Page 6 - Harlem Shavuot Companion 2020

Revelation in Each Step

By Erica Frankel, Co-Founder of Based in Harlem

“Each step will be revealed.”

For a month, these words greeted me each time I
walked into our kitchen, inscribed on a sticky note
tacked up on the wall. This note was among a dozen or
so ‘birth affirmations’ suggested to me by a dear
friend, meant to stir my imagination and calm my
anxious mind in the last several weeks of pregnancy.
It was July, and I was big. As I padded around my
home, feet swollen and balance off-kilter, I
encountered a sticky-note affirmation on the wall every few steps. But among all of them, this:
Each Step Will Be Revealed. It promised mystery. It withheld the immediate answers I sought.
And it said: there will be no sudden moment of understanding, no “zap!” of instant wisdom, just
the perpetual act of simply putting one swollen foot in front of the other.

This was hard to swallow.

After all, this would be our first child, and I was staring out into the great unknown! I wanted to
understand: What will labor be like? Will I be able to handle it? Who is this new little human soul
I will meet when I give birth? Will we be good parents? How will our lives change?

“Each step will be revealed.”

Shavuot commemorates the dramatic act of Matan Torah: God’s giving of the Torah to the Jewish
people at Mount Sinai through the act of revelation. The scene of revelation encountered at Sinai,
of Divine disclosure at the mountain, is raw, intimate, and vulnerable. Exodus 19:16-19 describes
it thus:

ִ

On the third day, as morning תֹ֣י ְה ִִּֽב י ִׁ֜שיִל ְשַה םוֹּ֨יַב ֩י ִהְיַו
dawned, there was thunder, and םי ִׁ֜ק ָר ְבוּ ת ּ֨ל ק ֩י ִהְיַו רֶק ֹּ֗בַה

ִ

lightning, and a dense cloud upon רָָ֖פ ש ל ֹ֥קְו ר ָ֔הָה־לַע ֙דֵבָכ ןָ֤ ָנָעְו
ָ

the mountain, and a very loud blast םָָ֖עָה־לָכ ד ַֹ֥רֱחֶיַו ד ֹ֑א ְמ ק ָֹ֣זָח
ֵ
of the horn; and all the people who הֶֶׁ֧ש מ א ּ֨צוֹיַו ׃הִֶּֽנֲחַמ ִַּֽב רֶֹ֥שֲא
were in the camp trembled. Moses םי ִָ֖הלֱאִָּֽה תא ַֹ֥רְקִל םָָ֛עָה־ת ֶא
led the people out of the camp תי ִֹ֥ת ְח ַת ְב וּ ָ֖ב ְצַי ְתִִּֽיַו הֶֹ֑נֲחַמ ִַּֽה־ן ִמ
toward God, and they took their וֹ ָ֔לֻּכ ןַֹ֣שָע ֙יַני ִס ר ַהְו ׃ר ִָּֽהָה
ֶ
places at the foot of the mountain. הָָ֖והְי ויָָ֛לָע ד ַֹ֥רָי ר ּ֨שֲא יֵנ ְפ ִ֠מ ִ
Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, ן ֶשֶֹ֣עְכ ֙וֹנ ָשֲע לַע ַיַו שֵֹ֑אָב
ָ

for the LORD had come down upon ׃ד ִּֽא ְמ רָָ֖הָה־לָכ ד ַֹ֥רֱחֶיַו ן ָ֔ש ְב ִכַה
it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole קֵֹ֣זָחְו ךְֵָ֖לוֹה ר ָָ֔פוֹשַה לוֹ ֹ֣ק ֙י ִהְיַו
mountain trembled violently. The blare of the horn grew louder and םי ִָ֖הלֱאָהְו ר ֵָ֔בַדְי הֶֹ֣ש מ ד ֹ֑ א ְמ
louder. As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder. ׃לוֹ ִּֽק ְב וּנֶֹּ֥נֲעַי

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