Parshat Yitro; Exodus 18:1 – 20:23, By Rabbi Denise L. Eger

The Children of Israel are about to encounter God in a unique way this week. In the barren landscape of the wilderness in the shadow of craggy mountain peak, three short months since they left Egypt, the Children of Israel in Parshat Yitro hear the voice of the God.

They have seen God’s might and power before. In Egypt they were witnesses to the power of God that was unleashed by the ten plagues. Blood and hail and locusts and darkness were some of the forms of Divine might that the children of Israel experienced. They saw God’s resourcefulness and power in the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea. Moses’ staff raised above the salty waters brought the Eternal’s power to bear over the Sea and rout the Egyptians. God brings manna to eat and helps Moses’ sweeten brackish water to drink. But now encamped at the base of Mt. Sinai the revelation of the Torah is not just a conversation between Moses and God but it is revealed to the entire nation.
“I will come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after” (Ex. 19:9).

This encounter is not private but public. These former slaves are elevated to a unique position. They average Egyptian did not meet their gods and goddesses face to face. They saw their statues and images around them but only the priests of Egypt were able to invoke the gods. And they did so in glorious monuments and temples.
But now these former slaves will out in the open meet their God. This is a revolutionary idea! Those on the lowest rungs of Egyptian social life, those who were outsiders, will now encounter the Divine as if they too were priests. God recognizes the sanctity of this moment and the revolutionary impact of this. “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). The average stone worker will now be transformed into and elevated into a role that they only knew was at the highest ranks of Egyptian society. Indeed to have your social class lifted up in such a way must be a miracle as great as the parting of the Red Sea! No wonder they chime out when Moses’ asks them, “All that God has spoken, we will do!” (Ex. 19: 8). They want to be lifted up never to return to slavery.

But they had to prepare for this moment. They had to prepare and purify themselves. They had to wash their clothes and refrain from sexual encounters, anything that would distract and create impurity. Then they would in the proper state to receive God’s word and to experience the Holy One of Blessing.

And so on that mountain in the barren wilderness the Jewish people heard the blasts of the shofar and saw the smoke and fire and felt the trembling of the mountain as God descended upon Sinai. They heard God’s words speak out the Ten Commandments. These newly freed slaves who a mere ninety days ago were building the garrison cities and storehouses of Egypt are hearing the Divine Words revealed to them. It becomes so overwhelming that they fell back and stood at a distance” (Ex. 20: 15). But the revelation of the Torah at Mt. Sinai was for all to hear. The revelation was not just for some but for the entire people. The revelation was not based on social status but for this new nation whose holiness began at that moment as they were transformed by their common experience that day and their bond with each other and with God through our covenant.

That bond remains in force today. We are the heirs to those who stood at Sinai and that moment of revelation is reenacted when recite the Shma’ prayer together in worship. We too are elevated into a kingdom of priest and a holy nation by our affirmation of our faith and the conduct of our lives. That is why the Torah and its teachings are as relevant today as they were so many thousands of years ago. The Torah’s ability to help transform our souls and lift us up from the many ways we are still in bondage. Just as God’ lifted the Children of Israel up on eagle’s wings (Ex. 19:4), so too, if we cling to that revelation be uplifted even today.

Posted by Lee at February 6, 2007 10:08 AM