Note: The Rebbe, of righteous memory, would periodically issue a pastoral letter in preparation for the Shavuot holiday. Below we bring you one such message addressed to youth.

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Dear Friend,

Following Pesach -- the Festival of Our Liberation -- comes Shavuot -- the Festival of the Receiving of Our Torah. The days of Sefirah (Counting of the Omer), beginning immediately on the morrow of the first day of Pesach and ending on the eve of Shavuot, connect these two great festivals.

Many significant lessons can be learned from this, of which I will point out but one:

Our Sages tell us that when Moshe was about to lead the children of Israelout of Egypt, he told them of G-d's promise to give the Torah to His beloved people following their liberation from bondage. At once they asked when would that happy day be, and Moshe replied that it would be fifty days later. Every day the children of Israel counted: One day is gone, two days, three, and so on, and eagerly looked forward to the fiftieth day. The children of Israel understood that there could be no real freedom -- freedom from any fear of oppression by others, and freedom from one's own evil inclinations -- except through laws of justice and righteousness, which only the Creator of all mankind could make, because He knows best what is good for them. It is not surprising, therefore, that they were so eager to receive the Divine Torah, containing those wonderful laws to guide them and all the world.

Let us also remember that we cannot be truly free men, nor would we be worthy of such freedom, unless we take upon ourselves to observe and do all that G-d commanded us in His holy Torah. Like our ancestors at Mount Sinai, we also must proclaim: Naaseh vnishmah -- we will do and learn; and only then will we have lasting freedom. Indeed, it was their determination, while still in Egypt, to accept the Torah that merited them their liberation from enslavement. Likewise at this time, our return to the Torah and its observance, while awaiting for the Redemption, will hasten the coming of Mashiach and merit us the true and complete Redemption in our own day.

Wishing you a happy Shavuot,

Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson

Shabat Shalom,
Rabbi Ovadia Goldman

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Monday May 28 – Second Day Shavuot
Begin, 9:30AM
Yizkor Service, Aprox. 11:00AM
Chabad Community Center
3000 W Hefner RD - Oklahoma City, OK 73120

Yizkor is a special memorial prayer for the departed.
Yizkor, in Hebrew, means "Remember." It is not only the first word of the prayer, it also represents its overall theme. In this prayer, we implore G-d to remember the souls of our relatives that have passed on.
When we recite Yizkor, we renew and strengthen the connection between us and our loved one, bringing merit to the departed souls, elevating them in their celestial homes.
The main component of Yizkor is our private pledge to give charity following the holiday in honor of the deceased. By giving charity, we are performing a positive physical deed in this world, something that the departed can no longer do.
The soul gains additional merit if the memory of its good deeds spur their loved ones to improve their ways.
Some kindle a 24-hour Yizkor candle (before the holiday).
Yizkor is recited four times a year, following the Torah reading on the last day of Passover, on the second day of Shavuot, on Shemini Atzeret and on Yom Kippur.

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Thursdays: May 31 June 7th - 10am -1130am

Join other parents for a magical time as we explore a child’s world through music, circle time and more. This is a great opportunity to meet new parents and to spend quality time with your child.

Please call 405.503.9006 or e-mail [email protected] for questions and reservattions.

Google's Schmidt challenges: no screen time for 1 hour a day (Shabbat)

May 20, 2012 | Ross Kerbe | Reuters

Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt challenged college graduates on Sunday to take the radical step -- at least for their generation -- of tearing their eyes away from their smartphones and computer screens.

"Take one hour a day and turn that thing off," Schmidt told graduates at Boston University, where he received an honorary degree and was applauded by an audience that had grown up relying on the technology company's search engine, e-mail and other services.

Teenage Boy Completes Entire Talmud in Three Years

May 20, 2012 | Joshua Runyan| Chabad.org

Devoting hours of intense study every day to his regular course load, a 19-year-old boy from Toronto has accomplished in the astonishing time of three years what most adults spend their whole lives attempting...

“… It actually took longer than three years,” Zirkind, a student at Tomchei Tmimim-Chovevei Torah, remarked on Friday, two days before the Brooklyn, N.Y., yeshiva would celebrate his accomplishment during a day of study billed as a spiritual preparation for the holiday of Shavuot one week later. “I first had to learn how to learn.”

Why Mount Sinai?

Everybody knows that the Ten Commandments were given by G-d on Mount Sinai. But why Mount Sinai in particular? The Midrashtells us that Mount Sinai was not the highest and most splendid mountain. In fact it is described as being the lowest of all the mountains which might have been chosen. Nonetheless, G-d chose Mount Sinai for the Giving of the Torah in order to teach an important message: to tell us that humility is a prerequisite to the learning of Torah.

Torah comes from G-d. When hearing an instruction from the Torah, we need the ability to listen. This is a rare quality: usually our own ego gets in the way. We hear our own ideas, not what the Torah is saying. Humility is the step beyond our ego, a mood of selflessness, which makes us receptive to the Torah. Thus we say at the end of the dailyAmidah prayer "May my soul be to all as the dust - open my heart to your Torah". A Chassidic comment on this idea goes a step further. Surely, if the emphasis is on humility, why choose a mountain at all? Wouldn't the message have been more keenly felt if the Torah were given on a flat plain, or even better, in a valley?

This puzzle is explained as follows. While humility is important, there are also many occasions in Jewish life when a more determined and forceful approach is demanded. Personal self- sacrifice, steadfastness in the face of ridicule or contempt, the readiness to suffer for Judaism (as Jews in Communist Russia did for many years) are responses that are sometimes required.

It is interesting that right at the beginning of the Code of Jewish Lawcomes the statement "Do not be embarrassed by mockery and ridicule". If one were to waver in observance of a Jewish law simply because of the derisive criticism of others, there would soon not be much observance of Judaism left at all!

So one needs both qualities: humility and strength. The ability to listen, and also the firmness to be able to stand up against the current. Both qualities are expressed in the image of Mount Sinai.

Final Women’s Rosh Chodesh Group for this year

When G-d gave the Torah no bird twittered, no fowl flew, no ox lowed, none of the angels stirred a wing, the seraphim did not say "Holy, Holy," the sea did not roar, the creatures spoke not, the whole world was hushed into breathless silence and the voice went forth: "I am the L-rd your G-d."

— Midrash Rabbah