[Avodah] kimu v'kiblu, purim,

[Micha Berger]

On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 07:13:08PM +0000, kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
: R' Micha Berger responded:
: > That answer isn't just often given, it's the next line in the
: > gemara (Shabbos 88[a]). Rava presents it as an answer.

: I do not see this as an answer to the question. At least, not an answer
: to the way RHB presents the question.

Agreed. RHB wrote "The answer often given is that we re-accepted it
during the times of Purim." So I just noted that "often given" is an
understatement. (He called it an answer, so I did as well.) But yes,
RHB did continue: "What then was the Torah's status upon us in-between
Har Sinai, and the times of Purim?"

To which I offered two possible answers:

1- According to the Meshekh Chokhmah, the mountain wasn't literally
lifted over their heads. It's a poetic description of how life before
hester Panim impacted our decision to observe. And yet, even though
every time we abandoned the Torah, Hashem sent an enemy to shake us up
and motivate teshuvah, it didn't actually stop us from repeating the
cycle over and over again.

2- The Ramban suggests that during bayis rishon, mitzvos were part of
the terms for retaining EY. As long as we were using the land, they were
binding for that reason.

Now I wish to add a third:

3- Tosafos (88a) note that "naaseh" was said volunarily before the
mountain was lifted. The whole bit was to keep the frightening scene of
matan Torah from changing their minds from the initial acceptance. But
the means the actual acceptance was made voluntarily.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             If a person does not recognize one's own worth,
micha at aishdas.org        how can he appreciate the worth of another?
http://www.aishdas.org             - Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoye,
Fax: (270) 514-1507                  author of Toldos Yaakov Yosef