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The Festival of Shavuot requires us all to return to Sinai in our hearts and minds, and receive the Torah anew, as our ancestors did thousands of years ago. But how should we receive the Torah?
This Midrash teaches us that when the Torah says, "And all the nation saw the voices" (Shemot 20:18), and "These words the Lord spoke to your entire congregation" (Devarim 5:19), it means is that "The voice [of God] would go forth simultaneously into several, different voices. In this way, every person present was able to receive and understand the voice of God based on their ability" (Shemot Rabbah 19:1).
Rav Shlomo Yosef Zeven, a nineteenth century Lithuanian rabbinic luminary and staunch proponent of religious Zionism, explains that grasping the voice of God based on one's ability means that when God declared, "You shall not kill," one person would comprehend this commandment on a basic level, meaning, "You shall not take up an axe and decapitate your fellow," while another person would hear this very same commandment and understand it as, "You shall not cause a situation resulting in the killing of your fellow." And another person still, hearing that same voice, would understand the commandment as meaning, "The one who embarrasses his or her fellow in public is as if he or she sheds blood."
Thus, we see that everyone at Sinai heard the same voice of God pronounce the same utterances, but each person perceived it differently, according to their own ability. Because of this, each person left the revelation at Sinai appreciating Torah on different levels and in different ways.
This Shavuot, as we all stand again at Sinai, let's consider the voice of God which speaks to us more powerfully on this day than on any other, and ask ourselves, "How did I understand Torah last year? How did I perceive and perform mitzvot – how did I perceive and practice my Judaism last year, and how can I challenge my perceptions and practice this year, so that I can rise to newer, higher, and holier levels of understanding?"
Let us ask ourselves these questions as we prepare to receive the Torah anew this year, as we stand together at the foot of Sinai once more, as we rise together, higher and higher in sanctity, in practice, and in understanding.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
- Rabbi Dan
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