Faithfulness, Flourishing and Floundering
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
After receiving the Aseret Hadibrot at Sinai and sacrificing peace offerings to Hashem, Moshe reads the Book of the Covenant to Bnei Yisroel. Immediately, Bnei Yisroel reply, "Na'aseh v'nishma/we will do and we will obey." This reversal of normal human behavior, committing to an unknown course of action before knowing any details, prompted Hakodosh Boruch Hu to exclaim (Shabbos 880), "Who taught this secret to My Children, the secret of the ministering angels?" For ministering angels obey without question, without choice, and immediately do Hashem's bidding.
What is the great secret? How can one commit before you know what you must do? As corollaries to these questions, how could Avraham Avinu have kept the entire Torah before it was given? And in the current situation, asks the Nesivot Shalom, if Bnei Yisroel were already committed to accepting the Torah, why are we told that Hashem held the mountain over Bnei Yisroel, in essence, forcing them to accept the Torah?
Rav Asher Weiss writes that at the moment we declared נעשה ונשמע we were elevated to the status of angels. Indeed, the medrash states that the angels themselves came down and crowned each one of Bnei Yisroel with two crowns, one for na'aseh and one for nishma. Bnei Yisroel had made a total commitment to Hashem, accepting both nobility and subjugation in all circumstances. However, writes Rav Leib Broide zt”l, this commitment predates Sinai. It originated with Avraham Avinu who, upon recognizing Hashem as the Creator and the essence of all creation, submitted himself to Hashem's sovereignty without question, whether to undergo circumcision or to bind his son on the altar. We are the heirs to this faith; we are believers, the sons of believers.
This is the essence of angels, writes Rav Scheinerman in Ohel Moshe. Angels do whatever they are commanded without questioning, without processing. As the Maharal explains, na'aseh is the commitment to do, while nishma, I will hear the details, implies conditions.
If we would say nishma first, let me hear the details and I'll think about it, we would never get to the doing, writes the Menachem Zion. It is not hearing the details that nishma means, but rather understanding the mitzvah. Understanding will come later. Actually doing the mitzvah will bring understanding. This is what Hashem meant when He commanded us to be תמים/wholehearted/perfect before Him. If you must hear all the details first, there is something lacking in the relationship, there is a lack of trust.
It is this absolute submission to the will of Hashem that earned Moshe Rabbenu the accolade of Hashem's most faithful servant, and that Hashem placed a "crown of splendor upon his head." When we accepted Hashem's sovereignty, we received similar crowns from the angels, writes Rabbi Asher Weiss. This is indeed what we pray for, continues Rabbi Weiss, when we recite in Hallel the phrase,אנא ה/Please Hashem. Citing the Sefas Emes zt”l, we should not be concentrating on, "Please, Hashem, save us," nor on, "Please, Hashem, grant us success." Rather, we should be asking, "Please, Hashem, for I am your servant." Let me reach that level.
As Rabbi Ruderman zt”l and Rabbi Wachtfogel zt”l point out, starting with na'aseh implies a closeness, a desire on our part to do Hashem's will without hesitation.
We are wired with a natural inclination to do good and avoid the negative, writes Rabbi Bloch zt”l. This was the natural state of Adam before the sin. There was complete commitment that preceded understanding. When we accepted the Torah with this phrase, with total commitment, we reached that pristine nature of Adam before the sin.
Doing will lead to understanding. Rav Schwadron zt”l provides an insightful analogy. When someone is really hungry, he does not start thinking and analyzing; he immediately eats what he finds. When Bnei Yisroel stood at Har Sinai, they, too, were hungry. But they understood that it was a spiritual hunger rather than a physical hunger. [Today we are aware that many people overeat because of emotional hunger rather than physical hunger. CKS]
King David was on the level that he didn't need to plan what he would do that day. His feet automatically led him to the Beis Medrash to study Hashem's laws (Tehillim 119:59).
There is nothing in this physical world that does not have a spiritual component. As the Netivot Shalom points out, the 613 mitzvoth parallel the 613 limbs and sinews of the human body, and, just as the body requires physical nourishment, so does our soul require spiritual nourishment. As Tehillim 63:2 says, "My soul thirsts for You..." Avraham Avinu kept the whole Torah before it was given because he was so aligned with Hashem's will that each of his body parts knew intuitively how to serve Hashem and what mitzvah was necessary.
At our Passover Seder we say, " Had He brought us before Mount Sinai and not given us the Torah dyeinu/it would have sufficed us." How is that possible? The Netivot Shalom explains that at that moment we were at the level of Adam and of Avraham Avinu, and we would have known all the mitzvoth intuitively. So why did Hashem give us the Torah? By giving us the command, we gained the ability to withstand the challenges that try to prevent us from mitzvah observance, we were strengthened to overcome the difficulties.
Hashem's first word as He revealed Himself to us at Sinai was אנכי/Anochi. The Gemmara Shabbos 105 sees here an acronym that sheds light on the power invested in the mitzvoth: "אנא נפשי כתיבה יהבית/I am my soul, I wrote and gave it." Hashem invested Himself in the Torah, and each mitzvah connects that part of Hashem within us, our soul, to Hashem. Since Hashem is found in each mitzvah, when we commit to observing a mitzvah, we are empowered to go beyond the human norm.
Our Sages tell us that when Hashem uttered the commandments, its intensity was calibrated to the capability of each Jew to receive the message. Yet the souls of Bnei Yisroel left them, and Hashem needed to resurrect them. There seems to be a disconnect. If the message was geared to each one's individual capability, why did they die? In Outlook and Insight, Rabbi Leff explains that the message was geared to the potential of every Jew. When the Jew saw the chasm between his potential and his actuality, his soul left him. However, while na'aseh was the high level, Rabbi Leff explains that nishma must absolutely follow, for one must constantly be open to learning and to growth. The Torah is the lifeblood of the Jewish people. Just as a fish in the sea, although constantly surrounded by water, nevertheless swims to the surface when it rains, hoping to catch some new drops of water, so must the Jew constantly strive to rise to new levels, to absorb more Torah and mitzvoth.
If you do not strive to learn more, you will eventually become indifferent, then, through ignorance, you will come to detest the Torah, to view the Torah observant as old-fashioned, fanatics, or even more derogatorily, Chnyoks. As Rabbi Beyfus says, our commitment was to do what we already heard, and we will listen to do and know even more. A faithful servant is ready to listen to every command and wish of his master.
While at Sinai Hashem held the mountain over our heads to compel us to accept the Torah, Rabbi Schorr points out that every day in our morning prayers we actually ask Hashem to force us to want to be in servitude to Him - וכוף את יצרנו להשתעבד לך. We ask Hashem to remove our free choice so we are not tempted by the lures of the world. When we have the desire, adds the Ohel Moshe, we become a vessel in Hashem's hand. Hashem will give us the ability to succeed.
The exercising of our free choice is what gives us the opportunity to grow, and Hashem has designed the world so that He presents each of us with challenges custom made for us. Challenging but doable. And when things appear beyond my capability, committing myself to the task gives me strength beyond my natural ability. This is how Moshe Rabbenu was able to accomplish so much in his life, explains Rabbi Birnbaum zt”l in Bekorai Shemo, for with this commitment and the belief that Hashem will help, we can accomplish all our tasks in His service. As Rabbi Pincus zt"l says, once we commit and have faith that Hakodosh Boruch Hu will help us, we will not be limited by nature. As it says in Tehillim 25, "כל קויך לא יבשו/Let none who hope in You be shamed."
In Mesillos Bilvovom, Rabbi Eisenberger that our response incorporates both responses into our commitment. Na'aseh implies that we will do even when it appears difficult and challenging, while nishma focuses on serving Hashem when it is pleasurable. We are committed to serving Hashem from both of these points.
Highlighting the different moods we experience as human beings, Rabbi Wolfson urges us to serve Hashem when we feel the joy, when we feel our connection, the open recognition of Hashem as He appears in Yerushalayim. And when we are down, weary and indifferent to Torah and mitzvoth, dig down deep within ourselves, to the Chevron, hidden depths within our souls, and pull forward, resigned but resolute. When you are down, force yourself to pray, as Calev did in Chevron.
Every person's life is like an airplane ride, muses Rabbi Eisenberger. While much of the flight may be calm, every flight encounters some turbulence in its path. Life is bumpy. It is specifically during the bumpy, down times that we must continue to do more. Even when we do not understand, we must at least go through the motions. Even without the nishma, we must continue the na'aseh. Hashem symbolically expressed this mindset, of doing even when feeling forced to do, by holding the mountain over our heads.
Today, society is into the "WOW" aspect of Yiddishkeit, creating special events to inspire us in our observance, writes Rabbi Eisenberger. But we must be Hashem's servants even when we do not feel inspired. In this era of ikvisa d'Meshicha, the approaching footsteps of Moshiach, we face many challenging situations. It is up to us to practice our Yiddishkeit through the challenges. While it is wonderful to practice and study Torah through "feel good Judaism," we must be loyal and committed even when situations and feelings are deep, difficult and painful, our loyalty and commitment must still be tamim, wholehearted and unbroken. It is in these times that Hashem sees the chibah yesayrah, the special love we bear for Him as a reflection of the special love He bears for us. As He is committed to us, as He has shown us His protection and love in the most difficult times, else we would long ago have ceased to exist, so must we be committed to Him in good times and challenging times, with both na'aseh and nishma.