Revelation “on one foot”:
Revelation is when G-d revealed the Ten Commandments (or the Torah — depends whom you ask) to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. The story of the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, found in Exodus 19 and 20, raised a lot of questions for the rabbis, and they made up midrashim with answers based on things they noticed in the text.
One Story About the Jewish People Getting the Torah
The Gemara cites additional homiletic interpretations on the topic of the revelation at Sinai. The Torah says, “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom part of the mount” (Exodus 19:17). Rabbi Avdimi bar Chama bar Chasa said: the Jewish people actually stood beneath the mountain, and the verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be God, overturned the mountain above the Jews like a tub, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, excellent, and if not, there will be your burial. Rav Acha bar Ya’akov said: From here there is a substantial caveat to the obligation to fulfill the Torah. The Jewish people can claim that they were coerced into accepting the Torah, and it is therefore not binding. Rava said: Even so, they again accepted it willingly in the time of Ahasuerus, as it is written: “The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them” (Esther 9:27), and he taught: The Jews ordained what they had already taken upon themselves through coercion at Sinai.
Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Shabbat, which is about Shabbat (as you might have guessed). The Mishnah (9:3) talks about bathing a male baby on the third day after his circumcision, even if it’s on Shabbat, and this leads to a discussion about other things that happened on the third day (such as the Revelation at Sinai).
The specific question that Rav Avdimi is answering is why the Torah said that the Israelites stood “b’tachtit” (“at the foot of”, but literally “underneath”) the mountain. He suggests that perhaps G-d held the mountain over the Israelites and forced them to accept the Ten Commandments. Rav Acha points out that a forced contract isn’t valid, and so Rava finds another verse to prove that later on the Jews accepted the Torah willingly. In context, the verse (Esther 9:27) is actually saying that the Jews accepted Purim upon themselves and their descendants — one only need to read the rest of that very verse to understand that. However, as modern politicians can attest, words can be taken out of context to make it seem like they meant all sorts of things (for an example, see President Obama not-actually perform a Maccabeats song here: https://youtu.be/NaAb0sgGsCU?si=8ghKYYDvCCutygv4).
While it’s true that the Israelites said “All that the Lord has said we will do” prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments, that was after they were “under” the mountain. Therefore, this midrash would posit that they said that under coercion.
For other thoughts about this midrash, see these two sites:
https://www.thetorah.com/article/standing-under-sinai-on-the-origins-of-a-coerced-covenant;
https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/77045.1?lang=bi
When have you made somebody or been made to do something that you didn’t want to do, but not doing it would have been worse?
A Second Story About the Jewish People Getting the Torah
(ו) דבר אחר ויאמר ה' מסיני בא, כשנגלה הקדוש ברוך הוא ליתן תורה לישראל לא על ישראל בלבד הוא נגלה אלא על כל האומות, תחילה הלך אצל בני עשו אמר להם מקבלים אתם את התורה אמרו לו מה כתוב בה אמר להם (שמות כ יג) לא תרצח אמרו כל עצמם של אותם האנשים ואביהם רוצח הוא שנאמר (בראשית כז כב) והידים ידי עשו (שם כז מ) ועל חרבך תחיה הלך אצל בני עמון ומואב אמר להם מקבלים אתם את התורה אמרו לו מה כתוב בה אמר להם (שמות שם) לא תנאף אמרו לו כל עצמה של ערוה להם היא שנאמר (בראשית יט לו) ותהרין שתי בנות לוט מאביהן הלך אצל בני ישמעאל אמר להם מקבלים אתם את התורה אמרו לו מה כתוב בה אמר להם (שמות שם) לא תגנוב אמרו לו כל עצמם אביהם ליסטים היה שנאמר (בראשית טז יב) והוא יהיה פרא אדם וכן לכל אומה ואומה שאל להם אם מקבלים את התורה שנאמר (תהלים קלח ד) יודוך ה' כל מלכי ארץ כי שמעו אמרי פיך יכול שמעו וקבלו תלמוד לומר (מיכה ה יד) ועשיתי באף ובחימה נקם את הגוים אשר לא שמעו לא דיים שלא שמעו …
(6) Variantly: "And He said: The L-rd came from Sinai": When the L-rd appeared to give Torah to Israel, it is not to Israel alone that God appeared, but to all of the nations. First God went to the children of Esau, and God asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? God answered: "You shall not kill" (Shemot 20:13). They answered: The entire essence of our father is murder, as it is written (Bereshit 27:22) "And the hands are the hands of Esau." And it is with this that his father assured him (Ibid. 27:40) "And by your sword shall you live." God then went to the children of Ammon and Moab and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? God answered "You shall not commit adultery." They answered: L-rd of the Universe, ervah (illicit relations) is our entire essence, as it is written (Ibid. 19:36) "And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father." God then went and found the children of Ishmael and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? God answered: "You shall not steal" (Shemot, Ibid.) They answered: L-rd of the Universe, our father's entire essence is stealing, viz. (Bereshit 16:12) "And he (Ishmael) shall be a wild man, his hand against all." There was none among all of the nations to whom God did not go and speak and knock at their door, asking if they would accept the Torah, viz. (Psalms 138:4) "All the kings of the earth will acknowledge You, O L-rd, for they heard the words of Your mouth." I might think they heard and accepted; it is, therefore, written (Ezekiel 33:31) "And they did not do them (the mitzvot)." And (Micah 5:14) "And with anger and wrath will I take revenge of the nations because they did not accept (the mitzvot)." … [goes on to talk about the Noachide Laws]
Context: This is from Sifrei Devarim, a book of mostly legal (halachic) but some narrative (aggadic) commentary (midrash) on the Book of Deuteronomy. This is one of several takes on why the Torah says that G-d came from Sinai and from Mt. Seir (where the Edomites lived) in Deuteronomy 33:2. This text, which is from around 200 CE, says that G-d went to each of the nations and offered them the Torah, and each turned it down.
The nations will say before God: Master of the Universe, did You give us the Torah and we did not accept it? Since we never received the Torah, why are we being judged for not fulfilling its mitzvot? The Gemara asks: And can one say that they were never offered the Torah? But isn’t it written in the description of the giving of the Torah: “And he said: The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them” (Deuteronomy 33:2), and it is written: “God comes from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran” (Habakkuk 3:3). And the Sages asked: What did God require in Seir and what did God require in Paran? The Torah was not given in those locations. And Rabbi Yochanan says: This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be God, took the Torah around to every nation and those who speak every language, such as the Edomites in Seir and the Ishmaelites in Paran, but they did not accept it, until God came to the Jewish people and they accepted it. If the other nations all rejected the Torah, how can they excuse themselves by claiming that it was never offered to them?
Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Avodah Zara, which is about idolatry. It’s from the very second page of the tractate. Since the Babylonian Talmud is from around 500 CE, this text seems to be building on the previous text. Here it fleshes out the question “If G-d was coming from Mt. Seir, where the Edomites were, what was G-d doing there?” The answer is that G-d was offering them the Torah. This text doesn’t go through why the various nations said No, unlike the earlier version in Sifrei Devarim. It does, however, give the punchline of the story (unlike the earlier text), that the Israelites said “All that the Lord has said we will do”. (This is Exodus 19:8 — it is before the giving of the Ten Commandments and also before the “Na’aseh v’nishma” / “We will do and we will understand” line that comes from Exodus 24:7).
Has there ever been a professor or conference presenter where it didn’t matter what they were talking about, you were in?
One Story about How Revelation Actually Occurred
(ט)... וְאוֹמֵר (שמות כ, טו): וְכָל הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת הַקּוֹלֹת. הַקּוֹל אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן אֶלָּא הַקּוֹלֹת, אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן הָיָה הַקּוֹל יוֹצֵא וְנֶחְלַק לְשִׁבְעִים קוֹלוֹת לְשִׁבְעִים לָשׁוֹן, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּשְׁמְעוּ כָּל הָאֻמּוֹת, וְכָל אֻמָּה וְאֻמָּה שׁוֹמַעַת קוֹל בִּלְשׁוֹן הָאֻמָּה ...
(9)... It says: “All the people were seeing the voices” (Exodus 20:15). Voice is not written here, but “voices.” Rabbi Yochanan said: The voice would emerge and divide into seventy voices for seventy languages, so that all the nations could understand. Each and every nation would hear a voice in the language of that nation...
Context: This is from Exodus Rabba, a set of interpretations about the Biblical Book of Exodus that was compiled around 1200 CE. Here there is a claim that when G-d told Moses to return to Egypt (Exodus 4:19), G-d simultaneously told Aaron to meet Moses (Exodus 4:27). This is similar to the idea that in Exodus 20 the Fourth Commandment starts with “Zachor”, and in Deuteronomy 5 the Fourth Commandment starts with “Shamor”. The Rabbis harmonized this by saying that G-d said both things at the same time, a claim that made its way into the first verse of “L’cha Dodi” (“Shamor v’zachor b’dibur Echad” - “Shamor and Zachor were said in one utterance”).
The idea that there were 70 nations derives from a counting of all the nationalities mentioned in the Book of Genesis. Actually, there are 100 mentioned, but the Rabbis made a midrash that 30 of them were washed away at the Tower of Babel in order to make space for 30 of the nations that descended from Abraham (Genesis Rabba 38:10).
Note that this midrash is also in Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Shemot 22, and Shabbat 88b:3.
What are the implications of the whole world being given the Ten Commandments (in a language that they understand)?
A Story About Who Received Revelation
(ו) דָּבָר אַחֵר,… משֶׁה אוֹמֵר לָהֶם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל (דברים כט, יד): כִּי אֶת אֲשֶׁר יֶשְׁנוֹ פֹּה עִמָּנוּ עֹמֵד הַיּוֹם וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר אֵינֶנּוּ פֹּה עִמָּנוּ הַיּוֹם, עִמָּנוּ עוֹמֵד הַיּוֹם, אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן, אֶלָּא עִמָּנוּ הַיּוֹם, אֵלּוּ הַנְּשָׁמוֹת הָעֲתִידוֹת לְהִבָּרְאוֹת שֶׁאֵין בָּהֶם מַמָּשׁ, שֶׁלֹא נֶאֶמְרָה בָּהֶם עֲמִידָה, שֶׁאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁלֹא הָיוּ בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה, כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד קִבֵּל אֶת שֶׁלּוֹ. …
(6) Another matter: …Moses says to Israel: “Rather, with him who is here with us standing today [before the Lord our God], and with him who is not here with us today” (Deuteronomy 29:14). It is not written here, “standing with us today,” but rather, “with us today.” These are the souls [of people] who are destined to be created, which lack substance, in whose regard standing is not stated. Even though they were not there at that moment, each and every one received his due. …
Context: This is also from Shemot Rabba. This midrash is suggesting that all Jews were at Mt. Sinai, using a verse from Deuteronomy to claim that since the verse doesn’t say “standing” that future generations (who weren’t born yet and therefore couldn’t stand at that point) were also at Mt. Sinai. Even converts to Judaism were there (Shevuot 39a:9), or possibly their guardian angels (Shabbat 146a:1).
This midrash is the source of the Jewish dating site “SawYouAtSinai”, a competitor to JDate.
Besides the idea that G-d, the creator of the universe, thought that you were worthy enough to address at Mt. Sinai (kippah tip to David Barany), what other implications follow from this midrash?
One More Story About Revelation
(א) ... בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לִתֵּן תּוֹרָה בְּסִינַי הָיוּ הֶהָרִים רָצִים וּמִדַּיְּנִים אֵלּוּ עִם אֵלּוּ, זֶה אוֹמֵר עָלַי הַתּוֹרָה נִתֶּנֶת וְזֶה אוֹמֵר עָלַי הַתּוֹרָה נִתֶּנֶת, תָּבוֹר בָּא מִבֵּית אֵלִים, וְכַרְמֶל מֵאַסְפַּמְיָא, ... כֻּלְּכֶם נַעֲשָׂה עֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים עַל רָאשֵׁיכֶם, אֲבָל סִינַי שֶׁלֹא נַעֲשָׂה עֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים עָלָיו (תהלים סח, יז): הָהָר חָמַד אֱלֹהִים לְשִׁבְתּוֹ, (שמות יט, כ): וַיֵּרֶד ה' עַל הַר סִינַי, אַף עַל פִּי כֵן (תהלים סח, יז): אַף ה' יִשְׁכֹּן לָנֶצַח, בְּבֵית עוֹלָמִים.
(1) ...When the Holy One blessed be God came to give the Torah at Sinai, the mountains were running and contending with one another. This one was saying: ‘The Torah will be given upon me,’ and that one was saying: ‘The Torah will be given upon me.’ Tavor came from Beit Elim, Carmel from Aspamya. .... The Holy One blessed be God said: ‘Why are you agitated…mountains…? Idol worship has been performed on all of your peaks.’ But Sinai, upon which no idol worship was performed, was “the mountain that God desired for the Divine abode” (Psalms 68:17). [Consequently,] “the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai” (Exodus 19:20). Nevertheless, “the Lord will surely dwell forever” (Psalms 68:17) in the eternal Temple. [Although Sinai was chosen for the giving of the Torah, the Temple was built on a different mountain, Mount Moriah.]
Context: This is from Genesis Rabba, a book of midrashim about the Biblical Book of Genesis dating to around 500 CE. This is from a discussion of Jacob’s blessing to his children, talking about how the tribes argued about where the Temple should be located. This connected to this midrash about the mountains arguing about where the Ten Commandments would be given.
If you were writing a midrash about why Mt. Sinai was chosen, what reason would you go with?
Context: This is a reading of The Littlest Mountain, a 2014 book by Barb Rosenstock. Rosenstock builds on the midrash in Genesis Rabba by having all the mountains brag about why they should be chosen, and then G-d choosing Sinai because it is humble. (Isaac Bashevis Singer did the same thing for his 1974 book Why Noah Chose the Dove, illustrated by Eric Carle).
With appreciation to Rabbi Aaron Finkelstein for guiding me to Sefer Ha-Aggadah: The Book of Legends (pages 78-83), and to Frances Novak for guiding me to Searching for Meaning in Midrash, by Michael Katz and Gershon Schwartz (p. 3-6).
Appendix A: Bonus Story
And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When Moses ascended on High to receive the Torah, the ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be God: Master of the Universe, what is one born of a woman doing here among us? The Holy One, Blessed be God, said to them: He came to receive the Torah. The angels said before the Lord: The Torah is a hidden treasure that was concealed by You 974 generations before the creation of the world, and You seek to give it to flesh and blood? As it is stated: “The word which He commanded to a thousand generations” (Psalms 105:8). Since the Torah, the word of God, was given to the twenty-sixth generation after Adam, the first man, the remaining 974 generations must have preceded the creation of the world. “What is man that You are mindful of him and the son of man that You think of him?” (Psalms 8:5). Rather, “God our Lord, how glorious is Your name in all the earth that Your majesty is placed above the heavens” (Psalms 8:2). The rightful place of God’s majesty, the Torah, is in the heavens. The Holy One, Blessed be God, said to Moses: Provide them with an answer as to why the Torah should be given to the people. Moses said before Him: Master of the Universe, I am afraid lest they burn me with the breath of their mouths. God said to him: Grasp My throne of glory for strength and protection, and provide them with an answer. And from where is this derived? As it is stated: God causes him to grasp the front of the throne, and spreads the Divine cloud over it” (Job 26:9), and Rabbi Naḥum said: This verse teaches that God spread the radiance of the Divine presence and cloud over Moses. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, the Torah that You are giving me, what is written in it? God said to him: “I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of Egypt from the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2). Moses said to the angels: Did you descend to Egypt? Were you enslaved to Pharaoh? Why should the Torah be yours? Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? God said to him: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). Moses said to the angels: Do you dwell among the nations who worship idols that you require this special warning? Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? The Holy One, Blessed be God, said to him: “Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it” (Exodus 20:8). Moses asked the angels: Do you perform labor that you require rest from it? Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? “Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7), meaning that it is prohibited to swear falsely. Moses asked the angels: Do you conduct business with one another that may lead you to swear falsely? Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? The Holy One, Blessed be God, said to him: “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). Moses asked the angels: Do you have a father or a mother that would render the commandment to honor them relevant to you? Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? God said to him: “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal” (Exodus 20:13) Moses asked the angels: Is there jealousy among you, or is there an evil inclination within you that would render these commandments relevant? Immediately they agreed with the Holy One, Blessed be God, that God made the right decision to give the Torah to the people, and as it is stated: “God our Lord, how glorious is Your name in all the earth” (Psalms 8:10), while “that Your majesty is placed above the heavens” is not written because the angels agreed with God that it is appropriate to give the Torah to the people on earth. Immediately, each and every one of the angels became an admirer of Moses and passed something to him, as it is stated: “You ascended on high, you took a captive, you took gifts on account of man, and even among the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell there” (Psalms 68:19). The meaning of the verse is: In reward for the fact that they called you man, you are not an angel and the Torah is applicable to you, you took gifts from the angels. And even the Angel of Death gave him something, as Moses told Aaron how to stop the plague, as it is stated: “And he placed the incense, and he atoned for the people” (Numbers 17:12). And the verse says: “And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped” (Numbers 17:13). If it were not that the Angel of Death told him this remedy, would he have known it?
Appendix B: Second Bonus Story
With regard to the verse: “For I have given you a good portion,” Rabbi Zeira, and some say Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa, said: Come and see how the characteristics of the Holy One, Blessed be God, are unlike the characteristics of flesh and blood. It is characteristic of flesh and blood that when one sells an object to another person, the seller grieves the loss of his possession and the buyer rejoices. With regard to the Holy One, Blessed be God, however, this is not so. God gave the Torah to Israel and rejoiced, as it is stated: “For I have given you a good portion, My Torah, do not abandon it.” A good portion is understood as a good purchase; although God sold Torah to Israel, God rejoices in the sale and praises the object before its new owner (Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto).
Appendix C: Sources Referencing Revelation as Coercion
(ב) דבר אחר כי קולך ערב אשירה לה', ומראיך נאוה על הים מפי עוללים ויונקים יסדת עוז. ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר אמר רבי אבדימי בר חמא בר מחסיא מלמד שכפה הקב"ה עליהם את ההר כגיגית אמר להם אם אתם מקבלים את התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם אמר רב אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא. אמר רבא אף על פי כן הדר קבלוה בימי אחשורוש דכתיב קיימו וקבלו היהודים קימו מה שקבלו כבר. אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש מאי דכתיב ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום הששי ה"א יתירה למה לי מלמד שהתנה הקב"ה עם מעשה בראשית וכו' כדכתוב לעיל:
And they took their places at the foot of [lit. Under] the mountain (Exodus 19:17). Rabbi Avdimi bar Chava bar Chasa said, “This teaches that the Holy One, praised be He, suspended the mountain over them like a cask, saying to them, “If you accept the Torah, good; and if not, there will be your graves!”…