"We All Stood at Sinai": A Midrash Workshop for Shavuot

(1) In the third month after the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. (2) And when they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mount. (3) And Moses went up unto God, and the Eternal called unto him out of the mountain, saying: ‘Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: (4) Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’wings, and brought you unto Myself. (5) Now therefore, if ye will hearken unto My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine; (6) and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.’ (7) And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Eternal commanded him. (8) And all the people answered together, and said: ‘All that the Eternal hath spoken we will do.’ And Moses reported the words of the people unto the Eternal. (9) And the Eternal said unto Moses: ‘Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and may also believe thee for ever.’ And Moses told the words of the people unto the Eternal. (10) And the Eternal said unto Moses: ‘Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their garments, (11) and be ready against the third day; for the third day the Eternal will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. (12) And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying: Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it; whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death; (13) no hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live; when the ram’s horn soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.’ (14) And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their garments. (15) And he said unto the people: ‘Be ready against the third day; come not near a woman.’ (16) And it came to pass on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of a horn exceeding loud; and all the people that were in the camp trembled. (17) And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. (18) Now mount Sinai was altogether on smoke, because the Eternal descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. (19) And when the voice of the horn waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. (20) And the Eternal came down upon mount Sinai, to the top of the mount; and the Eternal called Moses to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. (21) And the Eternal said unto Moses: ‘Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Eternal to gaze, and many of them perish. (22) And let the priests also, that come near to the Eternal, sanctify themselves, lest the Eternal break forth upon them.’ (23) And Moses said unto the Eternal: ‘The people cannot come up to mount Sinai; for thou didst charge us, saying: Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it.’ (24) And the Eternal said unto him: ‘Go, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee; but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Eternal, lest God break forth upon them.’ (25) So Moses went down unto the people, and told them.

(6) Another explanation: "And God said all of these things, saying" - Rabbi Yitzchak said, What the prophets were to prophesy in the future in each generation, they received from Mount Sinai. As Moshe said to Israel (Deuteronomy 29:14), "But with those here with us standing today and with those not here with us today." It does not say [at the end of the verse], "with us standing today," but rather, "with us today"; these are the souls that will be created in the future, who do not have substance, about whom "standing" is not mentioned. For even though they did not exist at that time, each one received that which was theirs. ...And it was not only of the prophets who receive their prophecy from Sinai, but also the sages who arise in each generation - each of them received what was theirs from Sinai. And so [too] it states (Deuteronomy 5:19), "These things did the Eternal speak to your entire congregation, [...] a great voice and it did not cease": Rabbi Yochanan said, "One voice was split into seven voices and they were divided into seventy languages"; Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said, "From it prophesied all of the prophets who arose." The Sages said that it did not have an echo.