Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Mishpatim Exodus 21:1-24:18

By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel - “And he (Moses) took the book of the covenant and he read it into the ears of the nation; and they said, ‘Everything which the Lord has spoken, we shall do and we shall listen.’ And Moses took the blood (of the sacrifices just offered) and he sprinkled it on the nation; he said, ‘Here is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has entered into with you on the basis of all these words’” (Exodus 24:7,8).

Why is it only now, after the major legal portion of the Torah has been communicated to the Israelites, that G-d enters into His covenant with them, His special relationship with them? Would it not have been more logical for the establishment of the covenant to have occurred at the initial Revelation at Sinai, at the momentous event of the giving of the Ten Commandments by the Almighty Himself (as it were) in the midst of thunder, lightning and smoke-filled mysterium tremendum? Or even at the awesome miracle of the splitting of the Reed Sea, at the very instant when the Israelites triumphantly emerge from dry land while the chasing Egyptians just behind them are inundated by Tsunami-like violent and virulent waves?

Does not the establishment of the covenant at this point in time, at the conclusion of three chapters and exactly one-hundred verses of dry legalism from how we must treat our slaves to the boundaries of the Promised Land, seem somewhat anti-climatic - especially after the two major miraculous events of the splitting of the Sea and the Revelation at the Mount which all of Israel witnessed with their own eyes? After all, the “book of the covenant” over which the covenant is established consists of the portions of Torah given until this point - from the story of the Creation to the giving away of the Torah, the Noahide laws of morality and the laws given at Marah including the legal code of Mishpatim (Rashi 24:3,4,7) - was written by Moses alone, while the splitting of the Sea and the Revelation took place before the eyes of an entire nation!

Yes, the Israelites saw the splitting of the Reed Sea, “Israel saw the great hand with which the Lord performed against Egypt; the nation feared the Lord, and believed in the Lord and in Moses His servant” (Exodus 14:31). Yes, seeing is even believing, as the Torah text testifies. But seeing is not yet understanding, is still not internalizing. We see only the externals, the event as it occurs, the individual how he acts. We do not necessarily understand what lies behind the event, what caused the individual to do what he did, and what that particular event or action has to do with us and our subsequent thoughts, activities and commitments. We look out in order to see; after having seen, the impression with which we are left is superficial and external. And external impressions fade from consciousness only too quickly. Hence shortly after the Splitting of the Sea, indeed, but three days and two verses after the Song at the Sea, the Israelites once again bitterly complain and kvetch against Moses at Marah because the waters are bitter (Exodus 15:23,24).

And then the Almighty reveals the secret: “If only you would listen, surely listen to the voice of the Lord your G-d and do what is righteous in His eyes…then all the malaise I inflicted upon Egypt would not fall upon you” (Exodus 15:26).

G-d is not satisfied with our seeing; G-d is waiting for our listening! In His introduction to the Revelation at Sinai, G-d tells the Israelites, “You have seen what I have done to Egypt” - but seeing is not sufficient. “And now if you will listen, surely listen, to My voice …, then you will be to Me a Kingdom of Priest-teachers and a holy people.” (Exodus 19:14).

But alas, even during the Revelation, the Israelites merely “saw the sounds and the sound of the shofar; the nation saw and trembled and stood from far” (Exodus 19:15). When one sees, one may become awestruck and even frightened, but one remains distant, removed, far away; the sight quickly dissipates, fades from consciousness. And so only forty days after the Revelation, the Israelites worship the Golden Calf. Apparently it is only when one listens that one is drawn close, that one becomes truly changed by the experience.

What does it mean to listen? The watch-word of our faith is “Hear oh Israel the Lord our G-d the Lord is One.” What is the meaning of the introductory word, shema, hear? B.T. Berakhot 15a gives three explanations: the first is to let one’s ear hear what one’s mouth is saying, an audial function of hearing the words; the second goes one step further, suggesting cognitive appreciation, insisting that one recite the words in any language one understands; the third expresses the deepest meaning of hearing, to accept the yoke of the Kingship of G-d, to internalize the implications of the words, to listen in a way which one enlists one’s commitment to the ramifications of the words! To internalize the truth that G-d is the one unity of the universe, the ground of all being and the purpose of our existence, means to commit ourselves to His will body and soul. This is what it means to listen and thereby enlist oneself - wholly and lovingly.

We are not the people of the sights; we are rather the people of the Book. And the Book consists of words which are spoken and speak out (dibbur, daber) to us, the Book is read and calls out (Kara, Mikra) to us - to change. A book must be read, heard, listened to, enlisted for, internalized within our very gut until our personalities are changed by its words from our insides out (Rabbi S.R. Hirsch says that the root of shema is ma, intestines). Sights are open to the interpretation of each viewer - and the Israelites apparently interpreted the sights as what G-d was doing for them; the Book of laws told Israel what G-d wanted them to do for Him; the Book explained G-d’s purpose behind the events, His desire for every individual to be free, His demand that every individual be moral. The sights impressed the generation of the Exodus; the Book is a legacy for all generations.

Hence the Almighty must wait to enter into the covenant until we cry out “we shall do and we shall listen,” we shall not merely see but we shall hear, internalize and change in accordance with the Divine words. And this pledge only comes at the end of this week’s Torah reading, with Moses’ presentation of the Book of the Covenant to Israel.

Shabbat Shalom.