Twenty years ago, I spent a few days in the Sinai Peninsula. Among my memorable experiences was a visit to St. Catherine's Monastery, an isolated spot nestled at the base of a small, non-descript mountain. What makes St. Catherine's worthy of a visit is that it is thought to sit at the base of Mount Sinai.
Two thousand years our sages asked: Why was the Torah given in the wilderness, in a place belonging to no one, publicly and in the open? To teach us that just as the wilderness is open to all, so too are the teachings of Torah open to anyone who wishes to learn.
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine (d.1935) observed that because revelation took place in the wilderness all can understand that "the inner concept of Torah is relevant and needed by all humanity...Sinai attests to the Torah's universal nature."
These lessons are powerful reminders that Torah is accessible to anyone willing to engage and wrestle with it. These lessons demonstrate the accessible and egalitarian nature of the text as well. Torah is not intended to be hidden away under lock and key. It truly is 'open source' material from which we draw wisdom which we then share with others.
This week's Torah portion, Yitro, includes Revelation at Sinai-the giving and receiving of the Ten Commandments and all of Torah. While revelation is the central feature of our Jewish story that marks the moment when, as Rabbi Neil Gillman teaches, "God and Israel entered into a relationship," it is also a universal story of ethics, morality and civics, lessons of which continue to apply to many facets of daily living.
Torah was given and received at Sinai, at a particular moment in time. However, the Torah that we received is not static. Just like any relationship, our personal relationship with Torah and the tradition that is contained within is dynamic, unfolding, evolving, reforming, speaking to the human needs of those who hold it close.
May Torah always inspire and guide us and may we let the laws and lessons contained within teach us reach our potential.
