Saw You At Sinai: Was Every Jew Really At Matan Torah?

One of the Sages said to Rav Kahana: Did you hear what is the reason that the mountain was called Mount Sinai? Rav Kahana said to him: It is because it is a mountain upon which miracles [nissim] were performed for the Jewish people. The Sage said to him: If so, it should have been called Mount Nisai, the mountain of miracles. Rather, Rav Kahana said to him: It is a mountain that was a good omen [siman] for the Jewish people. The Sage said to him: If so, it should have been called Har Simanai, the mountain of omens. Rav Kahana said to him: What is the reason that you do not frequent the school where you can study before Rav Pappa and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, who study aggada? As Rav Ḥisda and Rabba, son of Rav Huna, both said: What is the reason it is called Mount Sinai? It is because it is a mountain upon which hatred [sina] for the nations of the world descended because they did not accept the Torah.

ALL THESE WORDS - This statement (that God spoke all these words) tells us that the Holy One, blessed be He, said all these words in one utterance, something that is impossible to a human being to do - to speak in this manner. Now if this be so, why does Scripture again say the first two Commandments, אנכי and לא יהיה לך? But the explanation is that He repeated and expressly uttered each of these two commandments by itself.

[AND I WILL GIVE THEE] THE TABLETS OF STONE, AND THE LAW, AND THE COMMANDMENT WHICH I HAVE WRITTEN TO TEACH THEM - All the six hundred and thirteen commandments are implicitly contained in the Ten Commandments and may therefore be regarded as having been written on the tablets. Rabbi Saadia specified in the אזהרות which he has composed those commandments which may be associated with each of the Ten Commandments.

[THEY] SAW THE SOUNDS - they saw that which should be heard (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:15:1) something which is impossible to see on any other occasion.

[NOT WITH YOU ALONE DO I MAKE THIS COVENANT … BUT WITH HIM THAT STANDETH HERE …] AND ALSO WITH HIM THAT IS NOT HERE — i.e. with the generations that will be in future (i.e. Moses is not referring to persons who happened to be absent from the assembly, for it states, v. 10, that all were present: “You are standing this day all of you before the Lord”) (Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 3).

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 his. And so [too], it states (Malachi 1:1), "The burden that God spoke to Israel by ['in the hand of'] Malachi" - it does not state, "in the days of Malachi," but rather "in the hand of Malachi," as the prophecy was already in his hand from Mount Sinai, but until that time, he was not given permission to prophesy. Likewise Yeshayahu said (Isaiah 48:16), "from the time it was, was I there." Yeshayahu said, "From the time the Torah was given at Sinai, I was there and received this prophecy, except [only] 'now did God send me and His spirit'" - until now, he was not given permission to prophesy. 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 his from Sinai...

And a fetus is taught the entire Torah while in the womb, as it is stated: “And He taught me and said to me: Let your heart hold fast My words; keep My commandments, and live” (Proverbs 4:4). And it also states: “As I was in the days of my youth, when the converse of God was upon my tent” (Job 29:4).

Cause us to return, our Father, to Your Torah and bring us near, our King, to Your service; and bring us back in whole-hearted repentance before You Blessed are You, Hashem, Who desires penitence.

All of the Jewish people have a share in the World-to-Come, as it is stated: “And your people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever; the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, for My name to be glorified” (Isaiah 60:21).

From where is it derived that one may take an oath to fulfill a mitzva? It is as it is stated: “I have sworn and I have confirmed it, to observe Your righteous ordinances” (Psalms 119:106). The Gemara asks: Is he not already under oath from when each Jew took an oath at Mount Sinai to fulfill all the mitzvot? An oath cannot take effect if one is already bound by a different oath. Rather, it teaches us this: It is permitted for a man to motivate himself to fulfill the mitzvot in this manner, although the oath is not technically valid.

MISHNA: With regard to one who says to another: Give this bill of divorce to my wife, or: Give this bill of manumission to my slave, if before the document reaches the woman or the slave the giver wishes to retract his decision, then with regard to both of them, he can retract. This is the statement of Rabbi Meir. And the Rabbis say: One can retract his decision in the case of bills of divorce but not in the case of bills of manumission. The Rabbis explain the reason for their ruling: This is because one can act in a person’s interest in his absence, and therefore the agent acquires the document on behalf of the slave from the moment the owner hands the bill of manumission to the agent. But one can act to a person’s detriment only in his presence. The receipt of a bill of divorce is considered to be to a woman’s detriment, and therefore an agent cannot receive it for her without her consent.

Rabbi Yoḥanan then explained to them: Why are gentiles ethically contaminated? It is because they did not stand on Mount Sinai. As when the snake came upon Eve, i.e., when it seduced her to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, it infected her with moral contamination, and this contamination remained in all human beings. When the Jewish people stood at Mount Sinai, their contamination ceased, whereas gentiles did not stand at Mount Sinai, and their contamination never ceased. Rav Aḥa, the son of Rava, said to Rav Ashi: What about converts? How do you explain the cessation of their moral contamination? Rav Ashi said to him: Even though they themselves were not at Mount Sinai, their guardian angels were present, as it is written: “It is not with you alone that I make this covenant and this oath, but with he that stands here with us today before the Lord our God, and with he that is not here with us today” (Deut 29:13–14), and this includes converts.

Having quoted a verse, the baraita tangentially interprets the subsequent verse. From the phrase: “But with he who stands here with us this day” (Deuteronomy 29:14), I have derived only that those who stood at Mount Sinai were included in this covenant. From where do I derive that the subsequent generations, and the converts who will convert in the future, were also included? The verse states: “And also with he who is not here with us this day” (Deuteronomy 29:14). And I have derived only that the mitzvot that the Jewish people accepted upon themselves at Mount Sinai were included in the oath. From where is it derived that mitzvot that were to be initiated in the future, for example, the reading of the Megilla, the Scroll of Esther, on Purim, were also included? The verse states: “The Jews ordained and took upon themselves…that they would keep these two days” (Esther 9:27), which is homiletically interpreted to mean: They ordained, in the generation of Esther, mitzvot that they had already accepted upon themselves by oath in the plains of Moab.

Now that G-d had told Israel face to face the Ten Commandments, and had further commanded them through Moses some of the precepts which are like general principles to the commandments of the Torah - in the same way that our Rabbis were accustomed to deal with strangers who come to be converted to the Jewish faith - and now that the Israelites accepted upon themselves to do all that He would command them through Moses and He made a covenant with them concerning all this, from now on they are His people and He is their G-d.

IN BASONS - There were two basons, one for holding the half of the blood of the burnt offering and the other for holding the half of the blood of the peace offerings, in order to sprinkle it on the people. From here have our Rabbis inferred (Keritot 9a) that our ancestors entered into the covenant with God by means of circumcision, immersion and sprinkling of blood and although immersion is not mentioned in this paragraph it must have taken place, for no sprinkling is effective without immersion preceding it.

(1) Israel entered the covenant [with God] with three acts: circumcision, immersion, and offering a sacrifice.

(2) Circumcision took place in Egypt, [before the Paschal sacrifice, of which Exodus 12:48] says: "No uncircumcised person shall partake of it." Moses our teacher circumcised [the people]. For with the exception of the tribe of Levi, the entire [people] neglected the covenant of circumcision in Egypt. Regarding this, [Deuteronomy 33:9 praises the Levites,] saying: "They upheld Your covenant."

(3) Immersion was performed in the desert before the Giving of the Torah, as [Exodus 19:10] states: "Sanctify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their garments." Sacrifices [were also offered then], as [ibid. 24:5] states: "And he sent out the youth of the children of Israel and they brought burnt offerings." They offered them as agents of the entire Jewish people.

(4) Similarly, for [all] future generations, when a gentile desires to enter into the covenant, take shelter under the wings of the Divine presence, and accept the yoke of the Torah, he must undergo circumcision, immersion, and the offering of a sacrifice. A woman [who converts] must undergo immersion and bring a sacrifice, as [Numbers 15:15] states: "As it is for you, so shall it be for the convert." Just as you [entered the covenant] with circumcision, immersion, and the offering of a sacrifice; so, too, for future generations, a convert must undergo circumcision, immersion, and must bring a sacrifice.

THE SAME DAY - on the day of the New Moon. It ought not to write ביום הזה, but ביום ההוא, “on that day”; what, then, is the force of the words “on this day”? Since they refer to the day when the Israelites came to Sinai to receive the Torah they imply that the commands of the Torah should be to you each day as something new as though He had only given them to you for the first time on the day (Berakhot 63b).

[THESE WORDS] WHICH I COMMAND THEE THIS DAY — this day— they should not be in thine eyes as an antiquated דיוטגמא which no one minds, but as one newly given which everyone gladly welcomes (Sifrei Devarim 33:2; cf. our first Note on p. 248 in the Silbermann edition of Exodus). — The word דיוטגמא in this Midrash signifies: a royal command committed to writing.

The Sages taught in a baraita: With regard to a potential convert who comes to a court in order to convert, at the present time, when the Jews are in exile, the judges of the court say to him: What did you see that motivated you to come to convert? Don’t you know that the Jewish people at the present time are anguished, suppressed, despised, and harassed, and hardships are frequently visited upon them? If he says: I know, and although I am unworthy of joining the Jewish people and sharing in their sorrow, I nevertheless desire to do so, then the court accepts him immediately to begin the conversion process. And the judges of the court inform him of some of the lenient mitzvot and some of the stringent mitzvot, and they inform him of the sin of neglecting the mitzva to allow the poor to take gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and produce in the corner of one’s field, and about the poor man’s tithe. And they inform him of the punishment for transgressing the mitzvot, as follows: They say to him: Be aware that before you came to this status and converted, had you eaten forbidden fat, you would not be punished by karet, and had you profaned Shabbat, you would not be punished by stoning, since these prohibitions do not apply to gentiles. But now, once converted, if you have eaten forbidden fat you are punished by karet, and if you have profaned Shabbat, you are punished by stoning. And just as they inform him about the punishment for transgressing the mitzvot, so too, they inform him about the reward granted for fulfilling them. They say to him: Be aware that the World-to-Come is made only for the righteous, and if you observe the mitzvot you will merit it, and be aware that the Jewish people, at the present time, are unable to receive their full reward in this world; they are not able to receive either an abundance of good nor an abundance of calamities, since the primary place for reward and punishment is in the World-to-Come. And they do not overwhelm him with threats, and they are not exacting with him about the details of the mitzvot. If he accepts upon himself all of these ramifications, then they circumcise him immediately. If there still remain on him shreds of flesh from the foreskin that invalidate the circumcision, they circumcise him again a second time to remove them. When he is healed from the circumcision, they immerse him immediately, and two Torah scholars stand over him at the time of his immersion and inform him of some of the lenient mitzvot and some of the stringent mitzvot. Once he has immersed and emerged, he is like a born Jew in every sense.

[AND MOSES BROUGHT FORTH THE PEOPLE …] TO MEET GOD — The word לקראת, “to meet”, which is used when two persons are approaching one another tells us that the Shechina was going forth to meet them, as a bridegroom who goes forth to meet his bride. This is what Scripture means when it says, (Deut 33:2) “The Lord came from Sinai”, and it is not said, “[The Lord came to Sinai” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:17:1).

[THE LORD] CAME FROM SINAI — He went forth towards them when they were about to take their stand at the foot of the Mount, as a bridegroom goes forth to welcome his bride, as it is said, (Exodus 19:17) “And Moses brought the people forth to meet God”: this teaches us that He (God) was Himself going forth facing them.

WHEN HE FINISHED [SPEAKING] — The word ככלתו is written defectively (without a ו after the ל) to intimate that the Torah was handed over to Moses as a gift (note the word ויתן), complete in every respect, even as the bride (the word ככלתו is taken to be connected with “כלה”, bride) is handed over to the bridegroom completely equipped with all she requires — for in a period brief as this which Moses spent on the mountain, he must have been unable to learn in its entirety every law to be derived from it. Another explanation why the word is written defective is: just as a bride (כלה) bedecks herself with 24 ornaments — those which are mentioned in the book of Isaiah (ch. 3) — so a scholar (תלמיד חכם) ought to be thoroughly versed in the contents of the 24 books of Scripture.

AND TWO BRACELETS (the word for bracelet signifies something joined or united) — a symbol of the two Tablets of stone, joined one to another.

And Rabbi Ḥelbo said that Rav Huna said: Anyone who benefits from the feast of a groom but does not cause him to rejoice violates the five voices mentioned in this verse, as it is stated: “The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, and the voice of those who say: Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy lasts forever, even of those who bring a thanks-offering to the house of the Lord. For I will restore the captivity of the land as it was in the beginning, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 33:11). These five voices in the context of a bride and groom correspond to the five voices mentioned in the context of the revelation at Sinai, as in Song of Songs, the day of the revelation at Sinai is alluded to by the phrase: His wedding day (Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, Maharsha). What is his reward if he causes the groom to rejoice? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He is privileged to acquire the Torah, which was given with five voices, as it is stated: “And it was on the third day, when it was morning, there were sounds [kolot], and lightning and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and the voice of the shofar” (Exodus 19:16). The plural kolot indicates at least two sounds, while “the voice of the shofar” is one more. The passage continues: “And when the voice of the shofar grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him by a voice” (Exodus 19:19). Along with the three previous voices, the second shofar and the voice with which God answered Moses amount to a total of five voices at the revelation at Sinai.

THAT HE SAW THE CALF AND THE DANCING. The heh prefixed to the word egel (calf) also refers to the word u-mecholot (and the dancing). The verse should be understood as follows: that he saw the calf and the dancing around it. Moses was overcome by great jealousy. He therefore broke the tablets which were in his hands and served, as it were, as a document of witness Moses thus tore up the contract. As Scripture states, he did this in the sight of all of Israel.

Can you think of any customs we do at Jewish weddings that may have

symbolic connections to Matan Torah?

You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

...as it says in the Midrash "They travelled" for 3 days from Har Sinai, like a child who runs out of school. So too they ran from Har Sinai for 3 days because they had learned so much Torah at Sinai.