Friday 16 October 2015

hashkafah philosophy - What went wrong at Matan Torah - adjusting G-d's presentation to the Jewish people?



וְכָל־הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת־הַקּוֹלֹת וְאֶת־הַלַּפִּידִם וְאֵת קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר וְאֶת־הָהָר עָשֵׁן וַיַּרְא הָעָם וַיָּנֻעוּ וַיַּעַמְדוּ מֵרָחֹק׃ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה דַּבֵּר־אַתָּה עִמָּנוּ וְנִשְׁמָעָה וְאַל־יְדַבֵּר עִמָּנוּ אֱלֹהִים פֶּן־נָמוּת׃


All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blare of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they fell back and stood at a distance. “You speak to us,” they said to Moses, “and we will obey; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” (Ex 20)



The Gemmorah clarifies that the people heard only two out of the decalogue straight from G-d and then retreated to a great distance and the rest of the commandments they asked Moses to intermediate as they could not bear G-d's presence.


As the Torah depicts it IMHO, the incident seems unplanned and unfortunate.


Why couldn't G-d adjust Himself or people's perception that Matan Torah would not end so abruptly?




No comments:

Post a Comment

readings - Appending 内 to a company name is read ない or うち?

For example, if I say マイクロソフト内のパートナーシップは強いです, is the 内 here read as うち or ない? Answer 「内」 in the form: 「Proper Noun + 内」 is always read 「ない...