Some Implications of Na'aseh v'Nishmah:
- Learning to Trust and Trusting to Learn
Ritual: What’s the Point?
Following in Ruth’s Footsteps - Taking the Next Step
(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. ... (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!”
- Compare the Israelites' response in verse 3 and verse 7 - "na'aseh" and "na'aseh v'nishmah".
- What does the extra word "v'nishmah" imply about how the Israelites will accept the Torah?
דרש ר' סימאי בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע באו ששים ריבוא של מלאכי השרת לכל אחד ואחד מישראל קשרו לו שני כתרים אחד כנגד נעשה ואחד כנגד נשמע ... אמר רבי אלעזר בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע יצתה בת קול ואמרה להן מי גילה לבני רז זה שמלאכי השרת משתמשין בו דכתיב (תהלים קג, כ) ברכו ה' מלאכיו גבורי כח עושי דברו לשמוע בקול דברו ברישא עושי והדר לשמוע א"ר חמא ברבי חנינא מ"ד (שיר השירים ב, ג) כתפוח בעצי היער וגו' למה נמשלו ישראל לתפוח לומר לך מה תפוח זה פריו קודם לעליו אף ישראל הקדימו נעשה לנשמע ההוא צדוקי דחזייה לרבא דקא מעיין בשמעתא ויתבה אצבעתא דידיה תותי כרעא וקא מייץ בהו וקא מבען אצבעתיה דמא א"ל עמא פזיזא דקדמיתו פומייכו לאודנייכו אכתי בפחזותייכו קיימיתו ברישא איבעי' לכו למשמע אי מציתו קבליתו ואי לא לא קבליתו א"ל אנן דסגינן בשלימותא כתיב כן (משלי יא, ג) תומת ישרים תנחם הנך אינשי דסגן בעלילותא כתיב בהו (משלי יא, ג) וסלף בוגדים ישדם:
Rabbi Simai lectured: At the time when Israel put "We will do" before "We will hear" 600,000 ministering angels came to each and everyone from Israel and tied two crowns [one each] — one for "We will do" and one for "We will hear."...R. Eleazar said: When the Israelites gave precedence to "we will do" over "we will hear", a Heavenly Voice went forth and exclaimed to them, Who revealed to My children this secret, which is employed by the Ministering Angels...?There was a certain heretic who saw Raba engrossed in his studies while the finger[s] of his hand were under his feet, and he ground them down, so that his fingers spurted blood. ... ‘Ye rash people,’ he exclaimed, ‘who gave precedence to your mouth over your ears: yet still persist in your rashness. ... First ye should have listened, if within your powers, accept; if not, ye should not have accepted.’ ... Said he to him, ... ‘We who ...we walk with integrity/completeness, as it is written (Proverbs 11:3) "The integrity of the upright guides them." Those people who walk in deceit, it is written, (Proverbs 11:3) "The deviousness of the treacherous leads them to ruin."
Talk It Out
- These texts praise the Israelites for saying Na'aseh v'Nishmah and accepting the Torah before they heard everything that it contained. Do you think their action was praiseworthy?
- What kind of relationship do you need to have with someone in order to say Na'aseh v'Nishmah?
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According to the Sefer HaChinuch, what is the point of rituals and mitzvot (commandments)?
- Do you agree that ultimately "the heart follows the actions a person does"? Is it what you do that determines what kind of person you are?
כי האדם נפעל כפי פעלותיו, ולבו וכל מחשבתיו תמיד אחר מעשיו שהוא עוסק בהם אם טוב ואם רע, ואפילו רשע גמור בלבבו וכל יצר מחשבות לבו רק רע כל היום, אם יערה רוחו וישים השתדלותו ועסקו בהתמדה בתורה ובמצות, ואפילו שלא לשם שמים, מיד ינטה אל הטוב, ומתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה, ובכח מעשיו ימית היצר הרע, כי אחרי הפעלות נמשכים הלבבות. ואפילו אם יהיה אדם צדיק גמור ולבבו ישר ותמים, חפץ בתורה ובמצות, אם יעסק תמיד בדברים של דפי...ישוב לזמן מן הזמנים מצדקת לבו להיות רשע גמור, כי ידוע הדבר ואמת שכל האדם נפעל כפי פעלותיו
Man is as acted upon according to his actions, and his heart and all his thoughts always follow after the actions that he does, whether good or bad, and even he who in his heart is a complete sinner and all the desires of his heart are for only evil, if his spirit shall be enlightened and he will put his efforts and actions to persist in Torah and Mitzvot, even if not for the sake of heaven, he shall immediately incline towards Good, and from that which is not for its own sake comes that which is for its own sake [as opposed to personal gain], for the hearts are drawn after the actions. And even if a man is perfectly righteous and his heart is straight and innocent, desiring of Torah and Mitzvot, if he shall constantly deal with improper things ... eventually from his righteousness he shall have become completely evil, for it is known and true that every man is acted upon according to his actions
(כב) ותאמר רות אל תפגעי בי לעזבך... מכל מקום דעתי להתגייר. אלא מוטב על ידך ולא על ידי אחרת. כיון ששמעה נעמי כך, התחילה סודרת לה הלכות גרים. אמרה לה: בתי אין דרכן של בנות ישראל לילך לבתי תיאטראות ולבתי קרקסיאות שלהם. אמרה לה: אל אשר תלכי אלך. אמרה לה: בתי אין דרכן של ישראל לדור בבית שאין שם מזוזה. אמרה לה: באשר תליני אלין. עמך עמי אלו עונשין ואזהרות. ואלהיך אלהי שאר מצות.
(22) "And Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you, to turn and not follow after you"...It has been my intention anyway to convert..When Naomi heard this she began to expound to her the laws of converts. She said to her, "My daughter, it is not the custom of daughters of Israel to go to their theaters and their circuses." She replied to her, "Where you go, I will go." She said to her, "My daughter, it is not the custom of Israel to dwell in a house that does not have a mezuzah." She replied to her, "Where you lodge I will lodge." "Your people will be my people" these are the punishments and the warnings. "And Your God will be my God (ibid)," the other commandments.
The Midrash, expanding on the passage from the book of Ruth that is quoted above, sees Ruth's words to her mother-in-law as full expression of her intent to convert. Without fully understanding the details of what a Jewish life entails, she tells her mother-in-law that this is her plan. Naomi begins to list some of the laws that Ruth claims to accept, and Ruth, without questioning or knowing what these will feel like experientially, agrees without hesitation. Why do you think that Ruth was willing to accept the laws without fully understanding? What might motivate a person to commit so fully to a new lifestyle?
(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.
Rashbam, a medieval commentator on the Torah, understands the commitment of the Jews at Sinai to be something that reaches far into the future as well. "Na'aseh V'Nishmah" indicates that we are all in this together, not only in that moment at Sinai, but also in terms of laws and events that will transpire in the future. Does this idea resonate with you? Have you committed to your relationship with Judaism - or to some other relationship - regardless of what will come in the future?
And once Rabbi Tarfon and the Elders were reclining in the attic of the House of Nitzah in Lod [and] this question was asked in front of them: Is study greater or action greater? Rabbi Tarfon answered and said, "Action is greater." Rabbi Akiva answered and said, "Study is greater." They all answered and said, "Study is greater, since study brings about action."
The end of this Talmudic story contains an ironic twist: Ultimately, all the rabbis agree with Rabbi Akiva that study is greater, but only because it "brings about action." In other words, action is ultimately most important, if study can inspire people towards action, then it is crucial. In the spirit of Na'aseh V'Nishmah, we often forge ahead with action, but it is also important to know that we have a tradition of study to fall back on when we do pause to consider those actions. Are there things that you do or practices you engage in which you learned more about later in life - or which you would want to learn more about?
Doing and Hearing (Mishpatim 5776)
by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
[N]a’aseh venishma means, “We will do and we will understand.” From this they derive the conclusion that we can only understand Judaism by doing it, by performing the commands and living a Jewish life. In the beginning is the deed. Only then comes the grasp, the insight, the comprehension. This is a signal and substantive point. The modern Western mind tends to put things in the opposite order. We seek to understand what we are committing ourselves to before making the commitment. That is fine when what is at stake is signing a contract, buying a new mobile phone, or purchasing a subscription, but not when making a deep existential commitment. The only way to understand leadership is to lead. The only way to understand marriage is to get married. The only way to understand whether a certain career path is right for you is to actually try it for an extended period. Those who hover on the edge of a commitment, reluctant to make a decision until all the facts are in, will eventually find that life has passed them by. The only way to understand a way of life is to take the risk of living it. So: na’aseh venishma, “We will do and eventually, through extended practice and long exposure, we will understand.”....There is a normative way of doing the holy deed, but there are many ways of hearing the holy voice, encountering the sacred presence, feeling at one and the same time how small we are yet how great the universe we inhabit, how insignificant we must seem when set against the vastness of space and the myriads of stars, yet how momentously significant we are, knowing that God has set His image and likeness upon us and placed us here, in this place, at this time, with these gifts, in these circumstances, with a task to perform if we are able to discern it. We can find God on the heights and in the depths, in loneliness and togetherness, in love and fear, in gratitude and need, in dazzling light and in the midst of deep darkness. We can find God by seeking Him, but sometimes He finds us when we least expect it. That is the difference between na’aseh and nishma. We do the Godly deed “together”. We respond to His commands “with one voice”. But we hear God’s presence in many ways, for though God is One, we are all different, and we encounter Him each in our own way.
Rabbi Sacks points to two important aspects of Na'aseh V'Nishmah: First, that one can only understand the Jewish experience by living it, not by studying it. Judaism is full of ritual, food, song - things that can only be truly understood through experience. Rabbi Sacks also explains that the final word, nishma, is in the singular, because we each "hear" or experience the Divine in our own way. We dive into action together, and we may not all emerge with the same understanding of what those actions signify. What Jewish ritual or action is especially meaningful to you? Is it something that brings you a sense of the Divine or of spiritual connection?