Pri Etz Chaim

Ari Clark, Rabbinic Intern Parshat Yitro- To Hear the Word of G-d
As we look at the special moment of Revelation, itd be important to hand out the Oscars for the different roles played in this miraculous moment in Jewish history. Of course, G-d receives almost all the awards, as he was the director, screenwriter, and special effects coordinator for an amazing light-and-sound show on Har Sinai. But there are two other awards that need to be handed out: Moshe for best actor and Yehoshua for best supporting actor. Most of the Torah was not said out loud, but was given to Moshe on the mountain over the course of 40 days. Yehoshua, while not being present during Moshes conversations with G-d, pitches a tent on the side of the mountain, drawing him even closer to the miraculous and awe-inspiring moment. The Meshech Chochmah explains the defining quality that Moshe and Yehoshua possessed in order to approach so close to the Divine Presence. In Judaism, most prophecies are seen through dreams and signs, instead of clear visions. The prophet must decipher the message and then disseminate it to the people, thereby communicating G-ds will to the masses. The transmission of the Torah, however, was different. G-d wanted to communicate the Torah without any intermediary stage of deciphering and interpreting the lessons and laws. Moreover, G-d didnt want anyone to impinge their own feelings or understandings on the Torah, claiming that G-d actually meant something else or really should have added another commandment onto His laws. As a result, G-d removed the Free Will of the Jewish people, turning everyone into angels, submissive and open to hearing only the pure words of G-d. While the Jewish nation needed their Free Will to be suspended, Moshe and Yehoshua had removed it on their own. They had reached a level where they could completely subdue their own feelings and thoughts in order to purely listen to the words of G-d as they came down from Heaven. In that sense, the Jewish people would be assured for generations that the Torah Moshe taught them after coming down from Har Sinai was not tinted with his own ideas; it was the word of G-d, and G-d alone. At first glance, the message of this idea seems counterintuitive to the ideals many of us cherish. We appreciate our ability to choose our path, to strive for good and build our own understanding of Torah. In that light, perhaps the message of the Meshech Chochmah is not simply the removal of Free Will during its presentation but rather the synthesis of our Free Will and the Ultimate Truth as presented on the mountain so many years ago. Every time a person learns Torah, he (or she) enters a world in which he knows that G-ds word is the Ultimate Truth. He questions, struggles, and strives to find answers, but ultimately, he must resign himself to accepting it as somehow true. At the same time, man is not powerless in shaping G-ds word, especially as it applies to our everyday lives. As the verse in Devarim says, it is not in Heaven. Torah is given to mankind to investigate, understand, and apply to the world around him. The Jewish people know the book was given without their Free Will to misinterpret it and distort its original presentation. But now that its been given as the Tree of Life for those who hold to it, we must use our Free Will to ensure the despite the everchanging society around us, the laws, lessons, and values of the Torah remain the eternal light that illuminates our world.