(יז) וַיּוֹצֵ֨א מֹשֶׁ֧ה אֶת־הָעָ֛ם לִקְרַ֥את הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים מִן־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה וַיִּֽתְיַצְּב֖וּ בְּתַחְתִּ֥ית הָהָֽר׃
(17) And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the foot of the mount.
(יח) בתחתית ההר. לפי פשוטו ברגלי ההר ומדרשו שנתלש ההר ממקומו ונכפה עליהם כגיגית:
(17) At the bottom of the mountain: According to the simple rendering [in denotes] at the foot of the mountain. And its Midrashic interpretation is that the mountain was uprooted from its place and turned over them like a beer barrel.
ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר א"ר אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא מלמד שכפה הקב"ה עליהם את ההר כגיגית ואמר להם אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם א"ר אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא אמר רבא אעפ"כ הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש דכתיב (אסתר ט, כז) קימו וקבלו היהודים קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר אמר
"And they stood at the bottom of the mountain (Exodus 19:17)-" Rabbi Avdimi the son of Chama the son of Chasa said, "This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, held the mountain over them like a barrel and said, 'If you accept the Torah, it is good. And if not, here shall be your graves.'" Rav Acha Bar Yaakov said, "From here there is a great claim against the Torah!" Rav said, "Even so, they accepted it again [willingly] in the days of Ahasuerus, as it is written, (Esther 9:27) 'They upheld and accepted' - they upheld what they already accepted."
(ז) וַיִּקַּח֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּאָזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר ה' נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע׃
(7) And he [Moses] took the book of the covenant, and read in the hearing of the people; and they said: ‘All that the Eternal has spoken will we do, and obey.’
נעשה ונשמע - נעשה מה שדיבר וגם נשמע מה שיצונו עוד מכאן ולהבא ונקיים.
נעשה ונשמע, “we will carry out what God has said already, and we are also prepared to listen (obey) to what God will command from here on in.
נעשה ונשמע נעשה לתכלית שנשמע בקולו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב י שלא על דרך לקבל פרס כענין עושי דברו לשמוע בקול דברו:
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.”
Rabbi Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz, Peirush Hahafla’ah on the Haggadah
Wisdom comes through obedience, as we see in the case of the Jewish people. When the people of Israel said “we will do (na’aseh) we will listen (nishma),” the Holy One responded, “Who revealed this secret to my children?’ This can be explained in the following way: when a faithful servant is commanded to perform a task by his master he doesn’t ask why; he does whatever he is told, whether he understands the reason or not, as in the case of Abraham who took his son to Mount Moriah prepared to offer him as a sacrifice. If the servant finds favor in the eyes of his master, then his master might explain the reason to him afterwards. This is why the people of Israel placed “We will do” before “We will listen.” Israel was prepared to do whatever God commanded even before they heard an explanation. These commandments are incumbent upon all Israel; some of these laws are statutes (hukkim), for which there is no rational explanation.
‘Nishma’(hearing or understanding) is reserved for those who are favored by God. The wise child who has engaged in the commandments of Pesach, matzah and maror can now ask the reason for the commandments. The wicked child, on the other hand, asks even before he performs any of the commandments. He figures that if the explanation suits him he will perform the commandment and if not, he will reject it.
תלמוד גדול או מעשה גדול נענה רבי טרפון ואמר מעשה גדול נענה ר"ע ואמר תלמוד גדול נענו כולם ואמרו תלמוד גדול שהתלמוד מביא לידי מעשה.
Is learning greater or deed greater? Rabbi Tarfon answered, deed is greater. Rabbi Eli'ezer responded and said, learning is greater. Then someone else responded to both of them and said that learning is greater, as learning leads to deed.
At the moment when the Jewish people said first "We will do" and then "We will understand," a heavenly voice went out and said to them, Who revealed to my children this secret, employed by the angels," as it is written, "Praise God, O God’s angels, mighty in strength, who do God’s will and understand God’s word"
Silver From the Land of Israel. From the writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaKohen Kook. by Rabbi Chanan Morrison.
The ultimate moment of glory for the Jewish people — their greatest hour — occurred as God revealed His Torah at Mount Sinai. The Israelites remarkably pledged, Na'aseh v'nishma — "We will do and we will listen to all that God has declared" (Exodus 24:7).
They made two promises: to do, and to listen. The order is crucial. They promised to keep the Torah, even before knowing why. The Midrash (Shabbat 88a) related that, in merit of this pledge of loyalty, the angels rewarded each Jew with two crowns. And a Heavenly Voice explained, "Who revealed to My children this secret used by the angels?"
What was so special about this vow, "We will do and we will listen"? On the contrary, would not fulfilling mitzvot with understanding and enlightenment be a superior level of Torah observance? And why does the Midrash refer to this form of unquestioning allegiance as a "secret used by the angels"?
INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE
While wisdom is usually acquired through study and contemplation, there exists in nature an intuitive knowledge that requires no formal education. The bee for example, naturally knows the optimal geometric shape for building honeycomb cells. No bee has ever needed to register for engineering courses at MIT.
Intuitive knowledge also exists in the spiritual realm. Angels are sublime spiritual entities who do not require extensive Torah study in order to know how to serve God. Their holiness is ingrained in their very nature. It is only human beings, prone to being confused by pseudo-scientific indoctrination, who need to struggle in order to return to their pristine spiritual selves.
For the Jews who stood at Mount Sinai, it was not only Torah and mitzvot that were revealed. They also discovered their own true, inner essence. They attained a sublime level of natural purity, and intuitively proclaimed, "We will do." We will follow our natural essence, unhindered by any spurious, artificial conventions.
(20) Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared.