Dear TBZ community:
Nearly every Shabbat morning our TBZ Torah study group, sometimes 20 or 30 TBZers, engage in the weekly Torah portion. We read text, we bring commentaries, we discuss, and we connect the text to our lives. We laughingly agree and disagree as we turn the text over in our minds. We find ourselves moved by the stories made alive by our conversation and our study. As we read again, every week, and every year, there is always something to discover in the text, something that reveals itself and touches our lives anew.
This week we read Parshat Yitro -- the revelation story and the giving of the Ten Commandments. It is the story of being led to Torah.
In Exodus 19, verses 17-19 we read
וַיּוֹצֵ֨א מֹשֶׁ֧ה אֶת־הָעָ֛ם לִקְרַ֥את הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים מִן־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה וַיִּֽתְיַצְּב֖וּ בְּתַחְתִּ֥ית הָהָֽר׃
Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain.
וְהַ֤ר סִינַי֙ עָשַׁ֣ן כֻּלּ֔וֹ מִ֠פְּנֵי אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָרַ֥ד עָלָ֛יו יְהוָ֖ה בָּאֵ֑שׁ וַיַּ֤עַל עֲשָׁנוֹ֙ כְּעֶ֣שֶׁן הַכִּבְשָׁ֔ן וַיֶּחֱרַ֥ד כָּל־הָהָ֖ר מְאֹֽד׃
Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for the LORD had come down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently.
וַיְהִי֙ ק֣וֹל הַשּׁוֹפָ֔ר הוֹלֵ֖ךְ וְחָזֵ֣ק מְאֹ֑ד מֹשֶׁ֣ה יְדַבֵּ֔ר וְהָאֱלֹהִ֖ים יַעֲנֶ֥נּוּ בְקֽוֹל׃
The blare of the horn grew louder and louder. As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder.
וַיּוֹצֵ֨א מֹשֶׁ֧ה אֶת־הָעָ֛ם לִקְרַ֥את הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים
Moses led the people out of the camp toward God.
The image of Moshe leading us TOWARDS God, לִקְרַ֥את הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים, is an image I want to explore.
In this reading we approach, we come near, we hear a loud shofar and we are brought close to God to receive Torah. Revelation, the receiving of Torah, is an intimate moment between each human being and God.
Our tradition teaches that when the Torah was given, all Jews were standing at Sinai. Not only all of those who had just exited Egypt, but all Jews who would come into this world in the future were present. Revelation was so important that even Jews who did not yet exist had to witness it directly.
The Hasidic Master Sefat Emet
(R’ Yehudah Aryej Leib Alter
) has a teaching in the context of the holiday of Shavuot when we celebrate the receiving of Torah.
Sefat Emet teaches:
(כתיב "פנים בפנים דיבר ה' עמכם (דברים ה:ד
It is written: "Face to face Adonai spoke to you (Deuteronomy 5:4)
כתיב "וכל העם רואים את הקולות ואת הלפידים ואת קול השופר
(ואת ההר עשן וירא העם ויענו ויעמדו מרחוק (שמות כ:ט"ו
Scripture says: All the people saw the thunder and lightning, the shofar and the smoking mountain; the people saw, trembled and stood far off (Ex. 20:18).
וקשה: "וירא" השני מיותר
Why does the word "Saw" have to be repeated?
אכן יש לומר שראו במאורות הללו שנתגלו להם את עצמותם
Because through these light visions their own selves were revealed to them.
כמו שדרשו חז"ל "פנים בפנים- כאספקלריא שכל אחד רואה שם צורה שלו
(על פי מדרש הגדול עמוד צ"ח)
The sages read "face to face" as a mirror; each one saw his own form.
(והוא פירוש "כמים הפנים לפנים" (משלי כ"ז: י"ט
This is the meaning of "face to face is as in water (Proverbs 27:19).
כמו שמתגלה פנימיות חלקו בתורה, דיש לכל נפש ישראל חלק בתורה. לכן נדמה התורה למים
As the inner person is revealed to Torah, so each Jews's inward portion in Torah is revealed to us. Every Jew has a particular portion within Torah; that is why Torah appears to us as water [reflecting our own souls].
The Sefat Emet tells us that in the moment that the people of Israel experienced thunder and lighting and shofar, in the moment that Torah was revealed to each of us, we found in Torah our own selves. For each of us there is a part of Torah that is ours. Torah has the capacity to be a mirror to our own lives. The gift of Torah is not a gift of an external book that comes to teach us something from the outside, but rather it is in Torah that we see our own self reflected.
The blessing that one says before studying torah reads:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוק בְּדִבְרֵי תורָה
Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu laasok b’divrei Torah.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who hallows us with mitzvot, commanding us to engage with words of Torah.
I love the verb used in this blessing:
Laasok
, to engage with, to be busy with. The encounter with Torah is one of commitment and engagement. Is an encounter of relevance and meaning.
בֶּן בַּג בַּג אוֹמֵר, הֲפֹךְ בָּהּ וַהֲפֹךְ בָּהּ, דְּכֹלָּא בָהּ
Ben Bag Bag said: Turn it over, and [again] turn it over, for all is therein.
My invitation to each of us in this Shabbat of Revelation is to continue engaging with our tradition and Torah. See yourself in it. Be inspired by its teaching to live your life with intention. I invite you to receive Torah and to continue to turn it over and find your own self in its teachings.
May this Shabbat bring blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find our own Torah to guide to heal and make this world a better place
May we have a joyful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
