Parashat Hashavua: Yitro
Why must some of the most important experiences of our lives be among the most difficult to make sense of? From the very beginning of the Torah’s description of God’s Revelation at Sinai, the narrative seems designed to confuse. After we are told when Bnei Yisrael “arrived to the Sinai desert / בָּ֖אוּ מִדְבַּ֥ר סִינָֽי׃,” we are told “they departed from Refidim, and arrived to the Sinai desert / וַיִּסְע֣וּ מֵרְפִידִ֗ים וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ מִדְבַּ֣ר סִינַ֔י.” (Ex. 19:1-2) Obviously they arrived only once, so why tell us they arrived, rewind to their previous departure point, and repeat their arrival?
There is confusion as well as to whether we should be referred to in the singular or plural – in the same pasuk! “They camped in the desert (plural); Israel (singular) camped there opposite the mountain / וַֽיַּחֲנ֖וּ בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר וַיִּֽחַן־שָׁ֥ם יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נֶ֥גֶד הָהָֽר׃.” (Ex. 19:2) Furthermore, we are called by three different names in the first three pesukim, including “Israel” as just mentioned, and then two used by God in one pasuk: “Thus shall you say to the house of Yaakov, and tell the children of Yisrael / כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לְבֵ֣ית יַעֲקֹ֔ב וְתַגֵּ֖יד לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל.” (Ex. 19:3) If God isn't sure what to call us – what our identity is – how can we be expected to know for ourselves?
And then there is the question of whether we are meant to feel a sense of agency and partnership in our relationship with God, or compulsion and fear. Mostly, the former seem to exist when he asks Moshe to say to Bnei Yisrael, “If you will obey my voice and keep my covenant now, then you shall be my treasure to me from among all nations; all the earth is mine / וְעַתָּ֗ה אִם־שָׁמ֤וֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ בְּקֹלִ֔י וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֑י וִהְיִ֨יתֶם לִ֤י סְגֻלָּה֙ מִכׇּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים כִּי־לִ֖י כׇּל־הָאָֽרֶץ.” (Ex. 19:5) Moshe goes to the elders and “put before them all these words that the Lord commanded him, and they answered – all the nation – together, and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do’ / וַיָּ֣שֶׂם לִפְנֵיהֶ֗ם אֵ֚ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוָּ֖הוּ יְהֹוָֽה; וַיַּעֲנ֨וּ כׇל־הָעָ֤ם יַחְדָּו֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה נַעֲשֶׂ֑ה.” (Ex. 19:7-8) (Note that here too, it is unclear who Moshe speaks with; he addresses the elders and the nation answers!)
However, once preparations to receive the Torah begin in earnest, the tone changes dramatically. “Watch yourselves that you do not go up the mountain or touch its border, as whoever touches the mountain will surely die; no hand shall touch it because he will surely be stoned or shot through; whether animal or man, it shall not live / הִשָּׁמְר֥וּ לָכֶ֛ם עֲל֥וֹת בָּהָ֖ר וּנְגֹ֣עַ בְּקָצֵ֑הוּ כׇּל־הַנֹּגֵ֥עַ בָּהָ֖ר מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת; לֹא־תִגַּ֨ע בּ֜וֹ יָ֗ד כִּֽי־סָק֤וֹל יִסָּקֵל֙ אוֹ־יָרֹ֣ה יִיָּרֶ֔ה אִם־בְּהֵמָ֥ה אִם־אִ֖ישׁ לֹ֣א יִחְיֶ֑ה.” (Ex. 19:12-13) And later during the earth-shattering pyrotechnic experience at Sinai that petrifies the nation, Moshe finds it necessary to say, “Do not be afraid, it is in order for God to test you, in order for his fear to be on your face so you do not sin / אַל־תִּירָ֒אוּ֒ כִּ֗י לְבַֽעֲבוּר֙ נַסּ֣וֹת אֶתְכֶ֔ם בָּ֖א הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וּבַעֲב֗וּר תִּהְיֶ֧ה יִרְאָת֛וֹ עַל־פְּנֵיכֶ֖ם לְבִלְתִּ֥י תֶחֱטָֽאוּ׃.” Partner or subject, fear or no fear?
Last but definitely not least, determining Moshe’s location during Matan Torah is a little like playing “Where’s Waldo.” We are told at the end of chapter 19, after God tells Moshe what final instructions to give the nation, that “Moshe went down to the nation / וַיֵּ֥רֶד מֹשֶׁ֖ה אֶל־הָעָ֑ם” to convey them. (Ex. 19:25) Then immediately thereafter, with no indication that Moshe reascended Sinai, God begins Aseret HaDibrot. (Ex. 20:1) But God had said to Moshe that for Revelation, “you will ascend, you and Aharon with you / וְעָלִ֥יתָ אַתָּ֖ה וְאַהֲרֹ֣ן עִמָּ֑ךְ.” (Ex. 19:24) So where is Moshe, exactly?
Many meaningful insights have of course been offered to explain and interpret each and every one of these inconsistencies; please explore them all and offer your own. More to the point for present purposes is this question: What can we learn from the fact that our nascent experience as exclusively God’s nation is ambiguous in so many important details? As Rashi says at the very beginning of the Torah on the phrase “God created / בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א”: “This text only says ‘interpret me’ / אֵין הַמִּקְרָא הַזֶּה אוֹמֵר אֶלָּא דָּרְשֵׁנִי.” (Gen. 1:1) This approach can, I believe, help us in our own lives as well. May we accept and appreciate that, like Revelation, the most important events in our lives can be understood in multiple ways, in the moment and over time. And may we not despair when a clear understanding of those events eludes us, but rather recognize that in part what gives them their meaning – what affirms and attests to their enduring importance – is our ongoing reflection about them.
Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head (Ivrit/Tanach/Tefillah)
