Almost Eden

DVAR TORAH: TO "SUMMIT" ALL UP
RABBI STEWART WEISS

The highlight of our Sedra - and perhaps all the Torah! – is the reading of the Aseret HaDibrot, the Ten Commandments. The Torah’s intro to this earth-shaking (our apologies to Haiti) event - “And G-d spoke all these things, saying….” – is explained by Rashi:
“Hashem first spoke all 10 commandments at the same time (an act that is humanly impossible), and then He delineated each of them one by one.”

The obvious question is that if a human being could not process all the commandments presented simultaneously, then what was the purpose of doing it? Particularly if we were soon going to hear them individually anyway!

Follow up:

I suggest that Hashem wanted to initially show us “the big picture,” to present the overall fullness of the Torah, and only then to dissect it into separate Mitzvot. It was important that we appreciate the goal for which we are striving, before we take any specific steps to reach that goal.

Imagine a mountain-climber about to ascend Mt. Everest. Before he begins his climb, he takes a step back to look up at the summit, to mentally record the object of his struggle. Then he gets to work moving up that mountain. As he ascends, little by little, he may see only the solid rock wall in front of him; the mountain-top may be totally obscured from his view. But in his mind’s eye, that summit is always there, and it is always beckoning to him and pulling him upwards.

The Mitzvot we do, day in and day out, are the steps we take on our climb upwards to Hashem. Without them, we cannot hope to reach the summit. But it is crucial for us to also have a vision of where we are headed, and be able to visualize the exhilaration that awaits us when we do reach the top.

There are some people who gaze longingly at the mountain-top, who truly desire to reach the heights. But, alas, they are not prepared to do what it takes to get there (or may not have prepared the right “equipment” for the climb!).

At the same time, there are those who do indeed work their way forward, step by step, but have lost sight of exactly where they are headed to!

(It is worth noting that Israel – which is “higher” in both a topographical and spiritual sense - is always referred to in terms of “going up” or “ascending,” in keeping with this metaphor of the mountain.)

Perhaps this is why, on several occasions, the Torah mysteriously says that the people “saw the sounds.” Our ears can take in only so many words at once; but our eyes can capture an entire panorama with just one look. The Hebrew word for sounds - "kolot" - can also mean "voices." And so we saw the totality of G-d's "voices" as He presented the entire Torah to us in a "preview" of what was to come.

Seeing is believing; but it is also the first, important step in a lifelong journey to G-d.

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ASK THE RABBI

Question: STAND OR SIT: WHAT IS THE PROPER POSTURE FOR HEARING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS?

Answer: There is a well-known practice to stand when the 10 Commandments are read in shul (like this Shabbat); we are, in effect, re-enacting the manner in which the Israelites stood at the foot of Har Sinai when they received the Torah.

However, Rambam rules that this custom is mistaken & should be discontinued. He is concerned that people may come to believe that other sections of the Torah are less important. (Indeed, the Talmud (Berachot 12a) says this is why the 10 Commandments are not included in the daily prayers!).

Rav Moshe Feinstein (& others) disagree; he says that since we also stand when reading other sections of the Torah, such as the Song at the Sea & the final verses of each Sefer, it’s clear that standing does NOT indicate that the Ten Commandments are more important than other parts of the Torah. Of course, standing for ALL Torah readings would satisfy all opinions!

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Rabbi Shmuel Weiss is the Director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra'anana. If you would like to subscribe, advertise or sponsor an issue of the JOC's weekly Parsha sheet, please e-mail jocmtv@netvision.net.il