[Avodah] Naaseh V'nishma

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 06:04:43AM -0400, Cantor Wolberg wrote:
: The Maharal of Prague asks, ?If the Jewish people had already accepted  
: the Torah at Sinai with the declaration of Naaseh V?nishmah why was it  
: necessary for God to hold a mountain over their heads to compel them  
: to accept the Torah? The Maharal answers that it is true that the  
: Jewish people had said Naaseh V?nishmah; however, the mountain over  
: their heads was to demonstrate to them that they must accept the Torah  
: because it is the Will of God regardless of their own preference....

I would suggest that the mountain over our heads represents the explicit
and miraculous reward-and-punishment of the bayis rishon period. Like
in seifer Shofetim, the cycle of military threat followed by teshuvah
followed by a shofeit and military success followed by contentment
followed by sin which in turn motivates Hashem to provide the next
military threat.

When does this end? With Purim and hesteir panim. This is why "qiymu
veqibly haYehudim -- qiymu mah sheqiblu qevar". Nevu'ah is gone. Blatant
sechar va'onesh is gone. We are out from under the mountain, and the
acceptance of mitzvos enters another level.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             None of us will leave this place alive.
micha at aishdas.org        All that is left to us is
http://www.aishdas.org   to be as human as possible while we are here.
Fax: (270) 514-1507            - Anonymous MD, while a Nazi prisoner