It states (Shemos 19) ידבר משה, "Moshe will speak [the Aseres HaDibros]" - in the future tense. The Beis Aharon zt'l writes, "This is because Moshe Rabbeinu will speak in every generation to every Yid who purifies himself to receive the Torah..."
The Chizkuni (introduction to Chumash) writes, "I swear by my soul that I, Chizkiyah, heard Hashem's voice in my dream, saying the Aseres HaDibros..."
Chazal (Psikta Zuta, V'eschanan) say, "A person is obligated to imagine that he received the Torah on Har Sinai."
It is logical that he must have this imagination because matan Torah reoccurs each year.
When Shaul became king, evil people ridiculed him. They said (Shmuel 1, 10:27) מה ויבזהו זה יושיענו, "'How can this person save us?!' They disgraced him."
Mishnah Berurah (146:19) writes, "According to halachah, one is permitted to sit, but the Maharam said that it is proper to stand because when one hears the reading of the Torah, one should imagine that he is hearing it from Har Sinai, and at Har Sinai all Yidden stood. [Standing will help him visualize himself receiving the Torah.] However, if someone is weak and it is difficult for him to stand, and by standing, he won't have yishuv hadaas to concentrate on the kriyah, he should sit."
We read the Aseres HaDibros three times a year: Shavuos, Shabbos parashas Yisro, and Shabbos parashas Va'eschanan. The Beis Avraham explains this with a mashal of a very sick person who needed a dose of powerful medications but was very frail, and the strong medication would harm him. So, his doctor divided the medication into three doses. The nimshal is that hearing the Aseres HaDibros is like a spiritual, powerful cure. However, this spiritual experience is too intense for our weak minds. Therefore, the impact is divided into three so the Jewish nation could accept it.
The Chidushei HaRim zt'l says that we can learn a great lesson from this pasuk. When you think someone or something can't help you, that is called disgracing it. In לשבח עלינו we say, יושיע לא אל אל ומתפללים, that the goyim pray to a god that can't help them. This is how we disgrace avodah zarah.
Chazal (Avos 3:15) say, חלק לו אין המועדות המבזה הבא לעולם, "Whoever disgraces the yomim tovim doesn't have a portion in Olam HaBa." What is considered disgracing the yomim tovim? The Chidushei HaRim explains that it is when a person thinks, "How will this yom tov help me?" Thinking this way is a disgrace for the yom tov. Similarly, one shouldn't think, "I celebrated the yom tov Shavuos many times in my life, and I don't see that I gained so much from it. I don't expect to gain so much from this year's Shavuos, either." Thinking this way is a disgrace for the yom tov. One must believe that matan Torah occurs yearly on Shavuos and that we can gain much from the yom tov.
It states ישועות חוסן עתיך אמונת והיה, which can mean that if you believe in the greatness of the holidays, you will receive yeshuos from the holidays. So, our first preparation for the yom tov Shavuos is to believe in it and know that we receive the Torah on this day.
Aseres HaDibros Each Year
The Shevet Mussar (34:19) discusses what one should have in mind when he listens to the Torah reading in beis medresh. (The Shevet Mussar refers to the entire year, not only when one hears the Torah on Shavuos morning.) He writes, "Imagine that the bimah is Har Sinai, and you are receiving the Torah from Har Sinai. Hakadosh Baruch Hu and His malachim are present, and Moshe Rabbeinu is the baal koreh. The entire nation is standing around Har Sinai to hear Torah from his mouth."
Certainly, we should have this thought in mind when we read the Aseres HaDibros on Shavuos (or when we read the Aseres HaDibros on parashas Yisro and parashas Va'eschanan).
The Midrash (Psikta 12, Yalkut Shimoni Yisro 271) states, "Hakadosh Baruch Hu says to the Jewish nation, 'My children read this parashah [of matan Torah] each year, and I will consider it as though you stood before Me on Har Sinai and received the Torah."
The Divrei Yechezkel of Shinov zt'l said that on Shabbos parashas Yisro, when his father, the Divrei Chaim of Sanz zt'l, read the Aseres HaDibros, he felt as though he was standing at Har Sinai and was hearing the Aseres HaDibros from Hashem. He heard the shofar and the thunder, saw the lightning, and experienced everything else that took place at matan Torah. He said that he was expecting to experience the same on Shavuos, but on Shavuos, he didn't experience it.
Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev zt'l would sweat profusely from fear when he would take out the sefer Torah to read from it on Shavuos. The congregation knew to wrap the sefer Torah with extra layers so it wouldn’t get wet from his sweat. Before he came to the beis medresh on Shavuos morning to daven Shacharis, he exclaimed, ן'לעבעדיג די מיט זעהן זעך גיי איך, "I’m going to meet with Hashem!" (Some say that he said, "I met with Hashem!")
One Friday night of parashas Yisro, Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev zt'l said at his tish, "Tomorrow, when the Aseres HaDibros is read, the people who have holy ears will hear Hashem saying the Aseres HaDibros..."
The Avodas Yisrael of Kozhnitz zt'l added, "If someone doesn't have such ears, he should clean them well, so he will also be able to hear it!"
The Satmar Rebbe zt'l explained that נעשה ונשמע means if a person prepares himself with נעשה, deeds, he will merit נשמע, to hear Hashem say אלקיך 'ה אנכי.
