EXOD912 According to the terms of the covenant, the Jews are obligated to be loyal to God and to love Him, expressing that love primarily through obedience to God's commandments. These commandments demand that Jews live out God's will in the thick of life, not just in a cloistered environment like a synagogue or monastery, and that they teach them to their children and “Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7, which is part of the Shema, one of the two central prayers in daily and holiday Jewish liturgy.) They are, in other words, to pervade each Jew’s life. In return for such love and loyalty, God is to reward the Jews with continued existence through progeny as numerous as the stars in the heaven, ownership of the Land of Israel, material well-being, and -- probably the most important of all -- the continued, special relationship with God. On the one hand, failing to abide by the covenant will, the Bible assures us, produce the reverse: physical debilitations, loss of the Promised Land, and detachment from God. In respect for the promises He made in the covenant, however, God will not abandon the people forever, even if they sin grievously, but will rather forgive them and return them to the Promised Land and to the blessings of progeny and well- being. God will do this also because God by nature is not only just but loving and merciful. God’s patience, though, is also a function of His own interest in preserving the covenant, for the People Israel were to be God’s great experiment with humankind, God's “Chosen People” to be “a light of the nations,” a model for all other peoples of what God really wants in His human creatures. [This theme is expressed in several forms. The People Israel is to be “My treasured possession among all the peoples” and “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6); “a people consecrated to the Lord your God: of all the peoples of the earth the Lord your God chose you to be His treasured people” (Deuteronomy 7:6); “the Lord's portion” and “His own allotment” (Deuteronomy 32:9); and “My chosen one, in whom I delight,” who “shall teach the true way to the nations” and thus be “a light of nations” (Isaiah 42:1, 49:6). See also the Messianic visions cited later in this chapter.] Consequently, God has a vested interest in having Israel as a Chosen People: Apparently convinced that He cannot demand model behavior from everybody, God and nevertheless wants a group of people who can exemplify what living a godly way of life is all about. God’s need for a model people forces Israel’s hand. They agreed to the covenant amid thunder and lightning at Mount Sinai, hardly an opportunity for free, coolly reasoned, informed consent! (Exodus 19-24, especially 24:7) and Deuteronomy 5 (note 5:24). The Rabbis later tell two stories about this process. According to one, God went to all the other peoples of the world and offered them His covenant, and they each refused when they found out some of its demands. Finally, as a last resort, God went to the measly People Israel, and they agreed to it without ever hearing its terms! (See Sifrei Devarim par. 343 and Numbers Rabbah 14:10). That is consent, but certainly not informed consent. The other story picks up on the biblical description of the awesome setting of Mount Sinai and says that God actually held a mountain over their heads, and said, “Either accept the covenant, or this will be your burial place!” B. Shabbat 88a and B. Avodah Zarah 2b. On that account, Israel’s consent to be God’s covenanted people was both uninformed and coerced. Similarly, another rabbinic source has God saying this: “For I am the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God: you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy,”... when it says “to be your God, it means even against your will. Sifra, “Shemini”12:4 on Leviticus 11:45, 57b. Clearly, then, it was not Israel’s calm, voluntary choice that brought them into the special relationship, but rather the love and fear of God.

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EXOD916 See [[EXOD354]] Exodus 20:2 other DUTIES 63-7

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EXOD918 They further said (Avos d'Rabi Nosson 22), "Anyone whose [good] deeds exceeds his wisdom, his wisdom will endure, as the pasuk says [this verse], 'We will do and we will hear.'" The explanation of this is as follows: One who faithfully resolves to refrain and act [i.e., the negative and positive mitzvos, respectively] in accordance with the Torah and its rulings--as imparted by those who are empowered over its rulings--possesses, from that day onwards, the reward of all the mitzvos. [His reward is both] for what he has heard and understood of the words of Torah, and for what he has not yet heard. He has cloaked himself in righteousness [Tehillim 132:9]; he acquires the merit [both] of what has been revealed to him and of what is concealed from him [Esther 4:11]. Following this, he should daily investigate, study constantly by the doors of those who reprove him, and acquire wisdom from all who teach him [The commitment comes first, but then he must acquire the knowledge that he is lacking]. Thus, this person's deeds [i.e., the rewards for his deeds (Sha'arei Teshuvah Hameforash), based on his commitment to perform them] exceed his wisdom, for he is lacking in knowledge and yet his reward is [already] with him. Similarly, Yisrael said at Sinai, "We will do and we will hear"--they prefaced the listening with the commitment to act. In any other matter it would be impossible for man's deeds to exceed what he knows.

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EXOD917 See [[EXOD932]] Exodus 25:2 offering LEHRMAN 208

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EXOD914 In the most important and most dramatic moment of our history, when our people stood at Mount Sinai and the Almighty offered them His Torah, they responded vibrantly, with one accord, "na'aseh v'nishma--we will do and we will understand' [this verse]. At that moment, says the Talmud, myriads of angels appeared and placed two crowns on every Israelites: one for na'aseh and one for nishma (T.B. Shabbath 88a). This is the two-fold program of Judaism: doing and learning, studying the precepts of Torah and then weaving them into our everyday lives, and our worldly pursuits. The two t'fillin, the phylacteries, that we put on every morning, symbolize this to connote na'aseh, our readiness to do an act; we put the other on our forehead, to symbolize nishma, our study, learning, understanding. Now, it is our practice to put on the t'fillin of the hand first and remove it last, so that the t'fillin of the head is never on alone without the other. The significance of this is clear and vital: Judaism rejects learning without doing. The shel rosh should never be on alone, without the shel yad. Judaism cannot live and grow in the mental hothouse of an ivory tower. The Torah insists on thought for action, study for observing the mitzvoth. Learning must always be accompanied by doing, by implementing, by carrying out the precepts in practice.

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EXOD910 … beyond your learning, act. Pirkei Avot, Perek VI mishnah 5. In the first perek (mishnah 17), , "Not interpretation is the main thing, but doing." And the Talmud tells: When R. Tarfon and the elders were met in session… in Lydda, this question was asked before them, "Is learning greater, or proper action?"… Ultimately all responded, "Learning is greater, because it leads to proper action" (T.B. Kiddushin 40b). Without that basic tenet, we might be puzzled at this Talmudic passage: "Let a man never say, I will learn so that I will be called a wise man; I will study, that I may be called a rabbi; I will study further that I may become an elder and hold a chair in the Academy. Rather, study out of love…" (T.B. Nedarim 62a) If learning were an end in itself, why not seek honor and recognition for it? But in the Divine wisdom that informs our faith, study must never be an end in itself; it must lead on to action; the mitzvoth must be done. Otherwise, learning becomes a stagnant dead end: "Whoever studies Torah with no intention of acting accordingly, it was better that he had never been born, had never emerged into the world" (T.J. Berakoth i 2, Shabbath i 2; Midrash Rabbah, Leviticus xxxv 6). As Kallah Rabbathi puts it, do not say, "Here am I studying; then where is my greatness?" Go on beyond studying. The Torah must unfold in our lives in concrete deeds, not in a thirty-volume dissertation on ethics and philosophy. Help the poor, visit the sick, keep the Sabbath properly, observe kashruth precisely, etc. So will you go beyond your studies, to a more advanced level. Moreover, let your deeds run ahead of your understanding. Do not say, "I have not yet learned everything about this particular mitzvah; I am not ready to observe it." In obedience to the Torah we are expected to do more, fulfill more than we can comprehend. This was the clear, natural response of the pristine soul of our people as they stood at Sinai, when they replied as one, "All that Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will listen" [this verse]: they were ready to obey at once; their understanding would have to catch up later. This remains the way of the pious Jew in serving his Maker.

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EXOD913 Between … accusations of ingratitude, the Bible describes all of the many kindnesses and benefits God has bestowed upon Israel, from their liberation from Egypt through all of the tribulations in the wilderness, that should have evoked thankfulness and loyalty. But arguments of this kind assume that somehow the moral obligation to show gratitude is acknowledged even by those who are prepared to repudiate the covenant and what it calls for. The frequent appeals to Israel to obey the covenant contain a covert argument suggested by the term "covenant," I.e., an agreement formally entered into by two or more parties. This is taken most seriously by the Bible as obligating, first, God, who has promised to bring these people into the promised land and preserve them, and second, the people collectively and individually, who freely committed themselves to the terms of the covenant. When the people proclaimed "we will do and we will obey" [this verse], the covenant became binding upon the community of Israel, "not only upon those that standeth here with us this day but also with him that is not here with us this day" --namely, our future generations to be born into the community of Israel (Deuteronomy 29:14). But this argument as well rests upon a presupposition that one ought to keep a promise, honor an agreement, stand behind one's word. Thus, while the Torah contains a moral code revealed by God to Israel, it is urged upon Israel because of moral principles of gratitude and promise-keeping, with the implication that these are somehow binding prior to the Siniatic covenant. This is consistent with the points made earlier that rabbinic tradition, in its concept of the seven mitzvot of the sons of Noah, assumed a basic morality known to all men. However, it is nowhere stated that the original Noahide mitzvot were formally accepted or a covenant entered into, so that primal man might have raised the question: "Why ought I to obey the commands of my creator?" One could, of course, respond in terms of reward and punishment, but that would involve considerations of prudence rather than morality. The only answer that suggests itself is the factor of gratitude: man ought to obey his creator out of gratitude for the gift of existence. But how do we know that a person ought to show gratitude to his benefactor? If we accept the proposition that a moral "ought" cannot be logically derived from "is" premises, then we are compelled to say that somehow these basic moral principles, such as gratitude and promise-keeping, are self-evident in the sense that any rational human being who understands the meaning of these words will immediately perceive an intrinsic relation of fittingness between the emotions we call gratitude and the person we call benefactor. This relation of fittingness is what we refer to as right in the moral sense and this must be said to incorporate the concept of "ought." For it would appear to be a self-contradiction to say: "I know this is right, but I don't think I ought to do it." But if to perceive the right is to perceive the ought, which is the moral obligation to do the right, then to acknowledge the self-evidence of certain right relationships is to acknowledge the self-evidence of certain moral obligations. Returning now to the observation that the ultimate appeal of the Bible seems to be to gratitude and promise-keeping, we are led to the conclusion that in Judaism the self-evidence of these moral obligations is assumed. Logically speaking, it is not the case that I do what is right because this is obedience to God but rather I obey God because it is right to do so. The teaching "derekh eretz precedes the Torah" may be interpreted not only in a chronological sense but in a logical sense. This is strongly implied by the following rabbinic teaching: "Why were the Ten Commandments not given at the beginning of the Torah? This may be compared to a person who came to a land and said to the inhabitants, "I will rule over you." The inhabitants replied, "What have you done for us that you should rule over us?" Upon which the stranger built for them a wall, brought in water, led them in battle, and then said again, "I will rule over you." They replied, "Yes, yes." So, too, the Almighty liberated Israel from Egypt, split for them the sea, caused manna to fall, and brought forth water. Then He said to them, "I will rule over you." They answered, "Yes, yes."(Mekhilta on Exodus 5). The suggestion here is that acceptance of the commandments is based upon gratitude for services rendered.

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EXOD919 When one hears chastisement from the wise and from those who reprove him, his heart should be aroused to repent and he should accept upon himself all the words of rebuke. When he does so, this man achieves great merit, and in a moment he goes from darkness to a great light, and receives reward and merit for all the mitzvos and chastisement, for having resolved in his heart to take them upon himself. Fortunate is this accepter, who has achieved merit in a moment. In this connection our Sages of blessed memory have said (Mechilta Shemos 12:28, regarding the Pesach sacrifice): "'And the Children of Israel went and did so' -- Now did they do so immediately? Did they not do so only upon the fourteenth of the month? But since they took it upon themselves to do so, the Torah accredits it to them as if they had done so immediately." And they said further (Avos 3:9): "One whose deeds exceed his wisdom, his wisdom endures, as it is written [this verse]: 'We shall do and we shall hear' (Avos d'Rabbi Nasan 22:1). That is, when one takes it upon himself in faithfulness of heart to observe and do all that is stated in the Torah, and to carry out what the Sages tell him, and, after having taken it upon himself to fulfill everything, seeks, and inquires, and asks of the Sages what to do--such a man receives reward even for those mitzvos and admonitions of which he is unaware, having resolved in his heart to fulfill them. This corresponds to Israel's declaring at Sinai: "We shall do and we shall hear," placing doing before hearing (Shabbos 88a). It is not conceivable otherwise that one's deeds could exceed his wisdom.

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EXOD921 See [[EXOD315]] Exodus 19:5 heed TZADIK 253

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EXOD922 See [[EXOD332]] Exodus 19:6 nation OXFORD 38

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