Rabbi Daniel Siegel

This week we conclude the book of Vayikra (Leviticus) with the final words:

אלה המצוות אשר צווה ה’ את משה אל בני ישראל בהר סיני

These are the mitsvot that the Lord commandment Israel through Moshe at Mt. Sinai.

Yet, the first statement of this same book Vayikra (Leviticus) is:

ויקרא אל משה וידבר ה’ אליו מאהל מועד לאמר דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם

And the Lord called to Moshe from the tent of Meeting (not Mt. Sinai), telling him to instruct Israel.

And, of course, the 1^st line of the very next book, Bemidbar (Numbers), reads:

וידבר ה’ אל משה במדבר סיני באהל מועד

And the Lord spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai

in the Tent of Meeting.

This motsa’ei shabbat (Saturday night), we begin celebrating Shavu’ot and the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Yet, clearly our tradition does not see the Torah being given, once and for all time, at Sinai.

So, I will leave you with the following Rabbinic story which presents the concept of תורה למשה מסיני- “The Torah was given to Moshe at Sinai” while at the same time making clear it also was not.

When Moshe ascended on high (meaning to receive the Torah at Mt. Sinai) he found God sitting and affixing crowns to the letters (of the Torah).

Moshe addresses God: “Lord of the Universe, Who stays Your hand?” (Meaning, why make all these embellishments on the letters of the Torah. I am here to receive the Torah, why are you keeping me, and the people waiting).

God responds to Moshe: “There will arise a man, at the end of many generations (long after you, Moshe, are gone), Akiba ben Yosef is his name, who will expound upon each crown, heaps and heaps of laws”.

Moshe then says: “I must see this man”.

To which God replies: “Turn around”.

Suddenly Moshe is transported to the classroom of Rabbi Akiva, and finds himself sitting at the end of 8 rows of students, and he does not understand a word that is being said.

Moshe becomes weak (listless, confused and overwhelmed).

But, as the discussion around him continues, one of Rabbi Akiva’s disciples asks: “Master whence do you know this?”

Rabbi Akiva says to his students: “It is a teaching given to Moshe at Sinai”.

And, Moshe is put at ease.

And so the story ends, and Moshe goes on to receive the Torah at Mt. Sinai, a Torah that was fashioned long after he received it at Mt. Sinai.

Sinai, Judaism teaches, goes beyond a specific location – it denotes a moment of presence.

Torah is continuously being revealed and received beyond the time of Moshe, beyond a specific mountain. Perhaps that is why Jewish tradition teaches that the location of Mt. Sinai and the burial place of Moshe are not known nor should they be sought out. Sinai and the teaching of Moshe are wherever we hear and reveal the word of God.

It is a longtime tradition that the 1^st words taught to students upon beginning their Jewish education are:

תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהילת יעקב

Moshe commanded us the Torah

It is the heritage of our people

The teachings of Moshe are the Torah of our people only in-as-much as the Torah of our people becomes the teachings of Moshe.

The Sinai of yesterday becomes a living legacy beginning with the kindergarten of today.