Question #1: Why Were Klal Yisroel Tired When They Arrived at Har Sinai, Surely they Were Brought by the Clouds of Glory?
Question: It says in Parshas Yisro: ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים ואביא אתכם אלי – “I will carry you on the wings of eagles and bring you to Me” (19:4). The Targum Yonosan explains this pasuk to mean: The Clouds of Glory (Ananay HaKavod) brought Klal Yisroel to Har Sinai to receive the Torah.
If so, how are we to understand the Gemara in Shabbos (86b). The Gemara in Shabbos teaches, that on the first day that Klal Yisroel arrived at Har Sinai nothing was said to them, because of חולשא דאורחא – they were weak from travel. If they were brought to Har Sinai by the Clouds of Glory, why were they tired? (Panim Yafois, Vayechi d.h. yehi don, Beis HaLevi, Beshalach, and others asks this question.)
Answers:i) The Imrei Emes explains that the reason they were tired was not because of the journey, but because they accepted upon themselves the yoke of Torah. The Gemara in Bava Metzia (84a) relates how Reish Lakish used to be able to jump over rivers, however, once he accepted upon himself the yoke of Torah, he was no longer able to. Rashi explains: דמשקבל עול תורה תשש כוחו – “Once he accepted upon himself the yoke of Torah, he became weak”. The Imrei Emes explains that the same thing happened to Klal Yisroel, once they accepted upon themselves the Torah, they became weak.
With this he explains a pasuk in Rus. The pasuk says:ותרא כי מתאמצת היא ותחדל לדבר – “She saw that she was struggling and she started to speak to her”. The Imrei Emes explains: When Naomi saw that Rus accepted upon herself the yoke of Torah to the extent that it made her weak, she saw that it was a real kabbolah [acceptance], and she then started speaking to her.
However, this peshat is very difficult, as the Gemara clearly says that the tiredness was because of the journey and not the acceptance of Torah?
R’ Dovid Avraham Mendelbaum (in his sefer al hadaf, Shabbos 86b) answers: In Kiddushin (2b) we find that Torah is referred to as derech [path]. In light of this, the Gemara makes perfect sense. חולשא דאורחא – tiredness from the way, refers to Torah which they accepted, which is also called derech. And the Torah is what caused them to be tired.
ii) Perhaps we can also answer: It’s true they were brought to Har Sinai with the Clouds of Glory, however, they were still tired due to the journey - like we find people get tired after travelling on a plane.Although, it could be that there is a difference between the Clouds of Glory which was a spiritual journey, and travelling by plane which is more physical journey.
Question #2: What Was So Great About Klal Yisroel Saying “We Will Do” Before “We Will Listen”, Normally We Say, “It’s Greater to Do a Mitzvah After Being Commanded, then Before Being Commanded”?
Question: The Gemara in Shabbos (88a) relates:אמר רבי אלעזר בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע יצתה בת קול ואמרה להן מי גילה לבני רז זה שמלאכי השרת משתמשין בו, דכתיב ברכו ה' מלאכיו גברי כח עושי דברו לשמע בקול דברו, ברישא עושי, והדר לשמוע - “R’ Elazar said, ‘At the time the Jews said, ‘We will do and we will listen,’ a Heavenly Voice emanated and said, ‘Who revealed this secret which the angels make use of, as it says, ‘Blessed be the angels of Hashem, mighty in strength, who do His word, to listen to the voice of His word.’ The verse describes the angels as first doing what Hashem bids them to do, and only then listening. The Jews, in stating, ‘We will do,’ and then ‘We will listen’ adopted this secret of the angels.”
The question is, what is so special about saying “We will do”, before “We will listen”, surely the Gemara in Kiddushin (31a) teaches us:גדול המצווה ועושה יותר ממי שאינו מצווה ועושה - “It’s greater to do a mitzvah after being commanded, then to do it without being commanded”. Surely, it would have been better for Klal Yisroel to say, “We will do the mitzvos, even after being commanded”, i.e. “We will listen, and we will then do”?
Answers:i) Tosfos in Kiddushin explains that the reason,גדול המצווה ועושה יותר ממי שאינו מצווה ועושה, is because of the yetzer horah. One who has a yetzer horah worries more about not fulfilling the mitzvah properly. It comes out, that if one doesn’t have yetzer horah, then one who isn’t commanded is better off, as he is doing the mitzvah voluntarily. At Maamad Har Sinai the yetzer horah was removed from the hearts of Klal Yisroel. In such a situation “not being commanded” is greater than “being commanded”, therefore, they said “we will do”, before “we will listen”. (Yismach Moshe, Yisro; Yitav Lev, Vayera; Chida, Kisay Dovid, Derush 4).
With this the Yismach Moshe explains the Chazal which says that Klal Yisroel used the same lashon [expression] as the malachim. Because malochim have no yetzer horah, for them “not being commanded” is a greater level, therefore, they say “we will do” before “we will listen”
ii) When Klal Yisroel said נעשה ונשמע , they meant: “If not being commanded and doing is better than we are saying ‘we will do’, and if being commanded is greater, then we mean to say, ‘we will listen’ first.” (Chida, Midbar Kadmos, ois 50)Question #3: What Was the Purpose of the Loud Noise by Har Sinai?
Question: In Parshas Yisro by the parsha of Matan Torah the pasuk says:ויהי ביום השלישי בהיות הבוקר ויהי קולות וברקים וענן כבד על ההר וקול שופר חזק מאד ויחרד כל העם אשר במחנה – “It was on the third day in the morning, and there were loud noises and thunder and heavy clouds above the mountain. The sound of the shofar was very strong, and all the people in the camp trembled” (Shemos 15:16). What was all the loud noise about, what was its purpose?
Answers:i) That night Klal Yisroel were sleeping, as sleep is very sweet on the short nights of Sivan. Hashem came to give the Torah and found everyone sleeping, therefore, He decided to sound an alarm clock and wake everyone up by making all sorts of noises. (Medrash Shir HaShirim, Perek 11)
It’s worthy of noting, that although it is widely accepted that Klal Yisroel slept the night before Matan Torah, and they even slept in, the Ibn Ezra learns the exact opposite. The Ibn Ezra (Shemos 19:11) says: The night before Matan Torah, Klal Yisroel stayed awake, in order that they wouldn’t become tomei with tumas keri, and so they could accept the Torah in taharah. Just like we find the Kohen Gadol stayed up the entire night on Yom Kippur in order not to become tomei, the same thing was with Klal Yisroel.ii) Rabbeinu Bechayeh in Parshas Yisro quotes Rabbeinu Chananel who says that all the noise was the voice of malochim who come to praise Hashem every morning.iii) The noise was the sound of the malochim crying, as they were upset that the Torah was being taken away from them and being given to Klal Yisroel. (Shach al haTorah).iv) Torah needs to be given, באימה וביראה וברתת ובזיע – “with fear, trembling, shaking and sweat”, and the loud noise was for this reason. Like we find:ויחרד כל העם אשר במחנה – “The people in the camp trembled.” (Shem MiShmuel, Shavuos)
Question #4: What Was the Point of Har Sinai Being Covered in Smoke?
Question: It says by Matan Torah (Shemos 19:18):והר סיני עשן כלו מפני אשר ירד עליו ה' באש – “Har Sinai was covered in smoke because Hashem descended on it in fire.” The question is, what was the purpose of this?
Answers:i) The Kesav VeHakabolah writes: Hashem made Har Sinai be covered in smoke, לבל יוכלו העם להסתכל בשכינה ויזונו עיניהם ממנה – “so that the people wouldn’t look at the Shechinah, and have their eyes become effected because of it”.ii) The Chasam Sofer (Yisro) writes it was covered in smoke, to reinvoke the zechus of the furnace of Avraham Avinu at the bris bein habesorim.
The Chiddushei HaRim (Chag Matan Torah) writes that on Shavuos there is a special reason to smoke, in order to remember that by Maamad Har Sinai, the mountain was entirely covered in smoke.
I have no doubt that many of you reading this will be shocked at how the Chiddushei HaRim could endorse smoking, when so many gedolim have spoken out so strongly against this. To put your mind at ease perhaps we can suggest a different peshat in the minhag of smoking:The Gemara in Shabbos (89a) teaches: The mountain the Torah was given on is called Har Sinai, due to the many nissim [miracles] that occurred there. סיני has the same letters as ניסי. The Ben Yehoyadah brings a fascinating Arizal, which says that one of the miracles that occurred was that when the Torah was given the entire area surrounding the mountain became empty of air, it became a vacuum. According to nature no one should have survived there. However, due to a great miracle Klal Yisroel managed to survive even in the vacuum. So perhaps the reason people smoke on Shavuos is to remember this aspect of lack of air. And although by Matan Torah a special miracle happened, who says we can rely on this nowadays. Hamavin yovin.
Question #5: Where Did the Smoke by Matan Torah on Har Sinai Come From?
Question: From the aforementioned pasuk it seems that Hashem descended on the mountain in fire, and this fire gave off smoke, to the extent that the entire mountain was covered in smoke. Asks R’ Chaim Paltiel: The Gemara in Yoma (21b) says that, “fire that comes from Heaven doesn’t emit smoke”, if, so how come here there was smoke?
Answers:i) R’ Paltiel answers, normally fire from heaven doesn’t emit smoke, however, by Har Sinai it was done to specially to create fear.ii) Rabbeinu Bechayeh because of this question, explains that the smoke by Har Sinai wasn’t because of a burning fire, rather, the mountain itself miraculously gave off smoke, therefore, it says, והר סיני עשן כולו – “the mountain of Sinai was all smoke”.iii) The Alshich writes, that Hashem made a special miracle that the heavenly fire gave off smoke, in order to create a partition between the Shechinah and Klal Yisroel so that they wouldn’t look at the Shechinah and become blind.
Question #6: Why Wasn’t the Torah Given on the Ground?
Question: The Gemara in Sotah (5a) teaches:א"ר יוסף לעולם ילמד אדם מדעת קונו שהרי הקדוש ברוך הוא הניח כל הרים וגבעות והשרה שכינתו על הר סיני – “A person should always learn (about haughtiness) from his Creator. Hakodosh Boruch Hu left all the hills and mountains and rested his Shechinah on Har Sinai (a low mountain)”. Just like the Ribbono Shel Olam humbled himself, and gave the Torah on the lowest mountain, we too need to be careful and make sure not to be haughty.
The Divrei Yatziv uses this Gemara to answer a famous question. We say in Dayeinu: אילו קרבנו לפני הר סיני ולא נתן לנו את התורה דיינו - “If He would have brought us to Har Sinai and not given us the Torah, it would have been enough.” Everyone asks, what would have been the point of coming to Har Sinai and not receiving the Torah? The Divrei Yatziv answers based on this Gemara in Sotah, that the purpose of coming to Har Sinai would have been to learn the importance of not being too haughty. Just like Hashem humbled Himself and rested on Har Sinai - the lowest of mountains, similarly, sometimes we also must be careful with haughtiness.
The question is, however, if Hashem chose to rest on Har Sinai to teach us a lesson in haughtiness, why did He not rest on the ground and give us the Torah from the ground, why did it have to be given on a lowly mountain?
Answers:i) The Haga’os Ya’avatz (Sotah 5a) and the Kotzker answer: Although haughtiness is a middah which is disgusting in the eyes of Hashem, a talmud chocham needs to have a little bit of haughtiness, a שמינית שבשמינית – “an eighth of an eighth”, to stand up for himself and do what’s correct, and not let people scoff at him. Therefore, the Torah was given on a low mountain, to show that a little bit of haughtiness is needed.ii) The Ya’avatz offers a second answer, which is that if the Shechinah would rest on the ground we wouldn’t have noticed the lesson Hashem was trying to teach us.
The Gemara in Succah teaches: In the future, Hakodosh Boruch Hu is going to bring the yetzer horah and slaughter him in front of the tzaddikim and the reshoim. To the tzaddikim it will appear as a high mountain, and for the reshoim it will appear like a hair. These will cry and these will cry. The tzaddikim will cry and say, “How were we able to conquer such a huge thing”, and the reshoim will cry and say, “how were unable to conquer such a small thing”. The Divrei Yatziv suggests: The Torah was given on a mountain to hint to us, that even if chas vesholam a time comes where the yetzar horah seems to be winning, and is appearing to us like a big mountain, we still need to accept the Torah with mesirus nefesh. (Otzros Divrei Yatziv, Shabbos 574)
Question #7: How Does Staying Up All Night Atone for Not Waking Up in the Morning?
Question: The Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 494) quotes the Zohar which records that many talmiday chachomim used to spend the entire night learning in preparation of receiving the Torah.
The Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 494:1) cites the famous Medrash in Shir HaShirim Rabbah which documents that on the day that Bnei Yisroel were to receive the Torah at Har Sinai, they overslept. Therefore, in order to "make-up" for this mishap and show how much we really do appreciate and love the Torah we stay up the entire night learning and preparing to accept it.
The Gemara in Yoma (22a) relates: Originally, they never used to perform a lottery to determine who would perform the mitzvah of terumas hadeshen, as they were scared that the person who was picked would sleep in and not make it. The Gemara asks: That for the offering up of the avorim and pedorim [limbs] they made a lottery, even though it was at night at a time when people sleep? The Gemara answers: שאני מיגנא ממיקם . Rashi explains: It’s easier for a person to stay up late at night and wipe sleep from his eyes, then it is for one to get out of bed early in the morning.
The question is, if so, how does staying up all night fix the mishap of oversleeping in the morning, staying up all night is easier than waking up early? Seemingly, what we should Shavuos morning is, we should go to sleep and wake up earlier than normal?
Answers:i) Perhaps we can answer as follows: We find that Torah is compared to water. The Chofetz Chaim would explain, there is a special halachah in Hilchos Berachos regarding water. By all foods, if one eats them, whether he is hungry or not he recites it’s berachah. If one eats an orange, whether he is hungry or not he recites ha’eitz. However, when it comes to water, one only makes a berachah if he is thirsty. If one isn’t thirsty, and he drinks water to help swallow a pill etc. no
