With Parshat Yitro, we reach the climax of the Exodus story.
Having
journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in
the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain, and Moses went
up to God. The Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus shall you
say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen
what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to
Me. Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be
My treasured possession among all the peoples.’” (Exodus 19:2-5)
The people spend three days preparing themselves to
encounter God. Amidst thunder, lightning, and smoke, trumpets blaring, the
mountain smoking and trembling, God speaks. Parshat
Yitro enumerates the Ten Commandments (they are re-iterated in Deuteronomy
chapter 5 in parshat V’etchanan) and
closes with God’s instruction to build an earthen altar and offer there a
sacrifice.
We might think that God intends Torah to be the exclusive
property of the Jewish People. A famous midrash, oft quoted, contends that God
sought to give it away to other peoples and only settled on Israel because they
were the only ones who would accept it:
When God
who is everywhere revealed himself to give the Torah to Israel, he revealed
himself not only to Israel but to all the other nations as well.
At first
God went to the children of Esau. He asked them: “Will you accept the Torah?”
They said right to his face: “What is written in it?” He said: “You shall not
murder.” They replied: “Master of the universe, this goes against our grain.
Our father, whose hands are the hands of
Esau (Genesis 27:22), led us to rely only on the sword, because his father
told him, ‘By your sword shall you live’ (Genesis
27:40). We cannot accept the Torah.”
Then God
went to the children of Ammon and Moab and asked them: “Will you accept the
Torah?” They said right to his face: “What is written in it?” He said: “You
shall not commit adultery.” They replied: “Master of the universe, our very
origin is in adultery, for Scripture says, Thus
were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father (Genesis 19:13).
We cannot accept the Torah.”
Then God
went to the children of Ishmael. He asked them: “Will you accept the Torah?”
They said right to his face: “What is written in it?” He said: “You shall not
steal.” They replied: “Master of the universe, it is our very nature to live
off only what is stolen and what is acquired through assault. Of our forebear
Ishmael, it is written, and he shall be a
wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand
against him (Genesis 16:12). We cannot accept the Torah.”
There was
not a single nation among the nations to whom God did not go, speak, and, as it
were, knock on its door, asking whether it would be willing to accept the Torah.
At long last God came to Israel. They said, We
will do and hearken (Exodus 24:7). Of God’s successive attempts to give the
Torah, it is written,
The Lord came from Sinai;
He shone upon them from Seir;
He appeared from Mount Paran,
And approached from Ribebot-kodesh,
Lightning flashing at them from his right. (Deuteronomy 33:2)
(Sifre
Deuteronomy 343)
Given that everyone else rejected Torah, and only Israel
accepted it, does it belong to Israel alone?
Midrash Tanna debe
Eliyyahu offers a stunning commentary on the Giving of Torah. It begins
with part of the verse from Psalm 19:5.
He placed them in a tent for the sun… (Psalm 19:5)
A parable:
There was a mortal king who kept precious stones and pearls of purest ray in
his palace, and the people of the kingdom offered to buy them for a goodly sum.
The king told them: I will let you buy them; not, however, to be hidden away
for the exclusive use of one people, but open to all the peoples of the world.
Likewise, when the Holy One, may God’s great name be blessed forever and ever,
gave the Torah to Israel, God meant it to be left open for all the peoples of
the world, as it is said, I have not
given it in secret (Isaiah 45:19). (Tanna debe Eliyyahu, chapter 2)
Torah is not to be hidden away in arks
and study houses, but brought into the bright sunlight and shared with others.
Its wisdom is God’s gift (or, if you prefer, the Jewish People’s gift) to the
world. Doing so, of course, opens it to other interpretations, and sometimes
they make us uncomfortable. But truth to tell, there is just as much diversity
of opinion concern the meaning of Scripture within
the Jewish community, and we have learned to see that as machloket l’shem shamayim, argument for
the sake of heaven.
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael goes even
further, suggesting that Torah is, in a sense, hefker (ownerless property and hence available to all):
Had the
Torah been given in the Land of Israel, the Israelites would have told the rest
of the nations that they have no portion in the Torah. Now that the Revelation
was given in an open, ownerless, public space which is accessible to every
human being, let anyone who wishes to accept it come and take it. (Mekhilta, Bachodesh)
Rather than fighting the
interpretations of others, we would do well to join their conversation and
share our wisdom with them.
Last month, two people in Cartersville, Georgia got into a
heated debate about the proper interpretation of the Ten Commandments that
turned into a slugfest when Carolyn Unfricht slammed Daniel Camarda’s face with
her Bible. Camarda responded by throwing Unfricht across the room. Police
report that both were “highly intoxicated”—apparently not high on “The Word.”
In addition to giving them Scripture, perhaps we should teach them the
principle of machloket l’shem
shamayim, an argument for the sake of heaven.
© Rabbi Amy Scheinerman
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