shulchan Aruch (the Code of Jewish Law) explains that the ideal way to carry out one's daily acceptance of the Torah is by learning one chapter every morning and another in the evening. Referring to these twice-daily goals as a "single chapter" is somewhat misleading, as the Shulchan Aruch's intention is for Torah learning to occupy the large majority of one's day. While this prescribed method is generally unattainable in modern times, the underlying concept of beginning and ending one's day with a Torah thought is still a very workable model.

Now more than ever, children and adults at every level of learning have access to a world of Jewish knowledge. Commentaries and translations abound, and the entirety of Jewish canon is at our fingertips. But instead of allowing ourselves to become overwhelmed by the enormity of Jewish knowledge to the point of forfeiture, we must seek out the specific text that speaks to us and helps us connect to God, Torah and Jewish life.

The Midrashic concept of "Shivim Panim La'Torah" (literally "70 faces to the Torah") means that anyone – while grounded in tradition – can interpret our core texts in the ways that makes sense to them. This open invitation encourages us take the text and connect with it as we see it, to write our own notes, ask our own questions and take ownership. The Steinsaltz Center alone has published 310 titles that have made Jewish knowledge – from Bible to Talmud and everything in between – uniquely accessible to all, but this can only serve as the first steps in a much larger process. A true acceptance of the Torah comes from making it our own.

So, while some may have seen Shavuot as a spiritual and intellectual gauntlet in years past, I believe we all – from Torah beginners to scholars and everyone in between – need to take a step back and approach it from an entirely different point of view from this point forward.

Rather than readying ourselves for an annual pedagogical marathon, we must treat the holiday like a buffet, a wondrous assortment of inviting options that can help us identify that one special thing that will ignite our personal journeys each and every day and help us connect to Torah in our own inimitable ways. Focused on this task, we can sample from Jewish thought, philosophy and law, and expose ourselves to the vastness of Torah knowledge, without becoming overwhelmed or discouraged. In this way, Shavuot becomes a golden opportunity to set our spiritual tables for the rest of the calendar year.

Now that I think about it, maybe Shavuot really is about working towards that one perfect slice after all.

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Between Sukkot and Passover, Jews locked up their silos and set down their plows, embracing winter as an opportunity for contemplation and reflection. While Yom Kippur provided an exalted moment for introspection and the realignment of priorities, the bleak, cold winter months presented a physical and spiritual challenge: to create light in the darkness.

Families huddled together around a fire, discussing the harvest and how they might improve their yield in the coming year.  At the same time, they considered how they might draw out their inner light in order to correct past social and spiritual gaffes.

Unfortunately, this respite is no longer the norm, as modern life has rendered the concept of seasons virtually meaningless.

With most of the population now employed outside the world of agriculture, and with once-seasonal fruits readily available all year, the average Jew struggles to connect to the significance of the harvest seasons or find meaning in the winter months between them. Tethered to mobile devices and tasked with providing for their families in a harsh economic climate, so many people make no distinction between one day and the next, living life as an endless stream of workdays.

A research paper published in the Journal of Happiness Studies (Bloom, Geurts and Kompier, 2012) explains that feelings of happiness and personal well-being rapidly increase when one takes a break from the stresses of daily life. A quick vacation simply won't do. According to the research, the human body needs at least eight days to disconnect, destress and feel refreshed. But too few people have the time and money to make a long vacation a reality, and even fewer are actually interested in or capable of disconnecting, no matter how much this would benefit their physical, mental and spiritual health.

While we may pride ourselves on our productivity and connectedness, in reality, we are losing the war on time. Lacking proper rest and reflection, we are merely automatons doing more work rather than better work; slaves to a system that promotes mastering a set of task-specific skills, rather than original, independent and empowering thought.

To be clear, this is not a new phenomenon. For decades, our society has been developing an addiction to constant engagement, an unhealthy preoccupation with work, news, and multimedia stimuli that has dampened our desire to seek out meaningful connections with other individuals and curtailed our appetite for introspection and self-discovery.

But winter is coming, and it is time to reclaim it for our own good.

Just as winter nourishes the land, priming it for a bountiful spring awakening, it is our challenge and responsibility to embrace the Jewish "off season," a period almost entirely devoid of holidays, to cultivate our spiritual sides. Instead of slogging through the dreariness and allowing one day to flow into the next for months at a time, we must integrate introspection into our daily routines and create light in the darkness. After thousands of years, it is clear that the ideal way to achieve this goal is by engaging with our core Jewish texts.

Whether one chooses to delve into a chapter of the Bible every day or a page of Talmud throughout the course of the week, connecting with Jewish knowledge allows us to disengage from the world while simultaneously discovering our true selves as we explore our history, heritage and traditions. No matter the amount – even a single verse – Torah study helps us reclaim the original spirit of the winter months, swapping our rigid schedules with the freedom of expanding our minds and plumbing the depths of our souls via textual analysis. The simple act of setting aside time to learn Torah refocuses our lives and our priorities, re-establishing the very essence of the seasons in our hearts, minds and actions.

While we no longer have to spend the winter months huddled around a flame for the sake of physical warmth and light, it would serve us well as individuals and Jews to utilize the weather-enforced respite to find our own unique ways to connect with the written word and rekindle our passion for life. Winter does not have to be seen as bleak and dreary. Celebrating it as a time for contemplation, reflection and spiritual discovery, an incubator for true enlightenment, turns it into time well spent.

Winter is coming, and the time of personal illumination awaits.

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