And why should everyone and his fifteenth cousin hear the Ten Commandments?

When we read the “Ten Biggies”, it’s not about something that happened in ancient history. It’s about what’s happening in the here and now. When we hear the cantor read the Ten Commandments in our suburbia synagogue, G-d considers it as though we were hearing them read to us at Mt. Sinai. That’s no paltry happening! AND, just as every single Jewish person—male, female, old, young—was present at Mt. Sinai, so too, every person should attend the annual Mt. Sinai experience of re-receiving the Torah from G-d on Shavuot.

The youngest of our people are, in fact, the ones who guarantee that we will cherish, learn, and keep the Torah

When G-d gave us the Torah, He wanted guarantors that we would forever study and observe this holiest of gifts. But even the suggestion of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob standing in as guarantors was not good enough. Who was G-d’s choice? The children. The youngest of our people are, in fact, the ones who guarantee that we will cherish, learn, and keep the Torah. So, when you come to receive the Torah on Shavuot, bring along the kids and grandkids, so they can receive G-d’s greatest gift to us, too.