BY: Ilana Gadish
“[T]hey heard as no one else has ever heard. They became history's most alert listeners. Their God was pre-eminently a voice, one who revealed his magesterial presence by speaking into the world from beyond it... Manifested in the image of sound, the divine presence may span all space, be at once in all places, penetrate all barriers.” - Theodore Roszak, Catholic theologian quoted by Dr. Norman Lamm in The Shema, p. 14).1
Sefer Devarim can be characterized as a series of three speeches given by Moshe Rabbeinu to Am Yisrael before they enter the land of Israel. The three speeches are traditionally enumerated as such: the historical speech (Devarim 1-4:49), the “speech of the mitzvot” (5-27, verses 1-10), and the speeches of the covenant (27:10-30).2 In Parashat Va'etchanan, we find ourselves at the end of Moshe's first speech, the historical speech in which Moshe Rabbeinu recalls the past journey of Am Yisrael, and the beginning of his second speech. The first speech culminates in Moshe's retelling of the Revelation at Sinai. When comparing Moshe's retelling of the Revelation at Sinai to the earlier description of the event in Sefer Shemot, a few slight changes can be found. The most striking part of Moshe's retelling is the stress placed on sound versus sight. Verse 11 recalls the image of the mountain and the darkness, fire and cloud, while verse 12 stresses sound: “Hashem spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you were hearing the sound of words, but you were not seeing a form, only a sound.”3 And again, verses 15-16 stress the audial but not the visual: “...for you did not see any likeness on the day Hashem spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make yourselfs a carved image...” Finally, in verse 36, Moshe warns the people, “From heaven He caused you to hear His voice in order to teach you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.”
This focus on the sounds of Ma'amad Har Sinai is quite unusual, since the actual description of the event as it happened in Sefer Shemot allows for more focus on the sights seen there. In Shemot, God's description of preparing for Har Sinai is a visual one: “Let them be prepared on the third day, for on the third day Hashem shall descend in the sight (le-einei) of the entire people on Mount Sinai” (Shemot 19:11). The people see the “anan kaved,” the heavy cloud; they watch the mountain smoking, engulfed in flames (verse 18). Later, the all the nation “saw the thunder and the flames, the sound of the shofar and the smoking mountain – ve-khol ha-am ro'im et ha-kolot ve-et ha-lepidim ve-et kol ha-shofar ve-et ha-har ashen” (20:15). In Shemot, they do not hear the thunder or the sounds (kolot), but they see them! Additionally, in Shemot, God instructs Moshe to tell the people not to make images of Him by specifically mentioning that they saw God speaking from heaven: “atem ra'item ki min ha-shamayim dibarti imachem – you have seen that from the midst of the heavens I spoke to you” (20:19).
It is important to be aware of the finite details and differences between the actual event described in Sefer Shemot, and Moshe's retelling of the story to the new generation of Am Yisrael. In his speeches in Sefer Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu wants to impart certain crucial messages to the nation-- messages that will prevent them from making the same mistakes that the previous generation made. The visual nature of the Revelation at Sinai may have led Am Yisrael to feel the need to create a concrete visual image to “lead them” (Shemot 32:1), the golden calf. Thus, when Moshe retells this story to the new generation that did not die in the desert and did not participate in the making of the golden calf, Moshe downplays these visual images and stresses the sounds and voice of God that Am Yisrael had heard. Moshe gives greater importance to what was heard at Sinai as opposed to what was seen, thus sending a subtle message to the nation that an image of Sinai is not what should endure, but rather the ordinances and commandments given aloud to the nation should remain in their minds as most important.
Beyond just preventing Am Yisrael from committing the same errors of the previous generation, there seems to be something inherently special about the connection between instruction by sound and the keeping of the mitzvot. The entire end of the first speech and beginning of the second speech contain a motif of shemi'ah, of hearing. Devarim 4:1 states, “Now, Israel, listen to the decrees and the ordinances (shema el ha-hukim ve-ha-mishpatim).” He challenges them to pay close attention to the laws being given orally, and that the takeaway for the nation is not the event, but the lessons and Torah that they heard there. Moshe prefaces the restating of the Ten Commandmendts by saying (5:1) “Shema yisrael el ha-hukim ve-misphatim... Hear Israel, the decrees and the ordinances that I speak in your ears today; learn them, and be careful to perform them (u'shmartem la'asotam). The strength of sound at Har Sinai was so memorable in itself that Moshe Rabbeinu reminds the nation that the people present at Har Sinai found God's voice to be so powerful that they feared they would die, “for is there any human that has heard the voice of the Living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?” (5:23).
The pinnacle of Moshe's speech that stresses the importance of listening (The Shema) is prefaced by “Ve-shamata yisrael ve-shamarta la'asot – Hear, Israel, and beware to perform...” (6:3), linking the act of listening to the act of performing the mitzvot. This segment of the speech culminates in the verse “Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Ehad – Hear, Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is One” (verse 4). This verse and the following paragraph of “Ve-ahavta et Hashem Elokekha – and you shall love Hashem your God...” is recited aloud, twice daily, by the Jewish people, reminding them of their covenant to love and serve the Almighty, and listen to and perform His commandments.
Focusing on the sense of sound of the Revelation was the best way to transmit and retell the story of Har Sinai. Since the generation going into Israel was not at Har Sinai, and did not see what the previous generation saw, it was more helpful to physically hear about what they had heard. They could not envision or re-see the images that the generation at Sinai saw, but when Moshe repeats the words of God, and repeats the Ten Commandments aloud to the new generation, they could hear those words live! It was more useful for Moshe to retell Ma'amad Har Sinai without focusing on what the previous generation saw, but rather told them out loud-- you cannot hear about an image and see that exact image that you yourself never originally saw, but you can hear words said aloud and experience that hearing, even if you were not there the first time it was said aloud.
The Rambam in Hilkhot Kriat Shema 2:8 specifies that the Shema must be said audibly:
“One should recite the Shema so that his words are audible to himself. [However, even] if he does not do this, he fulfills his obligation. One must enunciate the letters clearly...” One must hear for oneself the words that were spoken by Moshe to the generation about to enter into Israel after they were told about the voice of God heard at the Revelation at Sinai. Thus, by saying the Shema we accomplish what Moshe Rabbeinu tried to accomplish in his retelling of Ma'amad Har Sinai. By saying the Shema twice a day, we reenact this most crucial moment in Jewish history. We do so out loud, repeating the words in our own ears that were spoken thousands of years ago.
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1Lamm, Norman. The Shema: Spirituality and Law in Judaism (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1998).
2This particular break-down is from a dvar Torah by Rav Amnon Bazak, but this idea is a common one. For more on the divisions of the three speeches, see “Parashat Va'etchanan: God's Voice Speaking from Amidst the Fire” By Rav Amnon Bazak, available at: http://www.vbm-torah.org/parsha.64/45vaetchanan.htm.
3Artscroll happens to have a beautiful translation of Ma'amad Har Sinai, so the English is from the Artscroll translation. In some places it was adapted by the author where it was necessary.
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