Ma'amad Har Sinai - Standing at Sinai

Found 37 Search results

Counting the Omer, or Eating the Omer
Rabbi Menachem Leibtag
תאריך פרסום: תשע"ב | |
While the Hebrew word ‘omer’ is usually associated with something that is ‘counted’, we will trace the few instances when the word ‘omer’ appears in the Bible to show how it consistently refers to a special measure of grain. In light of our discussion, we will uncover the deeper thematic connection between ‘counting the Omer’ and our commemoration of the events at Mt. Sinai.
Seeing Ten Commandments in the Burning Bush
Rabbi David Fohrman |
In this video, Rabbi Fohrman connects the Ten Commandments to the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, arguing that the text is certainly meant to hark back - but why? Want to see more videos like this? Check out https://www.alephbeta.org/
Yitro: Standing in Awe
Rabbi Dr. Avraham Walfish
תאריך פרסום: תשס"ו | | 45 minutes
Parashat Beshallah and Yitro share a rare feature: for both parshiyyot, some have the custom to stand during one of the aliyyot during the Torah reading. These sections, Song at the Sea and the Giving of the Torah, are two of the most significant in Moshe’s career and in the development of the people of Israel. Examining these stories together presents a picture of the Israelites’ transition into a permanent relationship with God.
Shavuot
Rabbi Ezra Bick | 14 minutes
According to our tradition, the Torah was given on the 6th of Sivan, the day on which we observe the holiday of Shavuot, but only received by Am Yisrael on the 7th of Sivan. By celebrating Shavuot on the day of the giving of the Torah rather than on the day of its reception (which we essentially celebrate every day when we learn Torah) we reconnect our Torah with the voice of God.
How to Divide the Ten Commandments
Rabbi Alex Israel
The Ten Commandments are maybe the best-known of all Jewish laws. They are perceived widely as a universal code of ethics. Within Judaism, they are one of the most prominent symbols of the faith. This article investigates certain aspects of this group of laws, namely, their unusual format and their unique message of the two different ways of approaching God.
Encountering God
Rabbi Alex Israel
Shavuot and Matan Torah
Rabbi Menachem Leibtag
Why does the Torah purposely obscure the date of Matan Torah (and therefore the date of the holiday of Shavuot)? By answering this question we can gain a deeper understanding of our relationship with Torah and the covenant with God - the essence of our daily existence.
Study Questions for Tikun Leil Shavuot
Rabbi Menachem Leibtag
On Shavuot night, the study of Torah takes on an added dimension, as we mark the anniversary of Matan Torah. This includes not only the minhag of learning throughout the night, but also HOW we learn. In other words, our learning should be more ACTIVE than passive. Towards this end, I have opted this week to write questions for self study, as opposed to a regular ('spoon fed') shiur in the hope that they will facilitate a more active manner of learning.

So, in case you are looking for a 'structured' learning program for Shavuot night, with or without a chavruta, I am sending out some 'preparation questions' which deal with Shavuot and Matan Torah.
Recalling the Revelation at Sinai
Rabbi Elchanan Samet
In Parshat Va'etchanan Moshe mentions Ma'amad Har Sinai in three different places, and in each case it is mentioned as a subject in its own right, rather than incidentally. This raises the question: why is the great revelation mentioned three separate times in our parsha, with a distance of only a few verses in between them? Why is the discussion of the revelation not concentrated in one place in Moshe's speech? What is the purpose of all this commemoration, and in what context is it mentioned? By dividing the book of Devarim into separate units and analyzing the structure of Parshat Va'etchanan, we can learn about the intended goal of the mentions of the revelation - to elevate Israel and strengthen their faith in the validity of the covenant between them and God.
Remembrance of the Revelation at Mount Sinai in Moshe's Speech
Rabbi Dr. Tamir Granot
According to Moshe's speech in Parshat Va'etchanan, the primary significance of Ma'amad Har Sinai is God's direct revelation to Israel. However, the description of Ma'amad Har Sinai in Sefer Shemot focuses on Israel's belief in Moshe as a true prophet. By closely examining the two instances of revelation, one can see that the purpose of the speech in Devarim was to establish the faith for all generations even when individuals and the community as a whole do not experience a revelation as had occurred during the exodus from Egypt or at Mount Sinai. From here it follows that faith in the book of Devarim rests on the foundations of prophecy, memory, and story, and not on unmediated experience.
Inseparable Pair
Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz
The Legacy of Sinai
Rabbi Yair Kahn |
How does the Revelation at Sinai help us in our days? What aspect of the experience helps with faith? Why is it that God promises Moshe that through this event, Am Yisrael will believe in Moshe as prophet forever? In this shiur, we discuss two dialogues with Moshe that bracket the Ten Commandments, focusing on the account in Parashat Vaetchanan.
Na'aseh Ve'nishma & Sefer Habrit: What Did We Know & When?
Rabbi Moshe Shulman
תאריך פרסום: תשעד | |
Every year on Shavuot we talk about the significance of the fact that when Bnei Yisrael were offered the Torah, they said "Na'aseh venishma" - "we will do and we will listen." Why are we so enthralled by this, and are we really so enthralled by the acceptance of the Torah before even knowning what the Torah said?

When did Bnei Yisrael make this declaration - before the Torah was given, afterward, or something else? From where does the "gvura" of this declaration come from? And what does was the "Sefer haBrit" that came up in the Covenant of the Basins?
The Tenth Commandment: "You Shall Not Covet"
Rabbi Elchanan Samet
What is the reason for the prohibition "You shall not covet ... nor shall you desire..." that comes to limit man's thoughts and feelings even when they do not find external, practical expression? This article explores some prevalent interpretations that attempt to answer this question, focusing on the danger to the coveter himself rather than to those around him.
Epilogue
Rabbi Ezra Bick
It seems as though the four commands that follow in the short section of the immediate epilogue to asseret hadibrot - idolatry, the earthen altar, the prohibition of cutting the stones of the stone altar, and the prohibition of stairs to ascend the altar - are introduced as somehow being engendered by "you have seen that I have spoken to you from the heaven." The question is - why? What is the connection between these verses and the experience of witnessing the revelation of Sinai?

An exploration of these four commandments leads to a deeper understanding of their important addition to the experience of the Revelation at Sinai – highlighting both the opportunity and the responsibility brought about by the newly- formed relationship between God and the Jewish people.
The Covenant at Sinai
Rabbi Chanoch Waxman
Why does the Torah embed the story of the "brit Sinai" within the story of the ascent of Moshe and the leadership? What is the thematic connection of the "brit" to the ascent of Moshe and the leadership onto the mountain and their respective visions and intimate interactions with God? The answer lies in some of the themes elucidated above. The Torah wishes to emphasize that the various forms and aspects of the spiritual quest - religious ecstasy, sacrifices, and ascending to God, on the one hand, and covenantal commitment to the word of God, on the other hand - constitute harmonious rather than conflicting categories. Each is somehow a necessary condition for and result of the other. The Torah knows of no conflict between law and spirituality, between celebrating the divine and seemingly dry legalism, between the encounter with God on a mountaintop and commitment to a code. The two categories fit neatly together in the text and in the experience of Bnei Yisrael. Together they comprise the rationale, purpose and culmination of the redemption from Egypt: a nation and its leaders serving God and celebrating His presence, fully and absolutely committed to His word.
Parashat HaShavua Teruma - Rashi and Ramban
Rabbi David Silverberg | 33 minutes
This shiur examines the famous mahloket (debate) between Rashi and Ramban regarding the chronology of Parashat Teruma.
Is the command to construct the Mishkan given before or after Het Ha-Egel (the Sin of the Golden Calf) takes place? Rashi views the Mishkan as part of the atonement process for the sin, while Ramban sees the Mishkan as perpetuating the experience of Ma'amad Har Sinai.
Doing and Hearing (Audio)
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks | 9 minutes
One of the most famous phrases in the Torah makes its appearance in this week’s parsha. It has often been used to characterise Jewish faith as a whole. It consists of two words: na’aseh venishma, literally, “we will do and we will hear”. What does this mean and why does it matter?

Through an examination of the text we learn about community and individuality, and the difference between na’aseh and nishma. We respond to God’s commands “with one voice”, yet we hear God’s presence in many ways- for though God is One, we are all different, and we encounter Him each in our own way.

To read more from Rabbi Sacks or to subscribe to his mailing list, please visit http://www.rabbisacks.org/. You can also follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Structure and Meaning in the Ten Commandments
Rabbi Alex Israel | Hour and 11 minutes
How many commandments are included in the Aseret Hadibrot? How can they be divided? An analysis of the structure of the Ten Commandments, as well as its comparison with Ancient Near East treaties allows us to gain deeper insights into the messages of the Ten Commandments and the meaning of a personal connection with God.
The Structure of the Mishkan
Rabbi Meir Spiegelman
What is the goal of the Mishkan? An analysis of the text suggests that the Mishkan’s purpose is twofold: the Mishkan represents a permanent continuation of the Revelation at Sinai, as well as a meeting place between God and Israel.
Shavuot: A New Holiday
Rabbi Jay Kelman
Master and Beloved
Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein
On the one hand, the Torah is a book of commandments incumbent upon us, God's servants, to perform. Yet, on the other hand, there exists within this framework of commandments an emotional side, the experiential element in the service of God. Here it is possible to feel closeness to God, not as a master, but as a friend; not as a ruler, but as a groom and a beloved.

Israel stood at a momentous event - thunder and lightning, the blasts of the shofar, the Almighty Himself speaking and commanding. With all this enveloping them, they must have felt uplifted to tremendous spiritual heights.

But the greatness of Israel was that they knew how to be engrossed in the event, 'they would hear the command,' but they did not settle for hearing the voice alone. Israel also 'analyzed it' - using their intellect, they tried to understand and gain wisdom.

It is this dialectic that forms the matrix of the relationship between the Jewish Nation and God, and between Israel and the Torah.

Adapted from a Sicha given on Shavuot 5745 (1985) - summarized by Roni Kleinman, translated by Menachem Weinberg
"Lest You Forget What You Have Seen"
Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein
Beyond the power of the experience itself, the receiving of the Torah was also a crucial formative stage for the Jewish people, playing a central role in the very emergence of the Jewish people as a nation. Moshe refers to the day of ma'amad Har Sinai as "Yom ha-kahal, the day of the assembly" (Devarim 9:10, 10:4, 18:16). While this phrase could be taken to mean simply "a day on which the assembly was gathered together," it seems that in this context it means far more than that. It was a day when the Jewish people grew into an assembly.

Based on a sicha by Harav Aharon Lichtenstein (Adapted by Rabbi Dov Karoll)
Accepting the Torah – Then and Now
Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein
In Parashat Yitro, in the preparations for receiving the Torah, we are told that Moshe came to the people and they all said, “All that God has said – we shall do” (19:8). In parashat Mishpatim, as they are about to enter into the covenant of the basins, we are told: “He took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, and all the people said: All that God has spoken – we shall do and we shall obey” (24:7).

We may ask what happened in between, and what brought about such a revolutionary change in such a short time that Bnei Yisrael were able to declare, “Na’aseh ve-nishma," rather than merely promising, “Na’aseh”?

What was added in Mishpatim, and what facilitated the transition from “na’aseh” to “na’aseh ve-nishma,” was threefold: first, the purely religious aspect of the revelation at Sinai, including its experiential and personal dimension; second – and no less important – the involvement in study and the deepening knowledge of Torah; and third, Torah experience and knowledge implemented on both the personal and societal levels.

[Based on a Sicha by Harav Aharon Lichtenstein (summarized by Shaul Barth with Reuven Ziegler and translated by Kaeren Fish)]
The Shofar of Sinai
Prof. Jonathan Grossman
"And it happened on the third day in the morning, there was thundering and lightning and a heavy cloud upon the mountain, and THE SOUND OF A SHOFAR WAS VERY LOUD, and the whole nation in the camp trembled ... and the sound of the shofar grew louder and louder."

Throughout this shofar blast, which is becoming increasingly louder and stronger, the Shekhina is upon the mountain. If during this time it is forbidden for the people to ascend the mountain - or even to touch its very edge - then how are we to understand God's words, "When the shofar sounds long, they shall ascend the mountain?"

The nation is fearful of the shofar blasts and the fire, and therefore they move away from the site. At the same time they ask Moshe to intercede between God and themselves. During the long blast of the shofar the nation was indeed supposed to ascend the mountain and hear God's words directly, but because of their fright at the loud noise and great fire, Moshe alone ended up ascending alone to "the cloud where God was."

Translated by Kaeren Fish
The Sound of Silence
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Bamidbar is usually read on the Shabbat before Shavuot. So the sages connected the two. Shavuot is the time of the giving of the Torah. Bamibar means, “In the desert.” What then is the connection between the desert and the Torah, the wilderness and God’s word?

The desert is a place of silence. There is nothing visually to distract you, and there is no ambient noise to muffle sound. To be sure, when the Israelites received the Torah, there was thunder and lightening and the sound of a shofar.

The silence that counts, in Judaism, is thus a listening silence – and listening is the supreme religious art. Listening means making space for others to speak and be heard.

This article is part of the Covenant & Conversation series.

To read more from Rabbi Sacks or to subscribe to his mailing list, please visit http://www.rabbisacks.org/. You can also follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Moshe and the Giving of the Torah
Rabbi Yair Kahn
Immediately prior to the Asseret Ha-dibbrot (Ten Commandments), an enigmatic dialogue is recorded (19:21-25). God orders Moshe to warn the nation not to attempt to catch a glimpse of God. Moshe argues that this is unnecessary, since Mt. Sinai was already placed out of limits to Am Yisrael (the Jewish People). Nevertheless, God overrules Moshe and insists that the nation be warned. Moshe complies and warns the people. Suddenly, directly following this warning, while Moshe is still among the people, Am Yisrael experience revelation. Some obvious questions arise. Why did God insist on repeating the warning to the people? What is so significant about this strange debate that it is recorded in the Torah? Is there any connection between this warning or debate and the mass revelation that followed?
To Whom Did God Speak at Sinai?
Rabbi Yaakov Medan
The Torah is ambiguous about the question of whether the Revelation at Mount Sinai was only to Moshe – "Lo, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever" (Shemot 19:9) – or to the entire people – "For on the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai" (Shemot 19:11).

Another question arises as well: Did the glory of God reach the foot of the mountain, down to the Israelite camp – "And Mount Sinai smoked in every part, because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke of it ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly" (Shemot 19:18) – or did God's glory rest only on the top of the mountain – "And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moshe up to the top of the mount; and Moshe went up" (Shemot 19:20)? Furthermore, if all the people stood at the foot of the mountain, to where did the priests ascend after the sweeping warning not to go up the mountain or even touch its perimeter?

Translated by David Strauss
Matan Torah - Parshat Yitro
Rabbi Menachem Leibtag
Parshat Yitro describes the historic event of Matan Torah, but the manner in which it does so is not as simple as meets the eye. This shiur contains two parts:

Part I serves as a general introduction to the methodology of analyzing the 'structure' of parshiot to find their 'theme'.

Part II discusses the significance of the Torah's PRESENTATION of the events that take place when the Torah is given at Har Sinai.
No Touching!
Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky
Studies in Parashat Yitro
Rabbi Dr. Yoel Bin Nun
God's first words to Moshe after the Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai describe and explain the comprehensive and revolutionary change in God's governance of Israel – transition from miraculous governance to governance by way of words.
Tikkun Leil Shavuot – Strengthen or Repair?
Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky
בַּחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י לְצֵ֥את בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם בַּיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה בָּ֖אוּ מִדְבַּ֥ר סִינָֽי׃
Exodus 19, verse 1
וּבְעַמּ֣וּד עָנָ֔ן הִנְחִיתָ֖ם יוֹמָ֑ם וּבְעַמּ֥וּד אֵשׁ֙ לַ֔יְלָה לְהָאִ֣יר לָהֶ֔ם אֶת־הַדֶּ֖רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יֵֽלְכוּ־בָֽהּ׃
Nehemiah 9, verse 12
רַ֡ק הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֩ וּשְׁמֹ֨ר נַפְשְׁךָ֜ מְאֹ֗ד פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֨ח אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־רָא֣וּ עֵינֶ֗יךָ וּפֶן־יָס֙וּרוּ֙ מִלְּבָ֣בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֣י חַיֶּ֑יךָ וְהוֹדַעְתָּ֥ם לְבָנֶ֖יךָ וְלִבְנֵ֥י בָנֶֽיךָ׃
Deuteronomy 4, verse 9
וַיִּקְרָ֣א מֹשֶׁה֮ אֶל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם שְׁמַ֤ע יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֶת־הַחֻקִּ֣ים וְאֶת־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י דֹּבֵ֥ר בְּאָזְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם וּלְמַדְתֶּ֣ם אֹתָ֔ם וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם לַעֲשֹׂתָֽם׃
Deuteronomy 5, verse 1
אֶֽת־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֡לֶּה דִּבֶּר֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֶל־כָּל־קְהַלְכֶ֜ם בָּהָ֗ר מִתּ֤וֹךְ הָאֵשׁ֙ הֶֽעָנָ֣ן וְהָֽעֲרָפֶ֔ל ק֥וֹל גָּד֖וֹל וְלֹ֣א יָסָ֑ף וַֽיִּכְתְּבֵ֗ם עַל־שְׁנֵי֙ לֻחֹ֣ת אֲבָנִ֔ים וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֖ם אֵלָֽי׃
Deuteronomy 5, verse 19