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Forty Days of Love \ Parashat Yitro
D'var Torah: "HaShem descended upon Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain; HaShem summoned Moshe to the top of the mountain, and Moshe ascended"(Shemot 19:20). Moshe stayed atop Mount Sinai, in the Presence of HaShem, for forty days and forty nights. During this extraordinary time HaShem taught Moshe the entire Torah, just as a Rabbi teaches his beloved student. Yet, a question arises. Since HaShem is all-powerful, surely He could have taught Moshe Rabenu the Torah in a matter of seconds? Indeed, today we can transfer gigabytes of information in a few moments. The answer is that HaShem did teach the Torah to Moshe Rabenu in a few seconds. If so, what was the purpose of Moshe Rabenu staying on Mount Sinai for forty days and nights? Most of time that Moshe was on Mount Sinai, HaShem revealed to him, His endless dimensions of love for Moshe Rabenu and for all of Klal Yisrael.
Moral: The Torah is not independent of the revelation of HaShem's love for the Jewish People. Indeed, the revelation of HaShem's love for Klal Yisrael is the primary revelation of the Torah. Application: (1) Before you study Torah, take a minute to reflect on HaShem's unbounded love for you and all of Klal Yisrael. (2) Sense the happiness that Moshe Rabenu attained upon basking in HaShem's love for forty days. (3) Transpose Moshe's joy to your heart. (4) Study Torah as if you are reading love letters from HaShem to you. (Based on Chidushie Chofetz Chaim on the Torah)
The Salant Foundation is currently looking for a Shul or community to partner with us in sharing the merit of the unique and important Salant Kollel. There are practical and easy ways (such as adoptakollel.org) to create a special mutual relationship between the Kollel and a Shul or community. If you think your shul or community or even workplace might want to participate in supporting the Salant Kollel, please contact Rabbi Zvi Miller at salantorg@gmail.com, and we'll discuss how to go about implementing your idea. Thank you. | 
