Additionally, it was taught in a baraita with regard to affliction: Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: The Holy One, Blessed be He, gave Israel three precious gifts, all of which were given only by means of suffering, which purified Israel so that they may merit to receive them. These gifts are: Torah, Eretz Yisrael, and the World-to-Come.
...And they stood under the mount: R. Abdimi b. hama b. hasa said: This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, overturned the mountain upon them like an [inverted] cask, and said to them, 'If ye accept the Torah, 'tis well; if not, there shall be your burial.' R. Aha b. jacob observed: This furnishes a strong protest against the Torah. Said Raba, Yet even so, they reaccepted it in the days of Ahasuerus, for it is writted, [the Jews] confirmed, and took upon them [etc.]": [i.e.,] they confirmed what they had accepted long before.
(ב) אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי... ואומר (שמות לב טז): "והלחת מעשה אלקים המה והמכתב מכתב אלקים הוא חרות על הלחת", אל תקרא חרות אלא חרות, שאין לך בן חורין אלא מי שעוסק בתלמוד תורה.
(2) Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: ...it says (Exodus 32:16): "And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets," do not read "graven" (harut) but rather "freedom" (herut), for there is no free man except one that involves himself in Torah learning...
שְׁמוֹנֶה מַעֲלוֹת יֵשׁ בַּצְּדָקָה זוֹ לְמַעְלָה מִזּוֹ. מַעֲלָה גְּדוֹלָה שֶׁאֵין לְמַעְלָה מִמֶּנָּה זֶה הַמַּחֲזִיק בְּיַד יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁמָּךְ וְנוֹתֵן לוֹ מַתָּנָה אוֹ הַלְוָאָה אוֹ עוֹשֶׂה עִמּוֹ שֻׁתָּפוּת אוֹ מַמְצִיא לוֹ מְלָאכָה כְּדֵי לְחַזֵּק אֶת יָדוֹ עַד שֶׁלֹּא יִצְטָרֵךְ לַבְּרִיּוֹת לִשְׁאל.
There are eight levels of tzedakah, each one greater than the other. The greatest level, higher than all the rest, is to fortify a fellow Jew and give him a gift, a loan, form with him a partnership, or find work for him, until he is strong enough so that he does not need to ask others [for sustenance].
(1) Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel, and bow low from afar. (2) Moses alone shall come near the LORD; but the others shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.” (3) Moses went and repeated to the people all the commands of the LORD and all the rules; and all the people answered with one voice, saying, “All the things that the LORD has commanded we will do!” (4) Moses then wrote down all the commands of the LORD.
Early in the morning, he set up an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. (5) He designated some young men among the Israelites, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as offerings of well-being to the LORD. (6) Moses took one part of the blood and put it in basins, and the other part of the blood he dashed against the altar. (7) Then he took the record of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will faithfully do!”-a
Read Exodus 24: 1-7, paying attention to verses 3 and 7. How do they compare with Exodus 19: 8? What is the same?
What is different?
How does the context and narrative help us understand the differences? What happens in between these two sections?(Look it up if you need to)
Why do you think that 24:8 includes the word וְנִשְׁמָֽע? Why is it different than the other verses?
If you were there, how do you think you would have answered the question? Why?
What can we learn from our ancestors' responses (here and think about הִנֵּֽנִי)?
(ז) נעשה ונשמע - נעשה מה שדיבר וגם נשמע מה שיצונו עוד מכאן ולהבא ונקיים.
(7) נעשה ונשמע, “we will carry out what G’d has said already, and we are also prepared to listen (obey) to what He will command from here on in.
(ז) נעשה ונשמע נעשה לתכלית שנשמע בקולו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב י שלא על דרך לקבל פרס כענין עושי דברו לשמוע בקול דברו:
(7) נעשה ונשמע, a reference to action designed to ensure that they could obey G’d’s directives without thought of any reward that might be in store for them by doing this. We find a similar construction in Psalms 103,20 עושי דברו לשמוע בקולו, “who do His bidding, ever obedient to His bidding.”
Mekhilta d’Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai 24:73
“And they [the Children of Israel] said, ‘all that God has said we will do and we will hear.’” Since they had initially prioritized doing, Moses said to them, “Is doing possible without hearing? Hearing brings one to doing.” They then said, “We will do and we will hear,” [meaning] “We will do what we hear.”
The Gift - Mary Oliver
Be still, my soul, and steadfast.
Earth and heaven both are still watching
though time is draining from the clock
and your walk, that was confident and quick,
has become slow.
So, be slow if you must, but let
the heart still play its true part.
Love still as once you loved, deeply
and without patience. Let God and the world
know you are grateful.That the gift has been given.