Perashat Yitro 5777

Perashat Yitro 5777

Friday, February 17, 2017 Author: Rabbi Daniel Greenwald

Without a doubt, the highlight of this week’s perasha, Yitro, is the Revelation at Mt. Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments.  The Torah describes how Moshe Rabbenu instructed the people to prepare themselves for this event so that they would be able to take upon themselves the mantle of a people who would serve G-d as, “A kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”  [Ex. 19:6]  

Even the physical scene surrounding  Mt. Sinai is depicted vividly:  “On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders, lightning and a thick cloud on the mountain; the sound of the shofar was extremely strong and the people in the camp trembled.  Moshe took the people out of the camp towards G-d, and they assembled at the base of the mountain.  Mount Sinai smoked all over because G-d had descended on it in fire.  Its smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently.”  [Ex. 19: 16-19]  The Almighty chose to give the Torah amidst thunder and lightning, earthquakes, fire and smoke.  The obvious question is asked:  Why all the drama; why the “sound and light show”?  What purpose could there be to present the Torah, “whose ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace” [Proverbs 3:17] in such a terrifying manner?  

R. Yehuda Herzl Henkin, in his New Interpretations on the Parsha, maintains that G-d actually did intend to terrify us.  Indeed, as he points out, Moshe explicitly said this when recounting the Revelation on Sinai 40 years later.  “… when G-d told me, gather the people to me I will convey my words to them so that they can learn to fear Me all the days they live on earth, and teach their children.  You came close and stood at the base of the mountain.  The mountain was aflame to the midst of the heavens; darkness, cloud and blackness.”  [Dev. 4:10-11]  This scene shook the people up, to the point that they asked Moshe:  “Why should we die?  If we continue to hear the voice of Hashem our G-d, this great fire will consume us and we will die.” [Dev. 5:22]  To which G-d responded:  “They have spoken well in everything they said.  If only their hearts would always be this way, to fear Me and observe my commandments.” [Dev. 5:25-26]  

In short, the Almighty was trying to teach us, that the average person must be reminded to fear Him.  Unfortunately, this is something about which people are not always cognizant.  Our sages acknowledged  that the concept of “Fear of G-d” is the foundation of religion and helps to reinforce the avoidance of sin.  Indeed, we find many Scriptural references to those who are referred to as “Yirei Hashem” and rabbinic references to “Yirei Shamayyim” – those who fear G-d.  

In addition to the imperative to fear G-d, we are also commanded to love Him as well.  Our sages understood “Love of G-d” to be a higher form of worship.  That being said, we must recognize that Love cannot replace Fear; however, they should be seen as complimentary to one another, and therefore both are essential in our “Service of G-d”.  In Pirkei Abot, the sage Antigonus taught:  “Do not be like a servant who attends his Master in order to receive a reward.  Instead, be like a servant who attends his Master not in order to receive a reward.”  [Abot 1:3]  He is not trying to say that we should serve G-d as if there is no “reward and punishment”, but rather that these should not be our primary motivation.  He concludes his teaching with:  “and let the fear of Heaven be upon you,” [Ibid.] expressing that “Fear of Heaven” should be the prime motivation in our “Service of G-d”.  

There is a well-known midrash that states that at Sinai, G-d suspended the mountain over the people and threatened to bury them there if they would not accept the Torah.  [BT Shabbat 88a]  How can we understand this?  Didn’t the people already state twice – out of their love for Hashem – that, “We will do” [Ex. 19:8; 24:3] and a third time, with that same motivation, that, “We will do and we will listen”?  Rabbi Henkin explains that the midrash is not trying to say that Bnei Yisrael were rejecting the Torah.  The point of the midrash is to teach us, that despite their awesome expression of love for G-d, He threatened the people with destruction because he wanted them to accept it out of fear!  

As Rabbi Henkin concludes:  “Love is fickle, but fear is grounded in reality.  Those who love G-d but do not fear Him, usually do not believe in Him.”  

In the words of our prayers:  “May the Almighty implant His love and His fear in our heart, and may the fear of Him be on us, lest we sin.’