Only with you who are here today I made the bris of Torah, but even with those who are not here today I made this covenant of the Torah (Devarim 29:13-14). So everybody says that it means we were present at Kabolas HaTorah (Shevuos 39a). Everybody knows the tradition that our neshamos were there and we all swore to keep the Torah.
A Nation That Swears
The Jewish nation are all under oath from Har Sinai (Nedarim 8a). When Moshe Rabbeinu came down and gave them the program so נדר גדול נדר לאלוקי ישראל. They all got up and a great neder they made then. And what did they swear? כל אשר דבר ה׳ נעשה ונשמע – Everything that Hashem says we’re going to do and we’re going to listen.
That’s why if a Jew today wants to swear that he won’t fulfill a certain law of the Torah, his oath is not valid because he’s mushba v’oimed; he’s already under oath. You can’t swear against an oath that you made before. And the whole nation, even those that weren’t born yet, was there and they swore.
But that’s not a proof that you were mekabel the Torah. At most it means that the neshamah became obligated; that’s the most that it means – that you can’t back out! But there was no choosing there; the neshamah doesn’t have any bechirah, any free will.
Those who were present they were boicher, they chose and they said na’aseh v’nishma. No matter what, we are willing to accept! We choose to do no matter what You’ll tell us to do! A tremendous achievement! A tremendous moment! A whole nation chose and they became elevated!
You’re Not So Accepting
But what about us? Did we accept the Torah? Our bodies weren’t there and so we lost out. We live all our lives without Kabolas haTorah.
And don’t say, “I obey the Torah anyhow. I’m a shoimer mitzvos.” That’s only because it’s already forced on you. That’s good too but did you ever accept it lechatchila?
Suppose you were not yet accustomed to doing any mitzvos. All of a sudden, the time came and you were told to get ready; that you’re going to have the opportunity to accept now a new way of living, a long list of things you have to do and not do. Would you say na’aseh v’nishma? That generation, they did it. What about us, however? Would you have said naaseh v’nishma?
Probably not. V’haraya, many times somebody comes along and he tells you, “Do you know, you’re neglecting a certain din?” and at first, you’re not happy to listen to that. You start arguing back. That’s not an attitude of Kabolas HaTorah.
The Middah You Didn’t Know About
You have to understand what’s being said here. Some people think it’s nothing to worry about, that I’m just inventing problems, but that’s a big mistake. You’re missing the great zechus of accepting the Torah.
Kabolas HaTorah is not only our history. It’s not something that’s done already; our forefathers did the job for us and now we can lean back and relax. No! It’s a middah of character called kabolas haTorah. It’s a quality of character, a frame of mind. You have to work on kabolas haTorah, to be more and more willing, more and more ready, happy, accepting: ‘I accept the Torah right now. Naaseh v’nishma! I’m choosing right now. I want to fulfill the whole Torah.’
What Are You Accepting?
What are you accepting? Everything. The whole Choshen Mishpat. Ohohohoh! Choshen Mishpat – who knows if you’ll ever learn it. The entire Choshen Mishpat is not a small task to learn; it’s a very big sefer. Even just the pnim, even the Shulchan Aruch of Choshen Mishpat, is quite a scholarship but you have to learn also the meforshim on it. And all the rest of the Torah that we were given at Har Sinai. It’s a big job.
Not that we should despair and give up. No. We won’t give up, but still there’s something we’re expected to do now – even if we’re not learning it. Kabolas HaTorah means the attitude of being mekabel now b’lev shalem. You have to work on that. Lev shalem is not something you can gain by saying it. Saying it helps but that doesn’t achieve it. You have to keep on convincing yourself every day more and more. ‘I am accepting the Torah on myself forever and ever.’
Once a Day
Now it’s late and so we’re not going to dwell too long on this, but before we conclude the subject, it’s worth noting an important passage in the daily tefillos that most people overlook; they’re not aware of an opportunity to do this every day without almost any effort.
If you’ll take out a siddur and turn to Emes v’yatziv; right after you say Kriyas Shema, that whole section from אמת ויציב up till זרע ישראל עבדך is Kabolas HaTorah. After that we go on to a different subject but up to the beginning of עזרת אבותינו, we are accepting the Torah all over again. That’s what we’re saying there, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu offered us the Torah and our forefathers accepted it. But it’s not only accepted by them – right now, here in my little shul in Flatbush, I am accepting it all over again.
“Let’s Get Practical”
הדבר הזה, ‘This thing—it means what we’ve been saying up till now in the Shema, the subject of accepting the Kingdom of Hashem and the Torah that we received at Har Sinai—‘is אמת ויציב ונכון וקיים וישר ונאמן ואהוב ונחמד ונעים ונורא ואדיר ומתוקן ומקובל וטוב ויפה הדבר הזה עלינו לעולם ועד – it’s true and firm, and established and enduring and right and trustworthy and beloved and cherished and desired and sweet and fearsome and grand and well-ordered and acceptable and good and beautiful’. Sixteen adjectives of Kabolas HaTorah! All the adjectives have to be understood but even if you don’t understand them, at least while you’re saying these words make a real acceptance of the Torah in your heart. Every day! And little by little you become a more sincere mekabel haTorah.
People don’t realize that these words are expressions of satisfaction with Kabolas HaTorah; that it’s an opportunity to go back again now to Ma’amad Har Sinai for Kabolas HaTorah. It’s such a shame that good people, even chashuvim, can say these words day after day, for years and years, and it means nothing at all to them. They could be talking Chinese and it wouldn’t make a difference.
It’s not a small thing you’re hearing now. Emes v’yatziv means that right now, every morning when you say these words, you’re picturing yourself standing at Har Sinai and you’re concurring with the whole Klal Yisroel and you’re saying b’lev shalem, “I accept the Torah”. You’re re-experiencing what our forefathers experienced at Kabolas HaTorah only that this time you’re accepting the Torah along with them.
A Fortified Nation
That’s our kabbalah. Every day we proclaim to ourselves and to the world, על הראשונים ועל האחרונים – Kabolas HaTorah is forever; upon the first generations who accepted the Torah at Har Sinai and upon the last generations, דבר טוב וקים לעולם ועד – it is a good and enduring thing forever. Because from Har Sinai down till now we’re one nation proclaiming ‘Na’aseh v’nishma.’
And the more we think into the words, the more we’re fortified. We’re fortified with the truth that וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל; fortified with our traditions that we received from millions who stood at Har Sinai and heard the Voice of Hashem. We’re fortified with the pictures of Maamad Har Sinai that we see always in our minds’ eye and most of all we’re fortified by our own Kabolas HaTorah; by our own commitment to נעשה ונשמע.
That’s the most important ideal of this season because that’s how we make ourselves into a nation of witnesses and of mekablei HaTorah. And that’s how we’ll be the most loyal nation forever. Forever and ever until that great day of והוא ישמיענו ברחמיו שנית – once more He will let us hear that great Voice that He let us hear on Har Sinai. A second time! Only that this time it will be לעיני כל חי; this time it will be before the eyes of all the living and the whole world will know that we were right all along; that You have chosen us להיות לכם לאלוקים!
Have a Wonderful Shabbos
This week’s booklet is based on tapes: S-23 - Truth of Torah | 124 - At Mount Sinai | 268 - What Happened at Sinai | 460 - One Person Accepts the Torah 508 - Receiving the Torah II
