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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EXOD923 When our ancestors were thrilled into a ready acceptance of the Torah, their instantaneous reaction was "We shall do and we shall understand" [this verse]. This truer translation is apt to be misunderstood. What they intended to imply was this: "We promise to make our religion one of belief and action". To translate that promise into deed, the Sidra of Yitro [Exodus xviii-xx], containing the Decalogue, is immediately followed by Mishpatim, [Exodus xxi-xxiv], with its summary of some of the most essential laws of the Mosaic legislation.

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EXOD924 See [[EXOD332]] Exodus 19:6 nation OXFORD 38

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EXOD925 When Moses asked for elders to help him rule Numbers 11:14, Rashi commentary on Numbers 11:16 asks where were the original elders from Egypt. He explains that they had sinned by partying irreverently at Mount Sinai and should have died then. But God waited until a plague was brought to kill other sinners Numbers 11:1 and the elders then died as well, so that they would not be needlessly embarrassed publicly. ... One commentary Meiri commentary to Berachot 19b calls the quality of human dignity the most endearing and beloved quality in all of Judaism. Of all the blessings to choose, one Torah sage blessed another Mo'ed Katan 9b by saying, "May you never cause anyone else embarrassment and may you never be caused any embarrassment yourself." May all Jews follow this dictum.

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EXOD926 What is remarkable, then, about the contents of the Decalogue is that more than half of the rules are moral in nature and refer to human relations. If the Decalogue constitutes "the words of the covenant" and expresses what it is that the Lord requires of Israel, then we have here the Torah's own view of the essence of Judaism, the founding principles of the covenant in the community. [Rashi, this verse]. Where are all the sacrifices? Why no mention of the Passover or of circumcision? The testimony of the Decalogue seems overwhelming: Moral rules regulating relations between human beings are primary. Morality is the essence of Judaism. According to David Tzevi Hoffmann, the later prophetic writings show a keen awareness of the startling nature of the theophany at Sinai in that it did not call for, nor was it accompanied by, votive sacrifices. (See his Commentary on Leviticus (Hebrew trans., Shefer and Liberman), vol. 2, pp. קסו-קסז. Hoffman points out that Moses, who has been told to expect a "service" at the mountain as the culmination and climax of the Exodus, was looking forward to a service that would include elaborate and unusual sacrifices (Exodus 3:12). This is evident from his reply to Pharaoh: "Thou must also give unto our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings that we shall sacrifice unto the Lord, for we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come hither." (Exodus 10:25-26). But much to their surprise, the God of Israel did not include in the Sinai covenant any request for sacrifices. This important disclosure as to what is really the essence of the divine command is alluded to in the well-known declaration of Jeremiah: "For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices; but this thing I commanded them, saying, 'Hearken unto to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people.'" (Jeremiah 7:22)

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EXOD927 {Abridged Excerpt from the Rambam's Introduction to Mishneh Torah). All of the mitzvos given to Moshe at Sinai were given with their explanations, as it is written [this verse]: "And I will give you the tablets of stone, the Torah, and the mitzvah." "Torah" refers to the written Law, and " mitzvah" to its explanation (Berachos 5a). And he commanded us to observe the Torah by means of the mitzvah, namely, the Oral Law. Moshe wrote the entire Torah in his own hand before his death and gave a scroll to each tribe. One scroll he placed in the Ark as a testimony (Devarim Rabbah 9:9), as it is written (Devarim 31:26). ... The "mitzvah," which is the explanation of the Torah, he did not write, but he commanded it to the elders and to Yehoshua and all the rest of the Jews, as it is written (ibid.13:1): "Everything that I command you, that you shall observe to do, do not add to it and do not detract from it." Because of this it is called the Oral Law.

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