Study Guide for Los Angeles Event
The following two texts portray two very different emotions associated with the receiving of Torah from God. The first text is the Torah's own description of the Revelation. The second text comes from our daily prayers, just before the recitation of the morning "shma."
And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a horn exceeding loud; and all the people that were in the camp trembled. 17. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18. Now mount Sinai was altogether on smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
EXODUS XIX, 19
What did it feel like to receive the Torah?
Have you had this feeling of fear/awe?
With a great love hast thou loved us, Lord our God; great and abundant mercy hast thou bestowed upon us. Our Father, our King, for the sake of our forebears who trusted in thee, whom thou didst teach laws of life, be gracious to us and teach us likewise. Our Father, merciful Father, thou who art ever compassionate, have pity on us and inspire us to understand and discern, to perceive, learn and teach, to observe, do and fulfill gladly all the instructions of thy Torah. - Siddur
How is receiving the Torah an experience of love, an expression of God's "hesed" (loving kindness)? Have you had the experience of feeling God's "hesed"?
In the Great Hallel [Ps. 136, incorporated into the liturgy], we do not praise God for the Giving of the Torah, because "the commandments were not given for pleasure" (Eruvin 312), but rather, as Rashi, may his memory be a blessing, explains, they were given as a yoke and we only give thanks for that which gives us pleasure. And while there may be pleasure and joy in the fulfillment of a commandment, the pleasure and the joy are themselves commanded. - Hiddushei Harim, Gur Aryeh.
The Lord's Torah is perfect, refreshing the soul; the Lord's testimony is trustworthy, teaching the simple man wisdom. The Lord's precepts are right, gladdening the heart; the Lord's commandment is clear, enlightening the eyes. The Lord's faith is pure, enduring forever; the Lord's judgments are true, they are altogether just. They are more desirable than gold, than much rare gold; sweeter are they than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. -Psalm 19
How is Torah a "yoke"?
How is it something that "gladdens the heart"?
What is the importance of the "yoke" idea in Jewish thought?
This passage draws the distinction between the "giving of the Torah" and the "receiving of the Torah." What precisely is the difference between the two?
What does it mean to "receive the Torah every day"?
Have you had the experience of "receiving the Torah"? Have you had that experience more than once (perhaps at different stages of life)?
Our Rabbis, the authors of the Aggadah, said: Had only one of them been absent the Torah would not have been given. Rabbi Aharon Halevi, may his memory be a blessing, wrote: It is for this reason that the Torah was given to six hundred thousand people. It was the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, that the Torah be accepted by all factions, and the six hundred thousand included all factions and opinions. - Pekudat Halevi'im.
What different "factions and opinions" might have existed at Sinai?
Why would God have withheld the Torah had one of the "factions or opinions" been absent?
Why, in theory, might someone have wanted to absent himself?
"At His right hand was a fiery law unto them" (Deuteronomy 33: 2). The verse asserts that words of Torah are likened to fire. As fire was given from heaven, so were words of Torah given from heaven. (Israel were told, "Ye yourselves have seen that 1 talked with you from heaven " [Exodus 20: 22]). Even as fire is life for the world, so words of Torah are life for the world. Fire: close up to it, one is scorched, away from it, one is chilled, near but not too near, one enjoys it. So are words of Torah: as long as a man labors in them, they are life for him, but when he separates himself from them, they slay him. Even as fire is made use of in this world and in the world-to-come, so words of Torah are made use of in this world and in the world-to come. Even as fire when used leaves a mark on a man's body, so words of Torah when used leave a mark on the body. Fire: they who work with it are readily distinguishable from other mortals. So, too - by their walk, by their speech, by their garments in the marketplace - disciples of the wise are just as readily distinguishable. - Midrash
What does it mean to "be scorched" by Torah for having come too close?
What does it mean to be "near, but not too near"?
What kind of "chill" does distance from Torah produce?
What mark does Torah leave on the body?
"R. Joshua b. Levi also said: At every single word which went forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, the Israelites retreated twelve mil, but the ministering angels led them back [medaddin], as it is said, The hosts of angels march, they march [yiddodun yiddodun]: read not yiddodun but yedaddun [they lead].
R. Joshua b. Levi also said: When Moses ascended on high, the ministering angels spake before the Holy One, blessed be He, `Sovereign of the Universe! What business has one born of woman amongst us?' ' He has come to receive the Torah,' answered He to them. Said they to Him, `That secret treasure, which has been hidden by Thee for nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created. Thou desirest to give to flesh and blood! What is man, that thou art mindful of him, And the son of man, that thou visitest him? O Lord our God, How excellent is thy name in all the earth! Who has set thy glory [the Torah] upon the Heavens!' ‘Return them an answer,’ bade the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses. ‘Sovereign of the Universe,’ replied he, 'I fear lest they consume me with the [fiery] breath of their mouths.’ ' Hold on to the Throne of Glory,' said He to him, 'and return them an answer,' as it is said, ‘He maketh him to hold on to the face of his throne, And spreadeth [PaRSHeZ] his cloud over him,’ whereon R. Nahman observed: This teaches that the Almighty [Shaddai] spread [PiRash] the lustre [Ziv] of His Shechinah and cast it as a protection over him. He [then] spake before Him: `Sovereign of the Universe! The Torah which Thou givest me, what is written therein?' I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt. Said he to them [the angels], 'Did ye go down to Egypt; were ye enslaved to Pharaoh: why then should the Torah be yours?' Again, 'What is written therein? Thou shalt have none other gods: do ye dwell among peoples that engage in idol worship? Again what is written therein? Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: do ye then perform work, that ye need to rest? Again what is written therein? Thou shalt not take [tissa] [the name... in vain]: is there any business [massa] dealings among you? Again what is written therein, Honour thy father and thy mother, have ye fathers and mothers? Again what is written therein? Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Is there jealousy among you; is the Evil Tempter among you? Straightway they conceded [right] to the Holy One, blessed be He, for it is said, 'O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is thy name, etc. whereas `Who hast set thy glory upon the heavens' is not written. Immediately each one was moved to love him [Moses] and transmitted something to him, for it is said, Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast taken spoils [the Torah]; Thou hast received gifts on account of man: as a recompense for their calling thee man [adam] thou didst receive gifts. The Angel of Death too confided his secret to him, for it is said, And he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people', and it is said, And he stood between the dead and the living, etc.' Had he not told it to him,
whence had he known it? " - Talmud, Shabbat 89aFor whom is the Torah intended?
What is the angels' objection to Moshe's receiving the Torah? What validity is there to their argument?
What is the power of Moshe's argument?
How can the tension be resolved?
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