From Har Sinai to Today: The Sixth of Sivan's Timeless Impact

0:01 certain events are so momentous, so monumental God forbid so tragic that they actually take over the entire day on the calendar. Just think of the date September 11th. Just saying those words and immediately thoughts of tragedy, of terrorism, airplanes and disaster comes flooding into your mind. Just say the date July 4th to a friend, a colleague in the office and see if hot dogs, hamburgers and baseball comes to mind Just by the mere reference to a date on the calendar.

0:42 And on a more somber, sober and serious note, mention to a Jew in Shul the date October 7th and watch how he feels a bit uneasy. It feels like you're discussing, really, a wound that is still open and you're clawing at it. You're still not sure what to make of this date and hope that the wound heals itself and that shalom and peace should come back. It all comes to mind just from saying October 7th. People will say where were you on this date? The entire event changes that date on the calendar for human history and there is no greater example than right at the beginning of the Torah, where this concept is shown and actually becomes a teaching in Rashi.

1:35 And follow me, here is the 31st Pesach in the Torah that says God saw all that he has made and behold, it was exceedingly good. And there was evening, and there was morning, and then there was the sixth, the sixth day. Rashi picks up the sixth day. What's sixth day? That distinctive hay that's pointing to one separate, lofty, unique sixth-day hashishi. What's six-day? Says Rashi? Well, of course, there's only one six-day on the calendar and that's the sixth of Sivan, referring to when Hashem gives the Torah to the Jewish people.

2:17 On Har Sinai, says the Medrash that Hashem was telling over, right here and right now, that, with all of the celestial beings, with all of the different teeming creatures, from the fish to the lizard, all the way up to the unique sun, clouds and stars, every single creation in this world, it is all hinging on the fact that the Jewish people will accept my Torah and the creation will now reach its completion. On Hashishi, on the sixth day, and without Torah and without the sixth of Sivan, all of this is utterly pointless. So, Baruch Hashem, that the Jewish people accepted the Torah.

2:59 This shed so much light on what really happened on Harsinai on the 6th of Sivan. It was that marriage in the desert, that occasion of which we finally tied the knot with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We understand the depth of which Chazal tell us that we are the guardians of Torah and we are the light unto the nations. Because of that decision, it makes so much sense why Reb Chaim Valazhener would make sure that his Talmidim, his students, would make sure to take different sessions of learning through the night, so that the palace should never be left without guards, so that the Torah should never be left without at least one person in the world studying it.

3:41 So who's got the 3 am to 4 am slot? Because without Torah and Torah study, the whole world will not reach its ultimate goal. When we broaden our horizons and understand the grandeur, the greatness, the loftiness of Torah, we understand why Chazal say that that God forbid. Somebody who learns Torah every couple weeks, from time to time, is like God forbid. He's just cheating on his spouse and seeing other people because he never views Torah as a relationship. He doesn't tie the knot, he doesn't see it every single day, but he just goes from different spouse, different person, to another.

4:27 He's a noafisha. He's lacking the commitment. On the 6th of Sivan, creation and its objective was fulfilled. And on the 6th of Sivan, every single year, we renew our commitments and remind ourselves that it is our Torah and our keeping of the mitzvos that the whole world depends upon. That's what happened on Yom HaShishi on the sixth day. Just say the words the sixth day and everyone knows what you're talking about.