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Shavuot is arriving!
Shavuot is the day on which we received the Torah. When the Torah recounts this event, it says that the Jews declared:
נעשה ונשמע
“[Whatever G-d says], we will do, and we will listen”
Yet there is a very interesting Midrash. It recounts that wen the Jews stool at the feet of Mount Sinai, G-d moved the mountain an put it over the heads of the Jewish people, saying: “If you receive the Torah, good, if not, the mountain will destroy you”. In other words, G-d forced the Jewish people to accept the Torah. But why? Since they had already agreed to receive it from their own will, why did G-d have to force them?
One of the explanations is that each person in his or her life has ups and downs. Sometimes we say “This, I cannot do it, it is very difficult”. Sometimes, it really is difficult… In these cases, our will to do the Mitzvot is not enough. It is a situation where a simple person cannot succeed on his own.
This is why G-d forced us to receive the Torah. He wanted there to be, beyond our good will (which is very important but not constant), some sort of imposing. Because this means that we are obliged to keep the Torah even when the circumstances are very difficult, and our willpower weakens. But since G-d forced us, He also gives us the power to overcome any difficulties we could not have faced only with our own strength.
Shabbat Shalom and may we receive the Torah with joy and sincerity!
קבלת התורה בשמחה ובפנימיות
Arie from the Yeshiva
