Bar-Ilan University Parshat Yitro 5774/January 18, 2014 Parashat Hashavua Study Center

Lectures on the weekly Torah reading by the faculty of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. A project of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Paul and Helene Shulman Basic Jewish Studies Center, and the Office of the Campus Rabbi. Published on the Internet under the sponsorship of Bar-Ilan University's International Center for Jewish Identity. Prepared for Internet Publication by the Computer Center Staff at Bar-Ilan University.

1. 
   Religious significance: G-d chose the place, the time and the word with which to reveal His will and His laws to the people, and therefore over the generations the focus has been primarily on the content of this revelation: what are the things that G-d demands of man, and what is the purpose of mankind in His world? Hence, for one, the attention focused on the Decalogue.
   
2. 
   Social significance: All the Israelites stood together, heard together and responded together, "we shall faithfully obey." This happening forged a special bond between the people who were there, a bond of mutual responsibility and mutual assistance, leading to the principle of "all Israel are sureties one for another."²
   
3. 
   Legal-moral significance: it becomes clear from the text that G-d did not give Israel the Torah as a "gift," nor as a "burden" which He imposed on them by virtue of His being G-d; rather, G-d wished that they accept the Torah of their own free will,³ by their consent. Indeed, thus it was: "All the people answered as one, saying, 'All that the Lord has spoken we will do!'" (Ex. 19:8). Also of Moses, as the representative of the Oral Law, and of the legislation by the Rabbis throughout the generations,⁴ the Israelites said, "everything that the Lord our G-d tells you, we will willingly do" (Deut. 5:24).
   

4. 
   Theological significance: the Israelites themselves, even while standing at the base of the mountain, sensed that something special and of the utmost importance was taking place, as they said to Moses: "We have seen this day that man may live though G-d has spoken to him" (Deut. 5:21).⁶ The real innovation, however, was that the Creator of the Universe desired to speak to specific human beings, namely, with the small group known as Israelites. Maimonides, for his part, sees in this event the basis for believing in the truth of the prophecy given us by Moses, as he writes (Hilkhot Yesodei Ha-Torah 8.11):
   

…How is it known that the [revelation] at Mount Sinai alone is proof of the truth of Moses' prophecy that leaves no shortcoming? [Exodus 19:9] states: "I will come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after."

Apparently Maimonides meant to say that knowledge of this important event did not come to the Israelites by way of a story conveyed from mouth to mouth, rather as a living, personal experience; "our eyes saw…our ears heard" how the Lord delegated Moses and relayed His word to the Israelites through Moses' mouth.⁷ It seems to me, however, that Maimonides' emphasis on the senses, "our eyes" and "our ears," is somewhat problematic, especially in view of the verse, "All the people saw the thunder and lightning, the blare of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they fell back and stood at a distance" (Ex. 20:15).

In other words, even after all the sensational theatrics of fire and smoke, thunder and lightning, the people still "stood at a distance," – that is, they still had not caught on to what was taking place. Indeed, this is only to be expected, for the very encounter with G-d does not occur with simple perception of the senses; rather, it involves consciousness that goes beyond the senses.⁸ All those who were present sensed with their entire being that they were standing in the presence of their Maker, who knew them to the full depth of their being, and this sense aroused in them not only terror but also admiration. All this is subsumed in the bold description: "Face to face the Lord spoke to you" (Deut. 5:4) on the mountain out of the fire. Like a human being speaking to his fellow, face to face, conversing with him, answering him, and looking into his eyes—thus the Israelites felt at Mount Sinai: each person was sure he or she was in direct contact with a tremendous force having human characteristics such as will, purpose, self-identity, and moral values; a presence that is sensed simultaneously as being altogether "other" yet altogether "close."⁹

Now we can see how the Lord's words to the Israelites, "You yourselves saw that I spoke to you from the very heavens" (Ex. 20:19) can be interpreted: you all had such a momentous and convincing experience, as if you saw that I am the one speaking with you from another realm, something super-natural, "inventor of all inventors." Consequently, the revelation at Mount Sinai is the epistemological foundation of Judaism.¹⁰ Indeed, the main knowledge that comes to us from the Theophany at Mount Sinai, that there is a moral Creator of the universe who speaks with human beings, we received through a super-sensual experience, first-hand and not mediated.

The text goes on to emphasize the important role of the Voice in the entire event: "For what mortal ever heard the voice of the living G-d speak out of the fire, as we did, and lived?" (Deut. 5:23), as well as: "You heard the sound of words [Heb. kol devarim] but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice [Heb. kol]" (Deut. 4:12).¹¹ What is meant by kol devarim? Kol alone can mean simply a sound and not a human voice, and a human voice can be a shout and not a comprehendible expression. Therefore the text stresses kol devarim—a voice that utters words: you, who heard it, could make out comprehendible words and sentences.

Clearly the main objective of revelation at Mount Sinai was to give the Torah, to reveal the Lord's will and to hand down a detailed way of life to the chosen people. But aside from its content, this Voice had a special quality and miraculous nature, such that the one who heard it could recognize from the Voice itself something that pertained to the Speaker. The Voice of the Lord is multi-faceted:¹² "The voice of the Lord is power; the voice of the Lord is majesty" (Ps. 29:4). Sometimes the voice of the Lord assumes the form of words and sentences, as in the Ten Commandments, and sometimes the voice of the Lord becomes fiat: "For He spoke, and it was" (Ps. 33:9), as it is written, "With ten utterances the world was created" (Avot 5.1).

But whether the voice of the Lord appears as might or as beauty, whether as Teaching or in nature, one can expect the product to bear witness to its Maker, just as one who contemplates creation is filled with admiration for the wisdom, the momentous powers and the beauty, and will attribute these characteristic to the Creator. Thus, when the voice of G-d takes the form of words of Torah, those who study them today can sense their divine source. Perhaps the verse, "The Lord spoke those words—those and no more [Heb. ve-lo yasaf]—to your whole congregation at the mountain, with a mighty voice out of the fire and the dense clouds" (Deut. 5:19) alludes precisely to this. Rashi interprets ve-lo yasaf as meaning "has not ceased," as if to say that the impact of the voice is still felt in words of Torah. May we be blessed to experience this in our study of Torah.