We read in Parashat Mishpatim this past Shabbt, of the Covenant that Hashem sealed with Bnei Israel, at Har Sinai:(24:3-8)’Moshe told the people all the words of Hashem..and the entire people responded:’All that Hashem had spoken,נעשה: we shall do’;
Moshe wrote all the words of Hashem..and built an altar..and the youths brought burnt offerings, and they slaughtered bulls..; Moshe took half the blood and placed it in basins, and half the blood he threw upon the altar. He took the Book of the Covenant, and read it in the ears of the people, and they said: ‘Everything that Hashem has said, נעשה ונשמע: we will do and we will obey’. Moshe took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he said:’Behold the blood of the covenant that Hashem sealed with you concerning all these matters’’.
Intriguingly, there is disagreement between our major commentators, as to when these events occurred.
Rashi, based on the Mechilta, expounds that the events are related out of sequence, and that they took place on the Fifth of Sivan, the day before the Ten Commandments, which is described in the previous Parasha, Parashat Yitro.
Ramban, on the other hand, holds that the events are written in the sequence that they occurred, and that these events occurred on the Sixth of Sivan, בו ביום: on that very day, immediately after the Ten Commandments.
Therefore, he adds, only after hearing what Moshe had written in the Book of the Covenant, the people accepted to enter into a covenant with Hashem, and said: all that Hashem shall command us to do, נעשה ונשמע: we will do and we will obey’, and then Moshe threw the other half of the blood upon them, to signify that a covenant had been entered onto, between two ‘equal’ halves’.
The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh first comments that, on a literal reading of the Parasha, it is written in its proper place, as the Ramban, the Ibn Ezra, and the Rashbam as one all hold.
‘However’, he comments, ‘there is an unchallenged teaching in the Mechilta, that these events occurred on the Fifth of Sivan, from which it appears that they preceded the Ten Commandments, and on which date the afore-mentioned covenant was sealed.
‘Moshe Rabbeinu decided to test the people, though Hashem did not command him to do so, to see if they would accept upon themselves to enter into a covenant with Hashem, in respect of the Mitzvot which they had already been given, as, till then, there had been no covenant entered into.
‘Further, the Gemarot which lavished praise on Bnei Israel for their acceptance;’All that Hashem says, we shall do and we shall hear’, before being given the Torah, tell that our Parasha preceded the Ten Commandments’.
Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler offers a beautiful insight as to why it was essential that Bnei Israel enter into this covenant, before they could be given the Torah:’This covenant was not only to reinforce the obligation to perform the Mitzvot, but had an independent importance.
‘As Rashi points out, and as is clear from the Midrash, it was a preface to receiving the Ten Commandments.
‘The Midrash states that, after Bnei Israel entered into this covenant, Hashem said to them:’You are now bound and caught, come and receive the Torah’- denoting that, by entering this covenant, they became ‘connected’ to Hashem, as only then were they able to receive Torah and Mitzvot.
‘Only after there had been the tie of ‘Who has chosen us’ by Hashem entering into this covenant with Bnei Israel, could there also be realization of ‘and sanctified us with His Mitzvot and commanded us’.
‘Therefore, before Bnei Israel could receive the Torah, Hashem adjured them:’You have seen what I did in Egypt, and now if you hearken..and be to Me the most treasured of all people..and be to Me a kingdom of ministers and a holy nation…’.
‘These words are the תכלית: the purpose of the connection with Hashem, as by entering into the covenant with Hashem, Bnei Israel merited receiving the Torah, and being sanctified by performing Mitzvot’.
Rav David Cohen, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Chevron, asks:’What is the role of the Book of Covenant, and why, only after Moshe Rabbeinu had read from it to Bnei Israel, did they add to their earlier commitment נעשה: ‘We will do’ the additional commitment: ונשמע: And we will hear’?’
He answers:’This requires us to learn from the Vilna Gaon, the meaning of a covenant:’When one loves another as he loves himself, and wants to always be connected to him, even in times when it is not possible, he gives to that person something ‘carved’ from himself, that is most precious to himself; this ‘keepsake’ ensures that they are forever bound together.
‘Thus, when Hashem wanted to be always ‘connected’ to Bnei Israel, he did so by giving them His Torah, which is, כביכול, a most precious thing ‘carved’ from Himself- and this was the entry into the covenant of Hashem.
‘Bnei Israel, to complete the covenant, had likewise to give to Hashem, something very precious in their eyes, something ‘of themselves’.
‘They in fact gave, in ‘exchange’, ‘themselves’: their total subjugation to whatever Hashem would command- this freedom being the most precious attribute of physical man.
‘To ‘surrender’ themselves to Hashem, was, therefore, the ‘gift’ of something precious ‘carved’ from ourselves.
‘Thus, each side entered into this wondrous covenant.
‘To fulfill Hashem’s ‘share’, required a Sefer Torah, which is why Moshe wrote all the commandments into a book, appropriately called ‘the Book of the Covenant’.
‘Only then could Bnei Israel, who till then could only promise to ‘do’ the Mitzvot Hashem commanded them, also now add: ‘And to hear’, to be like the Ministering Angels, whose sole purpose and existence was ‘to hear’ what Hashem wanted of them.
‘This covenant, on the Fifth Sivan, therefore had to be entered into, before the giving of the Torah- the Ten Commandments- on the following day, the Sixth Sivan.
‘This is why the events are written in two separate Parshiot: first, in Parashat Yitro, we read of the giving of the Torah by Hashem; then, in the subsequent Parasha, Parashat Mishpatim, we read of the entry of Bnei Israel into the eternal covenant, which preceded and was the reason that they merited to receive the Torah’.
Why were these two matters not written in their chronological order?
The answer may be found in the beautiful passage in which the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh describes the arrival of Bnei Israel at the foothills of Har Sinai, on the First of Sivan:’This was not written in chronological order, because this was היום המקוה: the day to which the Creator looked forwards to, as did the Torah, and as did the world..from the day the world was created they all sat looking expectantly to the day that Bnei Israel should come to Sinai.
‘Therefore, when Bnei Israel finally arrived there, the Torah did not relate the events in their order, but immediately announced that Bnei Israel came that day, because this was the תכלית הבריאה ותקותה: the objective of Creation, and its hope’.
Might we not then say: the Torah ‘could not wait’ to relate its giving, and afterwards, though out of order, to relate the earlier entry into the covenant.
To sweeten our appreciation of these wondrous events, let us note that the Malbim holds that the covenant was entered into, not on either the Fifth of Sivan, nor on the Sixth of that month, but on the Seventh of Sivan
This, too, is the view of the Abarbanel,who comments:’After the Ten Commandments, in the evening, Moshe read to the people that which he had written in the Book of the Covenant. On the following morning, being the Seventh of Sivan, having waited to see if the people, after having considered the matter the whole night, still wished to proceed with the covenant; and when they proclaimed: ‘All that Hashem says we will do and we will hear’, Moshe proceeded to carry out the covenant between the parties, as described in our Parasha’.
A parting thought: Our Sages say that all our souls were present at Har Sinai.
May we all merit to fulfill the obligations we accepted ‘as one’, by entering this covenant!
לרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.