I am ecstatic to welcome you back to 49 Steps, our annual series providing you with daily tidbits of Jewish wisdom and Jewish longings from Passover to Shavuot. This publication was received with such great reception last year that we could not be happier to bring it back. Great thanks goes to our many generous sponsors, who have made this series possible.
Limmud exists at the next between two commitments: one to the broadest breadth of Jewish wisdom – this too is Torah – and one to the broadest breadth of Jewish community – we all stood together at Sinai. We bring together Jewish ideas and the Jewish People, because we believe that the best way to animate a brighter Jewish future is to get our ideas and our community bubbling in curiosity together.
These seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot, when the Jewish People wanders with purpose toward the base of Mount Sinai, are a time of wonder and amazement, a time of coming together in collective solidarity, a time of preparation for something new and something larger. This period embodies the essence of the magic of Limmud, the manifestation of our yearnings, commitments and force for good.
Our approach asks that each of us embody one key attribute: curiosity. Curiosity is admitting that I do not have all the answers. Curiosity is accepting that my way is not the only way. Curiosity is showing that I value my neighbor, even when I do not understand her. It is the path to communal thriving. It is the road to empowering the next generation. It is the framework for a more connected, more engaged, more open Jewish future.
As we approach the base of the mountain, as we spiritually prepare to accept the calling on Shavuot, let us embody this curiosity, welcoming our fellow travelers to approach the covenantal yearning with us hand in hand, leading and being led, and asking many questions along the way.
Learn on!
