An Energetic Acceptance
And the Am Yisroel responded in kind. You remember when the Torah was given, Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent Moshe Rabbeinu to ask them. “Are you willing? Do you want to accept the Torah?”
And we know what the response was: “ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַנ עַמ¿ׁ ̆ƒנ¿ו – We will do and we will listen.” ‘Listen’ means we’re going to listen and get as much knowledge as we can. So two things: We will do and we will listen to all of the details in order to fulfill it the way You want from us.”
But did they say, “Yes, we’ll accept” as polite people do? Let’s say you’re in court and they ask you a question, so you say, “Yes, sir. Yes, your honor.” You don’t give a thunderous yes. You don’t shout with all your energy, “Yes!” But the Bnei Yisroel, they went all out. They said such a yes that some of them fainted from expression of energy. It was a remarkable demonstration of willingness, of enthusiasm. And that was already a demonstration of going beyond the line of the din because the minimum didn’t require that you have to shout it with such enthusiasm.
But it happened that way because that’s the way of the Am Hashem. When the Torah was given, right away it started out with the idea of more than what was required. And that’s what we try to live up to. Naaseh v’nishma means that we want to succeed in this world by doing more than the minimum. We are a nation of ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַּמַה ̇∆‡ – doing everything that’s required of us, and ןּוׂ ֲ̆ﬠַי ר∆ׁ ֲ̆‡ – being energized to do even more than required.
