Rabbi Richman describes this parashah – Matan Torah – as the central point of the entire Torah. There was no parallel to this event in the world – a God who cares about the world. The events of Joseph and Jacob going down to Egypt and all that followed were for the sole purpose of the giving of the Torah. God, in fact, at the time of Creation, conditioned it upon the ultimate acceptance of the Torah by Israel.
During the time of the Temple Cult, the Ten Commandments were incorporated into the Shema section of the daily service. However, at a certain point the rabbis opposed this practice. According to the Talmud, it was because of the “claim of the sectarians” – possibly early Christians, who claimed that only the Ten Commandments—received directly from God–were binding whereas the rest of the mitzvoth, which were received through Moses, were not binding.
Rabbi Sacks states that Judaism is a religion based on asking questions. Even children are obligated to ask questions. At the Passover Seder, children ask the 4 questions. Abraham asks questions. The book of Job is primarily questions. Judaism is not a religion of blind obedience; there is no Hebrew word for “obey”. In fact, intelligence is God’s greatest gift to humanity.
There are plenty of reasons to feel down as discouraging news and images are all around us. However, it doesn’t take much effort to raise someone up or to recognize when someone has lifted us from sadness. A kind word, good deed, mitzvah, or even just being together are some of the ways we can support each other during these trying times.
Rabbi Sacks states that Judaism is a religion based on asking questions. Even children are obligated to ask questions. At the Passover Seder, children ask the 4 questions. Abraham asks questions. The book of Job is primarily questions. Judaism is not a religion of blind obedience; there is no Hebrew word for “obey”. In fact, intelligence is God’s greatest gift to humanity.
Leonard Cohen sings the Darkness, at the O2 Arena, Dublin on September 12th 2013
Rabbi Gordon writes about the Israelites who didn’t listen to Moses, out of shortness of spirit and hard servitude. He asks: What are the workarounds for shortness of spirit and hard servitude? They are not like cell phones that can be silenced. He references Exodus Rabbah 6:5, which explains that the Israelites joined the idolaters because their status as slaves was fixed, and God didn’t seem to help.
Rabbi Sacks comments on the fact that Moses implies the people will leave for 3 days to worship Adonai, when in fact the intention is to leave entirely. He recalls Jacob, who left Laban behind his back, and made an excuse not to travel together with Esau later on. Jacob was also misleading in the situation with the Shechemites when he proposed circumcision. Abraham and Isaac pretended their wives were sisters when leaving home because of famine.
“You Will Be Found”
Performed by Cantor Jacqueline Rafii, Cantor Lisa Peicott & Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot
Rabbi Fohrman compares the opening verses in Exodus to verses 46:8-27, which is almost the same. Why the repetition? He quotes Rashi, who wrote that the names of Bnai Yisrael were repeated because God wanted to hear them again.