Weekly Torah Commentary Yitro
Dr. Philip Bliss
Yitro
Exodus 18:1 – 20:23
The Torah: A Modern Commentary, pages 508 - 565
Revised Edition, pages 471 – 481
Haftarah Yitro
Isaiah 6:1 – 7:6 and 9:5 – 6
The Torah: A Modern Commentary, pages 710 – 713
Revised Edition, pages 507 – 509
Saturday 6 February 2010, Shabbat Shevat 22 5770
From Rabbi Gary J Robuck, North Shore Temple Emanuel, Chatswood, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
At was at this season just two years ago when the world extended its farewell to Sir Edmund Hilary, the remarkable, modest Kiwi, who, together with his travelling companion Mingma Tsering, was first to climb Mt. Everest. He was 88. Hilary was an adventurer like Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus yet he did not live his life in the clouds or forever dwell on his achievement. Indeed, what makes him really special is how he lived his life after his encounter with the mountain. Following his ascent in May of 1953, he engaged in environmental education and worked on behalf of the Nepalese people. He used his celebrity so differently than do so many modern celebrities: he built schools and medical clinics in Nepal-endeavors which gave him more satisfaction that “a footprint on a mountain” ever did. In a book entitled, “Peak Performance”, he was quoted as having said: “(Even) while standing on top of Everest, I (was already looking) across the valley, towards the other great peak(s), mentally working out a route by which (they) could be climbed…(Even while) standing on top of the world, it wasn’t the end of everything for me, by any means, I was still looking beyond to other interesting challenges.”
This week in our Torah, the Jewish people, our ancestors, arrive at their mountain peak, Sinai. Our Rabbis ask: why is Torah given on this mountain? And, why is Torah given in a makom hefker-in a desert, open place? Colourful suggestions abound. The Midrash says allegorically that when God was preparing to give the Torah, all the mountains stepped forward and declared why they thought the Torah should be given on them. "I am the highest mountain," said one. "No," said another, "I am the steepest mountain and therefore the Torah should be given on me." One by one, they all stated their claims. But in the end, God chose Mount Sinai -- not because it was the tallest or the grandest (because it's not, as anyone who's toured the Sinai Desert will attest), but because, says the Midrash, it is the most humble.”
From this Midrash comes an entire line of reasoning which suggests that the just as a mountain may be called, humble, so too should we be humble for only when demonstrating humility can we ever hope to appreciate the Torah’s wisdom and guidance. Our rabbis also seize on the fact that Mt. Sinai is situated in a desert. And what is so special about a desert? It is taught that those wishing to bathe in the light of Torah must become like a desert and to empty ourselves out-to lie barren, devoid of ego or preteens. Then, like Sinai, we can be worthy of receiving Torah.
Rav Kook also questions why the Torah would be given in a desert and upon this mountain. This is how he puts it: “Where would one expect that God would reveal His Torah to the Jewish people? The logical place would be on the holiest mountain in the world - Jerusalem's Mount Moriah, the site of the Akeida, Jacob's holy "gate to heaven" [Gen 28:17], the spot where both Temples stood. (So) why did the revelation of the Torah take place outside of the Land of Israel, in the middle of the desert? He teaches us that “the inner content of the Torah is relevant (and accessible) to all peoples…revelation on Mount Sinai attests to the Torah's universal nature and its message on which is relevant to all peoples, given at a neutral location belonging to none and thus belonging to all.” (Kook, The Lesson of Mt. Sinai)
Mountains are rich with meaning and symbolism. They represent both impediment and accomplishment; challenge and reward. Mountains are a paradox. Mountains fire the imagination. Li Po was probably the greatest Chinese poets of pre-modern times. His poetry written in the 8th century CE was graceful and eloquent, filled with “flow and grandeur”. Once he wrote:
All the
birds have flown up and gone;
A lonely cloud floats leisurely by.
We never
tire of looking at each other -
Only the mountain and
I.
Jetsun Milarepa, (1052-1135) was one of one of Tibet's most famous yogis and poets, and a major figure in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. This poet, reflected upon the magic and majesty of the mountain in his poem called, “The Song on Reaching the Mountain Peak”
Hearken,
my sons! If you want
To climb the mountain peak
You should hold the
Self-mind's light,
Tie it with a great "Knot,"
And catch it with a firm
"Hook."
If you practice thus
You can climb the mountain peak
To enjoy
the view.
Come,
you gifted men and women,
Drink the brew of Experience!
Come "inside" to
enjoy the scene --
See it and enjoy it to the full! (Poet
Seers)
As a Jew I am inclined to add one more final thought-not about Edmund Hilary, about Milarepa or Li Po but about Mt. Sinai and the about mattan Torah-the giving of Torah. For our people, Sinai alone stands as an inspiration, a symbol of God’s presence in the camp. It remains our people’s historical and religious high ground, but means little if one turns from his or her encounter with it unwilling to have anything more to do with it, unprepared to consider its meaning, disinclined to walk by its ways or to introduce its values into our lives. Like Hilary after Everest, what happened at Sinai only means something if take this privilege of Torah and fashion it into a blessing for others; teach it to our children, share its lights with humanity and use it to refine our souls.
Amen
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