F9: Shavuot

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A note about content

What was the content of this unique
Revelation? It was not, as many people mistakenly
think, the entire Torah. That would only come later
and would take many days for Moses to learn an teach to the people. In truth, the content of the Revelation was only the pronouncement of the "Ten Commandments." That was the extent of the communication. Here's how it all happened...

God's proposition

When the people arrived at Mt. Sinai on the first of Sivan 1312BCE, they didn't know what to expect. They certainly had no idea that they'd be spending such a long time by this mountain learning so many laws of the Torah. The only introduction to Revelation they received made no mention of the Torah or its laws. God simply called Moses up the mountain and told him to propose the following to the people:

"You've seen what I did to Egypt. I carried you out on eagle's wings and brought you to Me. Now if you listen to My voice and care for My covenant then you will be more special to Me than any other nation..." (Exodus 19:4,5)

Moses obediently returned to the people and related to them God's request. Without any questions, they wholeheartedly accepted, saying: 'Whatever it is that God says - we will do!' (Exodus 19:8). These are the key words of the Jewish acceptance of the Torah.

Making a commitment

This is difficult to understand. If you are about to make a deal wouldn't you want to know what the conditions are first? Surely you shouldn't agree to anything until you've read the small print? Yet our ancestors signed on the dotted line without knowing what they were getting into. All the thousands of laws, customs and traditions of Judaism today grew from that ancient agreement. Why did they do it?

In a word... commitment. They were willing to make a go of it and that's all that mattered. God's request was like a marriage proposal. God made no guarantees of what would be in the future. He only described the past and how He had cared for the people. When you ask someone to start a relationship, what you want to know is whether they care enough about you to try and make it work. There are no rules or conditions. If you like them then you'll commit to a relationship and if you begin to love them then you may even consider marriage. The point is that what matters here is commitment and not explanations. When you are ready to commit, you just say: I do.

'God asked the other nations of the world: Would you want to accept My Torah? They replied: "Well, what does it say in Your Torah? Then God asked Israel (the Jews): Would you accept My Torah? They answered together: We will cherish Your Torah, and commit ourselves to keeping and doing whatever it says!' (Midrash: Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer 40:1)

Revelation Day

By the sixth of Sivan the mountain was covered in smoke. There had been a special three day preparation for this moment. The people had built a border around the mountain which no one was to cross, and they had washed and cleaned themselves. Moses was up and down the mountain the whole week readying himself and the people for this moment. Everyone was trembling. Moses told the people not to be afraid and urged them to come a bit closer. And then they heard the voice... It is difficult to imagine what the people encountered that day, but it has lasted until today. Sinai calls to us across the millennia: Do want to hear what God has to say? Do you care?

Forgetting the question

Abraham Heschel has a remarkable but challenging approach to the idea of Revelation. It's really worth thinking about. He said that the most serious problem which we face when talking about the Revelation is nothing to do with the doubts we may have as to whether the account in the Torah is authentic. The real issue is not whether we can ever prove it. The real problem is the absence of the problem.

For an answer to be meaningful assumes that the question matters too. But, says Heschel, the climate in which we now live does not encourage questions about religion. The Jewish tradition of searching for profound knowledge, which has taken hundreds of years to develop, is being lost. The Bible is an answer to the supreme question: what does God ask of us? Yet the question is gradually disappearing. Our idea of God is in very vague and general terms. God's voice has become alien to our minds, to our hearts and to our souls. Since it is so old, it is depicted as old-fashioned. We have learned to listen to what we want and we've forgotten about God. We are more concerned with the day-to-day than the divine. The Bible is a valuable answer, but we don't know the questions anymore. Without recovering these questions, can we ever hope to understand the Bible?

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