Na'aseh v'Nishma

(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.

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!”

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.”

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.

In connection to the mishna’s statement about the importance of Torah study, the Gemara relates the following incident: And there already was an incident in which Rabbi Tarfon and the Elders were reclining in the loft of the house of Nit’za in Lod, when this question was asked of them: Is study greater or is action greater? Rabbi Tarfon answered and said: Action is greater. Rabbi Akiva answered and said: Study is greater. Everyone answered and said: Study is greater, but not as an independent value; rather, it is greater as study leads to action.

Rabbi Simai taught: When Israel accorded precedence to the declaration “We will do” over the declaration “We will hear,” 600,000 ministering angels came and tied two crowns to each and every member of the Jewish people, one corresponding to “We will do” and one corresponding to “We will hear.” And when the people sinned with the Golden Calf, 1,200,000 angels of destruction descended and removed them from the people, as it is stated in the wake of the sin of the Golden Calf: “And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward” (Exodus 33:6). Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: At Horeb they put on their ornaments, and at Horeb they removed them. The source for this is: At Horeb they put them on, as we have said; at Horeb they removed them, as it is written: “And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: And Moses merited all of these crowns and took them. What is the source for this? Because juxtaposed to this verse, it is stated: “And Moses would take the tent [ohel]” (Exodus 33:7). The word ohel is interpreted homiletically as an allusion to an aura or illumination [hila]. Reish Lakish said: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will return them to us, as it is stated: “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads” (Isaiah 35:10). The joy that they once had will once again be upon their heads.

Man — what is he in this God-filled world? What is his place in this throng of creatures of God, this choir of servants of the Lord? Though the Torah were silent, would not the contemplation of creation, would not your own breast tell you? Man, is he not also a creature of God? Should he not also be a servant of God? Every fiber of your body is a creation from the hand of God, formed by Him, arranged by Him, endowed by Him with power. Your spirit, that world of powers, is the creation of God from beginning to end. The divine spark, your personality, which, invisible as Deity, weaves and works in this microcosm, and under whose control stand intellect and body and the power to use the entire realm of nature for its purpose, this mysterious spritual force in you is itself emanation of Deity. Learn to deem yourself holy as creature of God and, while contemplating heaven and earth and the great chorus of servants of the Lord, consecrate yourself to your mission, and proclaim yourself with mingled solemnity and joy, "servant of God!" Since all things, the smallest and the greatest, are God's chosen messengers, to work, each in its place, and with its measure of power, according to the law of the Most High, taking only that it may give again, should man alone be excluded from this circle of blessed activity? Can he be born only to take? — to revel in lavish plenty or to starve in misery, but not to work? — not to fill any place, nor fulfill any purpose, but to let all end in himself? The world and all which is therein serves God; is it conceivable that man alone should only serve himself? No! Your consciousness pronounces you as does the Torah, צלם אלהים "an image of God." That is what man should be. Only when working out some end canst thou know God in love and righteousness; to work out ends of righteousness and love art thou called; not merely to enjoy or suffer. All which thou possessest, spirit, body, human beings, wealth, every ability and every power, they are means of activity; לעבדה ולשמרה to promote and preserve the world were they given — love and righteousness. Not thine is the earth, but thou belongest to the earth, to respect it as Divine soil and to deem every one of its creatures a creature of God, thy fellow-being; to respect and love it as such, and as such to endeavor to bring it nearer to its goal, according to the will of God. For this reason every being impresses upon thy spirit an image of itself; for this reason thy heart-strings pulsate sympathetically with every cry of distress heard anywhere in creation, or with every tone of joy which issues anywhere from a gladsome being; therefore thou rejoicest when the flower blooms and sorrowest when it fades. The law to which all powers submit unconsciously and involuntarily, to it shall thou also subordinate thyself, but consciously and of thy own free will. "Knowledge and freedom,'" these words indicate at once the sublime mission and the lofty privilege of man. All forces stand as servitors around the throne of God, their capacity is hidden from themselves and covered are their countenances, so that they can not see the reason of their mission, but they feel within them winged power to act, and act in accordance with their purpose. Thou, O man, thy countenance is half uncovered, thy capacity is half revealed, thou canst comprehend thyself as creature of God — canst at least faintly appreciate the notion of the mission which He breathed into thy ear; canst thou see thyself encompassed round about by God's active servants, canst thou feel in thyself power to act and wilt thou not joyously join in the cry of the great chorus of servants, נעשה ונשמע "we will do and therefore hearken? We will obey, and fulfilling strive to comprehend the import of the command!" Consciously and freely! Therefore thou shalt be first and highest servitor in the company of servants!