(15) All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blare of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they fell back and stood at a distance. (16) “You speak to us,” they said to Moses, “and we will obey; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” (17) Moses answered the people, “Be not afraid; for God has come only in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be ever with you, so that you do not go astray.” (18) So the people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. (19) The LORD said to Moses: Thus shall you say to the Israelites: You yourselves saw that I spoke to you from the very heavens:
Revelation (when G-d reveals) is a direct encounter with the divine--something that normally can't be seen, heard, or perceived by our senses. In this case, the revelation is so awesome/fearsome that the Children of Israel ask Moses to act as an intermediary.
Questions for discussion:
- What kinds of interpersonal revelations have you witnessed in your own life? Have you ever seen someone reveal something that is usually hidden?
- Trusting others with pieces of our selves that we usually hide can be challenging--but it usually brings us closer. Is trust part of the human-divine relationship?
Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. Under its shadow I delighted to sit and its fruit was sweet to my taste” (Song of Songs 2:3)? Why were the Jewish people likened to an apple tree? It is to tell you that just as this apple tree, its fruit grows before its leaves, so too, the Jewish people accorded precedence to “We will do” over “We will hear.”
The Children of Israel respond to G-d's commandments with "We will do and we will hear," setting up a core aspect of Judaism - that ritual and ethical action comes before understanding.
Questions for discussion:
- Have you ever engaged in a ritual or practice without understanding it? Have you ever discovered the meanings of a practice only after engaging in it?
- In what ways do you think engaging in rituals or practices can be considered seeking divine presence?
Questions for discussion:
How can we search for God?
How will we know if we find God?
MS. TIPPETT:I wonder if you can describe for me some particular moments in your career as a researcher and a scientist when you came across — you know, when you made concrete discoveries which illuminated your understanding of the nature of God.
DR. FEIT:One of the things that you can’t help noticing as a scientist is that the world is — is almost infinitely complex and intriguing, so it’s — it’s like a giant — a giant jigsaw puzzle or a giant — a giant intellectual game that — that scientists can play. We just keep delving deeper and deeper and we find these new layers of — of meaning and logic and significance. But nature doesn’t give her — give away her secrets easily, and I think that was — I think that’s a paraphrase of — of Einstein, that it’s not all there for the having. You have to search it out, you have to dig it out. It requires a great deal of effort in order to find it. The theological take that I have on that is that God, in his wisdom, does not immediately reveal himself in the world, and so my science, again, does affect my theology because I — I — I go to Jewish tradition and, of course, in Jewish tradition I find basis for — for that. Jewish tradition talks about the hidden face of God. And so rather than driving me to question God’s existence, I understand that if I want to understand the hidden face of God I have to delve into it. I have to work a little bit harder, just like one doesn’t see the atoms and the molecules floating around when you look at the top of the table.
MS. TIPPETT:I think just on the surface there might seem a paradox. Someone might say that — that precisely the problem you work with of cancer is — is an aspect of creation which — which might seem to be a sign of the absence of God or — or the recklessness of God.
DR. FEIT:That’s — I — I understand that that’s the — that’s the part of nature that God left for us to finish up…
MS. TIPPETT:Yeah. You’re right.
DR. FEIT:…to find the cures.
Questions for discussion:
How does this conversation describe continual revelation?
(א) וַיִּקְרָ֣א מֹשֶׁה֮ אֶל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם שְׁמַ֤ע יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֶת־הַחֻקִּ֣ים וְאֶת־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י דֹּבֵ֥ר בְּאָזְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם וּלְמַדְתֶּ֣ם אֹתָ֔ם וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם לַעֲשֹׂתָֽם׃ (ב) יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ כָּרַ֥ת עִמָּ֛נוּ בְּרִ֖ית בְּחֹרֵֽב׃ (ג) לֹ֣א אֶת־אֲבֹתֵ֔ינוּ כָּרַ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־הַבְּרִ֣ית הַזֹּ֑את כִּ֣י אִתָּ֗נוּ אֲנַ֨חְנוּ אֵ֥לֶּה פֹ֛ה הַיּ֖וֹם כֻּלָּ֥נוּ חַיִּֽים׃ (ד) פָּנִ֣ים ׀ בְּפָנִ֗ים דִּבֶּ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה עִמָּכֶ֛ם בָּהָ֖ר מִתּ֥וֹךְ הָאֵֽשׁ׃ (ה) אָ֠נֹכִי עֹמֵ֨ד בֵּין־יְהוָ֤ה וּבֵֽינֵיכֶם֙ בָּעֵ֣ת הַהִ֔וא לְהַגִּ֥יד לָכֶ֖ם אֶת־דְּבַ֣ר יְהוָ֑ה כִּ֤י יְרֵאתֶם֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י הָאֵ֔שׁ וְלֹֽא־עֲלִיתֶ֥ם בָּהָ֖ר לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ס)
(1) Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the laws and rules that I proclaim to you this day! Study them and observe them faithfully! (2) Adonai Eloheinu made a covenant with us at Horeb. (3) It was not with our fathers that Adonai made this covenant, but with us, the living, every one of us who is here today. (4) Face to face Adonai spoke to you on the mountain out of the fire— (5) I stood between Adonai and you at that time to convey Adonai’s words to you, for you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain—saying:
Why does Rashi feel the need to build all of us into it?
(א) לא את אבותינו כרת את הברית וגומ'...ולזה ראוי שיחשוב כל דור ודור כאלו לו נתנה התורה:
Every generation must think that the Torah was given directly to them.
The aim is to overcome the limits of historical time and place through participation in the covenant, which makes revelation “present.”
Martin Buber, The Man of Today and the Jewish Bible, 1936.