The following was first published in our edition for parshas Yisro, 5758 (1998). This was before there was an online edition.
Hashem's Boundless Love and its Consequence
To gain some idea of the meaning of kabolas haTorah, we need to examine the Torah's preface to that event, as conveyed to Moshe Rabbenu for him to repeat to bnei Yisroel (Shemos 19:3-6):
"And Moshe ascended towards Hashem and Hashem called to him from the mountain, `Thus should you say to beis Yaakov' — which Rashi explains refers to the womenfolk - - `and tell bnei Yisroel'" — meaning the men. Preface the coming event to them as follows:
"You yourselves have seen what I have done to Mitzrayim" — Rashi explains this further to mean, "It is not a tradition that you have received [from others], I am not sending you a [mere] message nor am I bringing witnesses to testify before you [about something that you did not see]. You yourselves saw what I did to Mitzrayim; you saw the number of sins for which they were liable to me, [even] before they met up with you [yet] I only took retribution through you."
Why was it necessary to stress that they had been witnesses? Wouldn't it have sufficed to simply tell them that the Egyptians were only punished through them, though they were guilty earlier?
The answer is no, because before He gave them the Torah, Hashem wanted bnei Yisroel to see with their own eyes how much He loves and cherishes them — to the extent that, although the Egyptians deserved punishment earlier, they only received it after they had harmed bnei Yisroel.
It is well known that the final stage — and the ultimate purpose — of going out of Mitzrayim was receiving the Torah, as the posuk says, "When you bring the people out, you will serve Hashem on this mountain." Thus, realizing the full significance of what had happened in Mitzrayim was the first part of the preface to receiving the Torah.
"And I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to Me." The transition which bnei Yisroel underwent was a drastic one. They went from the forty-ninth — which is virtually the lowest — level of tumah to the corresponding level of kedusha. This is the meaning of the words "and I brought you to Me." On each of the forty-nine days of the omer period, bnei Yisroel escaped another level of tumah and attained a further level of kedusha. "To Me," means that they reached the level of the seventh firmament, where Hashem's Throne of glory is.
The words "You have seen," occur a second time after the Torah was received. "You have seen that I spoke to you from Heaven." Rashi explains that, "He inclined all the levels of Heaven and spread them out on the mountain." Hashem again intended to convey the extent of His love for bnei Yisroel by telling them, "You stood on the earth, yet saw the highest levels of Heaven, from whence I spoke to you and to where your souls, spirits, minds and bodies ascended." That was what kabolas haTorah was about!
"And now, if you take heed of My voice" — Chazal say elsewhere that the word "ve'atoh," always signifies teshuvah. Having heard how great Hashem's love for us is, teshuvah has to be the very next step. "Return, Yisroel, right to Hashem, your G-d."
One widely known interpretation of this posuk is, "Return" — until what point does the obligation of teshuvah extend? All the way up to Hashem. In other words, although one may have already merited reaching a very high level, further teshuvah is always necessary for it is not a step that one takes only once but rather it is an ongoing process that has to be developed. There is no limit to the elevation that one can achieve through teshuvah. "And now," means, immediately — "Draw close to Hashem straight away."
Echoes
"If you take heed of My voice." The meaning of "My voice" in this context can be explained through a parable, from the Noam Elimelech, zt'l.
A boy went into a forest in order to gather fruits. Out of concern lest he wander off into the depths of the forest and become lost, the boy's father gave him a sign by which he would be able to ensure that he had not ventured too far. "As long as you can hear my voice speaking or shouting to you, you have not lost your way. If however, you don't hear me, it's a sign that you've wandered far away from me and must make an effort to return, or else you'll be in great danger."
The lesson is that a person is in danger of becoming immersed in his daily material concerns, to the point where he becomes so involved with them that he forgets his Creator, chas vesholom. If however, he still thinks about Hashem when he is transacting his business affairs, then he is still fulfilling the posuk, "And now, if you take heed of My voice." If he can hear Hashem's voice continuously and he reflects upon it, he is fulfilling this posuk.
We will now add a further dimension to this thought; one which is also an extension of the Noam Elimelech's parable. When a person walks through a forest, or is inside a deep pit and he yells, he hears an echo of his own voice. In fact, the voice of Hashem which we must always listen for, reaches us as though it were an echo of our own voice, as we call to Hashem.
We can now explain our posuk according to this, in the light of Chazal's comment on the words (Devorim 11:13), "And it shall be, im shomo'a tishme'u, if you listen to My commandments" — "If you listen to the old, you will [be in a position to] hear the new." The simple meaning of this comment is that if you have learned a first time, and then review what you have learned, you will deepen your understanding of it and discover new aspects of its meaning.
On a deeper level however, Chazal's comment can be understood in the light of the mishna (Ovos 3:7), "Rabbi Chalafta ben Dosa...says, When ten sit and involve themselves with Torah, the Shechina is among them as it says... and how do we know [that this is so] even with five? ...even with three? ...even with two? ...and ...even one? The posuk (Shemos (20:21), says, "wherever I cause My Name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you."
Now, this posuk appears in our parsha, where Rashi explains that it tells us the halacha that permission is only given to pronounce the Sheim Hameforosh in the Beis Hamikdosh, where Hashem"s Shechina rests. Since it deals with the Beis Hamikdosh, what connection does it have to someone sitting alone and learning Torah, as the mishna understands it? Also, a further problem is that in order to mean what the mishna intends, the posuk should apparently have said, "Wherever you mention My Name..." referring to the individual learning Torah.
However, the posuk can be interpreted as a powerful allusion to our above idea. "If you take heed of My voice," refers to the echo of Hashem's voice. When a person sits alone, involved in Torah study, he also hears the echo of Hashem's voice.
A similar and awe inspiring thought can be found in Medrash Tehillim. Wherever the words, Omar Mar, appear in the gemora, they are usually understood to refer to a chochom who was explaining the topic. Medrash Tehillim however, says that Mar refers to the Master of the Universe i.e. the statement that appears in the gemora was made by HaKodosh Boruch Hu Himself. This is how Torah should be learned — we learn, review, practice and repeat words of Torah that Hashem Himself has said. This is the voice about which bnei Yisroel were told — the echo of Hashem's voice.
This is also why the mishna can learn from a posuk which says, "wherever I cause My Name to be mentioned." When someone studies Torah, causing Hashem's Name to be mentioned, by repeating Hashem's statements — Omar Mar — then "I will come and bless you." This is also the meaning of Chazal's comment on im shomo'a tishme'u — Just as you heard the old, you will merit hearing the new, for they are one and the same, namely the ongoing echo of Hashem's voice.
Here is what the Tanna Debei Eliyahu (perek 27), says: "Blessed is Hashem... who has chosen the words of the chachomim... fulfilling towards them the teaching that as a man behaves, so will he be dealt with by Heaven. When the sages and their disciples sit in batei knesses, batei medrash and other available places, learning and reviewing in purity, with the fear of Heaven in their hearts and keeping words of Torah on their lips, HaKodosh Boruch Hu then sits opposite them, filling their mouths and hearts with Torah secrets. The posuk (Devorim 30:14), `For this matter is very close to you... its fulfillment is within your mouth and heart,' is fulfilled through them."
Our idea is stated precisely here, and also receives further breadth. Hashem stands over the chachomim, revealing secret Torah teachings to them. The analogy of an echo applies in the opposite direction as well. To the extent that they learn and call out to Hashem, He responds to them. This is also what Chazal mean when they comment on the posuk (Tehillim 121:5), "Hashem is your shade, by your right side" — "Just like a shadow; when you show a him one finger, he shows you one. If you show him two, he will show you two." The chachomim merit Hashem"s response to the degree that they look and call out to Him. Thus, it really is within their own mouths and hearts to attain knowledge of Torah.
Guarding the Covenant
Besides heeding Hashem's voice, the posuk mentions an additional condition: "and you guard My covenant." This apparently means what is usually referred to as "protecting the bris." The word shemira, guarding, always means the maintenance of continual watchfulness, even though the covenant may not be broken in deed. If vigilance is not kept up, then even though one may not actually sin, the position is very dangerous. The yetzer hora can easily steal into one's consciousness, depriving a person of a large amount of good, tainting him with evil chas vesholom. This — guarding the bris — is a condition for receiving Torah.
The posuk (Devorim 4:6), says "And you shall guard and do, for it is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations." Rashi explains, "And you shall guard —- this is mishna." It is well known that learning mishnayos has a special property of helping to guard the bris. I saw a number of gedolim who used to learn eighteen perokim of mishnayos each day, in order to fulfill this posuk — "And you shall guard — this is mishna." "And you shall guard My covenant," is another preface to receiving the Torah, which HaKodosh Boruch Hu conveyed to Moshe Rabbenu, for him to transmit to bnei Yisroel.
Within the Power of Man
"Then you will be precious to Me, from [among] all the nations." Rashi explains the word segulah, precious, as in, "a precious treasure (Koheles 2:8)," like a royal treasure, prized vessels and gemstones, which royalty hoard." The posuk then concludes with a reason: "For all the land is Mine." Why is this mentioned here?
There is a fear that after having heard about the greatness of Torah and the special conditions for receiving it, we may chas vesholom become dismayed and feel ourselves unequal to attaining such high and exalted levels, which are way above our own. This is why the Torah assures us, "for this thing is very close to you, [it is] within your mouth and heart to achieve."
So that we can retain this realization, Hashem provides us with an assurance that this is so, at the very beginning of the Torah (Bereishis 2:7), "And Hashem Elokim formed the man [out of] dust from the earth and He blew a neshomoh of life into his nostrils. And the man became a living soul." Although what the posuk says is true of all human beings, here it refers specifically to Odom Horishon, who Chazal say was, "the creation of Hashem"s hands." In Odom Horishon, Hashem kneaded together, as it were, the neshomoh of life and the dust of the earth. It is within the power of this partnership to climb to even higher levels than those of the mal'ochim and the heavenly creatures. This is what a human being is capable of achieving.
We have mentioned the following thought of moreinu verabeinu HaRav Yehuda Leib Chasman's zt'l, a number of times. The posuk says, "How manifold are Your works Hashem. You have done everything with wisdom." While the massive array of Hashem's works should certainly fill us with amazement, the conclusion of the posuk is more impressive still: "The whole earth is full of Your acquisitions." In other words, not merely the earth, in a geographical sense but even earthliness, as an attribute, is full of Heavenly attainments.
This is the ability which Hashem has instilled into people. A man, who is made of dust of the earth, can fill himself with spirit, living with his neshomoh and making it a participant in his every action. He can thereby ensure that his body will rise at the time of techiyas hameisim. The far reaching influence of the neshomoh is responsible for this, for it never dies. It is only the body that dies (and were it not for the sins of the eitz hada'as and the eigel, the neshomoh would ensure that the body would never die), and it will rise again forever. But what is the body composed of? It is just dust from the earth! This then, is the power of the neshomoh to fill earthliness with spirit.
This is why, when Hashem told bnei Yisroel, "Then you will be precious to Me" — apparently an impossibly high goal — He concluded with the reason, "For all the land is Mine," meaning, "for all the earthliness is mine," as we have explained. Don't be dismayed or hopeless, for I have endowed earthliness with the power to rise to such a level!
End of Part I
