"Sure," we say to ourselves, "I believe in G-d, and I even realize that I can't do anything without His help." But do we make Hashem a real entity in our lives? Is He an active part of our existence? Do we truly feel obligated and responsible to Hashem for our every success in life? How often, when we successfully accomplish a goal or assignment, do we mumble an empty mechanical "Thank G-d", but deep inside feel haughtily that "it is my strength and my power that accomplished this."

The question remains, is G-d a real entity in our lives? Do we truly realize deep inside of us that it is He and only He that grants success, that it is He who gives us the ideas, the talent, and the energy

Examining the Jewish calendar gives rise to the following query: Why is the week-long yomtov of Sukkot followed by Shemini Atzeret, a short one-day continuance, whereas the week-long holiday of Pesach is not followed by any such brief closing chag? The answer is that Shavuot is really the conclusion of Pesach.

True, we were freed from slavery on Pesach, but that was only a physical freedom. Being free to do whatever we want to do - without any restraints - is not true freedom, for we would remain slaves to our desires. Only when we accepted the Torah on Shavuot and willingly bound ourselves to Hashem and His way of life did we truly become free. Receiving the Torah imbued our