ויקח ספר הברית ויקרא באזני העם ויאמרו כל אשר דבר ה’ נעשה ונשמע
Exodus 24:7
THE BERIT
Three thousand five hundred years ago, the people of Israel experienced the most crucial event in human history: a covenant, a formal pact between a Nation and God. These events, which took place in Sinai, are known in Hebrew as “Ma’amad Har Sinai,” the revelation of God to the Jewish people in Mount Sinai.
What happened in this event can be described in three acts.
הצעת הברית 1. HaShem offered us to become his chosen people by establishing a covenant with Him. We accepted. God promised to adopt us as His “treasured” people, ‘am segula (see here).
מתן תורה 2. God gave us the Tora, the “document” that contains the guidelines and conditions of the Covenant between God and Israel.
קבלת התורה 3. The Jewish people agreed to abide by the laws of the Tora. From then on, we adopted the Tora as our national law or constitution.
This Covenant between God and a people is unique in mankind’s history and is described in detail in chapters 20 and 24 of the book Shemot (Exodus).
הצעת הברית
THE PROPOSAL
On the first day of the month of Sivan, Moshe ascended to Mount Sinai. He received a Divine message (Exodus 19: 3-6): “You shall speak to the house of Ya’aqob and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians [the ten plagues, etc.], and [you have also seen] how I led you [=protecting you] like an eagle [that carries its chicks] on its wings, and I have brought you to Me. And now, if you [are willing to] obey My voice and to fulfill My Covenant, you will become a precious possession for Me [segula] among all nations, a unique people. You will become for Me a Kingdom of Priests and a consecrated nation [to serve me]. “
God offered to establish a covenant between Him and the people of Israel. God offered to make Israel a nation of priests (cohanim), a people consecrated to God., by serving God, learning and teaching His Laws, and thus giving a living testimony of His existence, Presence, and revealed will. The condition of being a Nation of Priests implies the privilege of God’s closeness: a closer Divine attention. On the other hand, this privilege demands a higher standard of morality, many obligations to fulfill, and precepts to follow.
THE ENGAGEMENT
Then Moshe came down from Mount Sinai and presented the terms of the Covenant to the people of Israel. The people listened to the proposal and agreed to enter into a covenant with God by declaring with one voice: (Exodus 19: 8) “We are willing to do all that HaShem has said.” However, this was NOT the final acceptance of the Covenant, but the acceptance of the proposal to enter a covenant, exactly like “an engagement” in the framework of a wedding. In a regular engagement ceremony, the bride and the groom agree to get married. Similarly, the people of Israel here declare their willingness to enter the Covenant. This declaration will be repeated after people listen to the Ten Commandments and the Mishpatim. And then, a third time when the Jews verbalize their final consent: “Yes, we do”, by saying the famous words: “Everything God has said, we will do, and we will listen”, after that third and final declaration the “marriage”, our Covenant with God, “Judaism”, formally began.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE GREATEST DAY
Going back to the people of Israel expressing their first commitment to enter into a Pact with God, HaShem announced that He would reveal Himself to the entire nation within three days, that is, on Shabu’ot. God told Moshe (Exodus 19: 10-12): “Go and consecrate the people today and tomorrow. Tell them to purify themselves, to wash their clothes, and to prepare for the third day because on that day, I will descend on Mount Sinai in full view of the people. ” According to our Sages, the purification and washing of the clothes mentioned in this verse refers to the immersion in a Mikve, the Jewish ritual bath (same as a bride before the wedding). The children of Israel purified themselves during those three days (3, 4, and 5 of Sivan). They were ready to enter a Covenant with God the following day.
מתן תורה
THE TERMS OF THE COVENANT
In this Covenant, God offered to take the people of Israel as HIS people. This means that He will directly supervise the people of Israel. He will not allow the people of Israel to disappear. And He will never cancel or modify this Covenant, nor the condition of Israel as the chosen nation. The people of Israel committed to being governed by the Divine Law, the Tora. HaShem will be Israel’s King. Israel will be a Nation of Priests, a people consecrated to God’s service. The Jewish people are also the “privileged” direct witnesses of God’s existence since they witnessed His revelation in Mount Sinai. The terms of this Covenant, which are not few, are detailed extensively in the Tora, the five books of Moshe, and are organized into 613 precepts.
THE NIGHT OF THE COVENANT
On the night of the 6th of Sivan (between the 5th and the 6th of Sivan), the covenant ceremony continued with God announcing the 10 Commandments. God began to enunciate directly, and without the mediation of Moses, the first two Commandments. The Tora tells us that the people could not tolerate (mentally? or physically?) the impact of the Divine Revelation. God does not speak with a voice produced by vocal cords. The Divine “voice” is indescribable. The Tora expressed this unique experience with a very singular (poetic?) phrase: “and the people ‘saw’ the voices “…. They saw the “words”, probably in their mind, when HaShem was speaking to them. The Sages explain that the experience of God’s Revelation was so intense that those present felt they would die. This experience is part of the Jewish genetic memory, shaping our character and values and strengthening our belief in God.
AT THE PEOPLE’S REQUEST
After listening to the second commandment, the Jews asked Moshe to meditate to transmit the rest of the commandments. That same night, after hearing all these precepts (Exodus 21-23), the people declared for the second time their willingness to celebrate the Covenant and to commit themselves to obey the laws that were presented up to that moment. This is what the Tora says (Exodus 24: 3): “Moshe … transmitted all the words of God and all the laws to the people. The people answered with one voice: All that HaShem said was we would fulfill. “ Moshe remained awake all that night and wrote what God had conveyed to him in a document that the Tora suggestively calls: Sefer HaBerit, the book of the Covenant.
קבלת התורה
THE DAY OF THE COVENANT
The following day, the 6th of Sivan at dawn, Moshe erected an altar, representing the Divine Presence, and 12 pillars, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then, he sent the young people to offer sacrifices. Moshe took the blood of the sacrifices and divided it into two. He poured the first half into the receptacles of the 12 pillars and the other half into the altar. The Tora describes the ceremony of the formal celebration of the Covenant (Exodus 24: 7): “Then Moshe took the book of the Covenant and read it in the ears of the people. And the people declared: “Everything that HaShem has said, we will do and obey.” This means that the people agreed to obey everything they had already heard and committed to accepting all the other laws and guidelines they would listen to in the future. Then Moshe took the blood of the sacrifices and sprinkled it on the altar, which represents the Divine Presence, and on the pillars that represent the people. Moshe said then (24: 8): “This is the blood of the Covenant that HaShem established with all of you; (the Covenant) which consists of all these words (laws, which you have heard). “
With this formal ceremony, we established our eternal Covenant with God, committing ourselves to obeying the Laws of God, the Tora, and our Nation’s Constitution.
