Moshe at Sinai

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1. The Third Tablets

   Rabbi Meir Spiegelman

   The four final parshiyot in Vayikra - Kedoshim, Emor, Behar and Behukotai - are a repetition of the Ten Commandments. Why does the Torah repeat the Ten Commandments a second time? Why is the wording different from the wording at the end of Yitro and Va'ethanan? This article raises the theory that these parshiyot were given between the first and second tablets.

2. 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.
   
   
    

3. Why Was Moshe's Leadership Necessary?

   Rabbi Meir Spiegelman

   What was the purpose of the Revelation at Sinai? Through a close analysis of the text we can understand the purpose of the Revelation - to confirm the truth of Moshe's prophecy before the eyes of Bnei Yisrael, when they would watch him actually meeting with God, and also to see whether the nation really wanted God to dwell amongst them. 

4. Moshe's Evolving Leadership and Legacy

   Rabbi Moshe Aberman | 16 minutes

   Alongside the evolvement of the nation is the story of the evolvement of Moshe, the initially reluctant recipient of leadership. God promises Moshe at Sinai that his interpretation, given as part of the Oral Torah- will continue alongside God’s word in the Written Torah. Moshe grows one step further- becoming part and parcel of the Torah.

5. 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?

    

6. 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

7. Moshe Fasting on the Mountain: Being Great by Being Good

   Rabbi David Silverberg