On-going Revelation

Yitro

Exodus 18:1 - 20:23

Précis:  Following last week’s trip through the Red Sea, Moses is reunited with his father-in-law Jethro (“Yitro”), and with his family. Yitro acknowledges God, gives wise advice to Moses about delegating responsibility, and Moses appoints assistants (judges). The Israelites come to the foot of Mount Sinai where, in the ultimate transcendental experience, Revelation takes place as the “Ten Utterances” (Commandments) are spoken to the People by the very Voice of God.

Ex. 19:20 “The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up.”

            We usually consider Sinai as the pinnacle (no pun intended) of the Jewish experience of God. But what actually took place on top of that mountain? One suggestion (found in BT M’nachot 29b) is the following:

             “When Moses ascended the mountain into heaven, he found God writing a Torah scroll and adding crowns to its letters. ‘What do these crowns mean?’ he asked. God told him: ‘One day, a man named Akiva ben Yosef shall derive numerous laws from each and every point of these crowns.’ Amazed to hear of such an intellect, Moses pleaded: ‘Show him to me!’ Turning around, Moses found himself centuries in the future, in the academy of Rabbi Akiva, where he was dismayed to discover that he did not understand the topic under discussion. At one point, however, Akiva informed his students that one of the laws he has derived is 'a halacha revealed to Moses at Sinai.' Hearing this, Moses cheered up. ‘Master of the universe,’ he exclaimed upon returning to heaven, ‘You have such a scholar and yet you give the Torah through me?’”

            This midrash suggests a very traditional view of Torah study: even Moses was unaware of the details to be derived from the text. Moses did not bring down a totally completed set of instructions; much was left to be discovered. While many traditional Jews believe that Moses received an Oral Tradition at the same time as the written Torah text, others believe that the meaning of Torah must be examined in every generation, and understood as part of a millennium-spanning conversation.

            As Samuel Fleishacker has suggested (Mosaicmagazine.com, 11/5/13) a  modern reader expects a hidden God to communicate through hidden meanings; this reader  is not concerned if the received text contains contradictions, repetitions and anachronisms, or that some passages are morally or theologically troubling. These “problems” with the text can be overcome through midrash or allegory.  In fact, these so-called problems are opportunities to seek God’s teachings hidden within the text itself, and within centuries of commentary and analysis.

            In other words, Torah is neither literal nor historical, because it is, to the believer, a message from God. What is most important is that Torah be seen not as just a message, but as a process, the peeling away of layer after layer to find some essential truth. Perhaps that's what we, as a virtual study group, are pursuing in some small way.