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About fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with tendinitis in my hamstring. No surgery was required, but I needed to do twice-weekly rehab for several months. It wasn’t too bad, but I often joked that if there were two treatment options being offered, I always received the worse option. Heat and gentle stimulation on the muscle? No, a giant bag of ice, followed by a “massage” consisting of a two-hundred-pound guy leaning as hard as possible into a stick which he pressed against my leg.
Even after I completed my therapy, it took several months until I gained full strength in my leg. I refrained from racing until I felt confident that both legs were strong. Today the good news is that both legs are equal. The bad news is that, after fifteen years, I’m slower than I used to be.
Our sages wondered if something similar might be behind the delay between the exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah, which happened in the third month. (Exodus 19:1). Once the people were free, it would have been logical to have the Torah given immediately. But that wouldn’t have been appropriate, the sages say. The Jewish people needed to complete their “spiritual therapy” after centuries of slavery. Thus we read in the 7th century CE midrash Song of Songs Rabbah (2:5)
Rabbi Shimon ben Yocḥai taught: When the Israelites departed from Egypt, to what were they comparable? To the son of a king who recovered from his illness. His caretaker said to him: ‘Let your son go to the academy.’ The king said to him: ‘My son has not yet regained his radiance, which changed due to his illness. Rather, let my son be pampered and enjoy himself for three months with food and drink, and then he will go to the academy.’ So too, when the Israelites departed from Egypt, there were those among them who were marred from subjugation with mortar and bricks. The ministering angels said to Him: ‘This is the time, give them the Torah.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘My children have not yet regained their radiance as a result of mortar and bricks. Let them be pampered up to three months with spring water, manna, and quail, and thereafter I will give them the Torah.’ When? “In the third month” (Exodus 19:1).
In other words, spiritual health and wellness was just as important as its physical counterpart. The Jewish people needed time to recovery from the injuries, figurative and literal, to be in a proper state to receive the Torah at the foot of Mt. Sinai.
And let’s just say that three months of pampering sure beats my giant ice bags.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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