Gates and Boundaries

Gates and Boundaries

It states מרחוק ויעמדו וינעו העם וירא, "The nation saw and trembled, and they stood from a distance." The Apter Rav zt'l (Ohev Yisrael, Yisro, וירא ה"ד) explains that the nation was worried about how they would succeed in keeping all the mitzvos. They found a solution, מרחוק ויעמדו, that they should keep their distance from an aveirah. The Apter Rav writes, "They found a strategy, that they should protect the words of the Torah and the mitzvos with gates and boundaries that Chazal establish. This is the translation of ויעמדו; they gave the mitzvos the ability to exist and to stand, מרחוק, through the gates and boundaries that Chazal established."