4 minute read
The covenant at Sinai is multi-generational
Rabbi Ammos Chorny
Have you ever visited Mount Sinai? Once, I had an opportunity to climb the mountain some have identified as the mountain of Moses, where the Monastery of St. Catherine currently stands, and next to a small plant, a sign reads "burning bush." Though the climb was exhilarating and the sunrise was inspiring, there is absolutely no reason to believe that we were standing in the place where Moses received the tablets of the covenant.
That such a tradition once existed is evidenced by the fact that Elijah went to "the mountain of God at Horeb" when fleeing for his life. Interestingly, although he experienced the presence of the Lord there, it was exactly the opposite of the experience of Moses and the Israelites. Instead of fire, noise and earthquake, Elijah found the Lord in "a soft murmuring sound," the sound of silence.
Subsequently, the place of Sinai was forgotten and never became a destination of Jewish pilgrimage. The reason is simple: once the Tabernacle was established with the throne of God, the Ark of the Covenant within it, Israel possessed a “portable Sinai” they could take with them until it was eventually established permanently on the Mount of Zion. Zion, which was easily accessible, became "the mountain of God." There was no need to return to Sinai.
There is an ancient tradition that holds that you, I and all Jews ever to be born once stood at Sinai. According to this, our souls were there when the theophany at Sinai took place. We were all present when God revealed Himself and spoke to Israel. We all ‘saw’ the sounds and the fire and we all replied we would be willing to become God's treasured people, "a holy nation and a kingdom of priests."
On Shavuot, which is fast approaching, when we hear the reading of the Torah describing that event, we are merely “reminded” of the first time we experienced it over 3,000 years ago. The significance of that event cannot be over emphasized. In retelling the story, the book of Deuteronomy records Moses saying, "The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our fathers that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, the living, every one of us who is here today. Face to face the Lord spoke to you on the mountain out of the fire." (Deuteronomy 5:2-4)
Of course, that is not literally true since that generation had died out. Most of those standing with Moses some 40 years later had not yet been born. The words "the living, every one of us who is here today" may have precipitated the midrash that "everyone" was present then, even those not yet born. What Moses meant is that the covenant was made not only with those physically present at Sinai but extends to all who would come after. It was binding on the next generation and is binding on our generation as well.
In the ancient midrash to the Book of Exodus, the rabbis spoke of two aspects of that covenant, "the yoke of God's sovereignty" and "the yoke of the commandments." At Sinai, the Israelites first accepted God as their sovereign and then they accepted His laws upon themselves. The Sages also interpreted the first two paragraphs of the Sh'ma, recited twice daily, as representing those two aspects. When we recite them, we accept God's sovereignty upon ourselves, and we accept the responsibility of living according to God's commands.
So, it can truly be said that we stand at Sinai again twice daily, repeating the ancient vow of our ancestors, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do" (Exodus 19:8).
Rabbi Ammos Chorny serves at Beth Tikvah.
