[Avodah] Held the Mountain over Them

[Micha Berger]

I found this week's VBM email  from R' Yitzchak Blau very interesting.
On the centrality of bechirah chafshi in the Or Sameiach's worldview.
See <http://www.vbm-torah.org/archive/modern/19modern.htm>.

Within the shiur is something about the nature of Yahadus before Purim
that entirely surprised me:
:                     ....  The gemara (Shabbat 88a) famously states 
: that God suspended a mountain over the head of the Jewish people and 
: intimidated them into accepting the Torah.  R. Meir Simcha explains that 
: God did not literally hold up a mountain; rather, the experience of 
: direct and overpowering revelation removed their free choice.  God did 
: this on a momentary basis to ensure the Torah's acceptance, but 
: immediately afterward the people reverted to the freedom that reflects 
: the true goal of creation.  "Return to your tents" (Devarim 5:27) 
: refers to the soul returning to the tent of physicality, a place with 
: temptation, struggle and choice.[12]

:            In that gemara, Rabba says that the Jewish people have a 
: ready excuse for their violation of Torah laws.  After all, they were 
: coerced into accepting the Torah, so the covenant should not bind them!  
: The gemara answers that the Jews freely reaffirmed their commitment at 
: the time of Achashverosh.  Does the gemara truly intend to suggest that 
: the Jews were not held liable during the time of the First Temple?  
: Didn't God punish them for transgressions during this time?  Ritva 
: argues that the gemara did not actually mean that the Jews were coerced; 
: it only brings in the later commitment as a response to heretics.  
: Ramban says that even before the Purim episode, living in the Land of 
: Israel carried with it certain responsibilities and the potential of 
: punishment.  The original covenant did not bind them, but the lease 
: agreement of the Land of Israel did.[13]

:            R. Meir Simcha takes the Jewish people's excuse very 
: seriously.  If coerced, they cannot be responsible.  However, an 
: exemption regarding the broader responsibility of the covenant does not 
: exempt them from the Noachide laws.  God punished the people during the 
: First Temple period for sins such as murder, idolatry, and sexual 
: immorality.  Such sins were punishable even without the covenant at 
: Sinai, since they represent the basic moral decency demanded of every 
: human being.[14]

: The people at Sinai understand that freedom reflects the human ideal.  
: They request that Moshe tell them the rest of the Torah because they 
: want to reclaim their ability to choose.  If the direct divine 
: revelation proves so overwhelming that it dissolves freedom, then they 
: want a human prophet to transmit the divine message.  Better to forego 
: direct communication from God in order to hear the word of God in a way 
: that still allows for free will.[15]

: [11] Meshekh Chokhma introduction to Shemot.
: [12] Ibid.
: [13] Ritva and Ramban's interpretations appear in their commentaries on Shabbat 88a.
: [14] Meshekh Chokhma Shemot 19:17.
: [15] Meshekh Chokhma Devarim 5:25.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org        your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
http://www.aishdas.org   and it flies away.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter