On this day they came to the wilderness of Sinai. (Shemos 19:1)
The Torah could have just written, “On that day.” What is the meaning of “On this day”? [It comes to teach us] that the words of the Torah should be new to you as if they were given today. (Rashi)
We should relate to Torah every day as if it was brand-new to us, as if we just got it today.
But why is this message written here? The pasuk isn’t even talking about the Giving of the Torah. It is just mentioning when the Jewish people came to the wilderness of Sinai, in preparation for receiving the Torah a number of days later.
The question is the answer. Here we see that arriving at Midbar Sinai was actually the beginning of Kabbalas Hatorah, so this is actually an appropriate place for a message about how to learn Torah.
This resolves a well-known question on something we say in the Pesach Hagadah. We say, “If He would have brought us to Har Sinai and not given us the Torah, דיינו – it would have been enough for us.”
But coming to Sinai is just a means to an end, which is receiving the Torah. Why would it be enough to just come there? Because coming to Har Sinai was more than just a step bringing us closer to Matan Torah. It was actually the beginning of Kabbalas Hatorah itself.
How so?
We will explain by way of allegory.
A great, well-known tzaddik comes to a mass gathering attended by tens of thousands of people. The crowd is packed in from all sides and it is almost impossible to even get close to the tzaddik.
Now the tzaddik calls a certain person in the audience to come over to him. This person is understandably excited. But he will be even more excited if, when he comes over, the Rav doesn’t just shake his hand but gives him a kiss. And if the Rav also invites him for a visit at home, he will feel that something incredibly amazing is happening to him.
This is how it was at Har Sinai. We owe Him special thanks just for bringing us there, close to Him. Coming to Har Sinai, where the Shechinah to come down, represented taking part in a life that we share with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. This alone is reason to thank and praise Him. Because Yiddishkeit is all about living a life shared with Hashem, in love and affection. Life together with Hashem!
However, Hashem also gave us mitzvos, because without the mitzvos we won’t be able to keep up this life shared with Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
