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זמן מתן תורתנו
How can Shavuos still be called ‘The time of giving of the Torah’? Those Luchos were broken. Not only were they physically broken, but the specific purpose in breaking them was to break the spiritual bond that they created between Klal Yisrael and Hashem.
Moshe says when he breaks the Luchos, “Better the nation should be as an unmarried woman who sins, than a married one.” Meaning, if we served the eigel and the luchos remained whole, we were ‘married’ to Hashem and were being unfaithful. But if the luchos are broken, we are an unmarried woman who is ‘only’ acting incorrectly. The point of breaking the Luchos, was to break Matan Torah!
And the Mishnah explains the Pasuk, “The day of His marriage” as Yom Kippur when the second luchos were given, not Shavuos. So, what is Shavuos?[1]
The Simultaneous Torah and Sin
The Yerushalmi reveal a fascinating insight into the moment of the sin of the eigel[2].
As Moshe was about to descend from Har Sinai with the Luchos, the Luchos were two tefachim in Hashem’s Hands, two in Moshe’s, and two in between. When Klal Yisrael at that moment sinned, Hashem desired to snatch them away from Moshe, till Moshe ‘overcame’ Hashem and brought the Luchos down. That is the Pasuk at the end of Chumash, “And for Moshe’s powerful hand.” Rabi Yochanan learns that the Luchos desired to soar up out of Moshe’s hands and Moshe would not let them. That is the Pasuk, “And I grasped both Luchos.”
What is the deeper meaning of this?
First there is a general insight. When Moshe took the Luchos down, he already knew about the sin. Not only that, but he also forcibly brought them down to Klal Yisrael knowing they were sinning. And he even went against Hashem’s will, at the time. Later, Hashem praises Moshe for that, but at the time, it was Moshe taking the Torah on his own decision. (It is interesting that this is not counted as one of the things Moshe did on his own, and Hashem then agreed.)
But what does Rav Yochanan mean that the Luchos did not want to be brought down?
We find a similar idea by the sin of Chava. The Midrash says that when Chava approached the Eitz Hadaas it called out, “Do not touch me.” Hashem’s creations are meant to be utilized in a certain way. Using them incorrectly causes them to reject that attempt.
The opposite of this is when the stones on Har Moriah vie to be a pillow under Yakov Avinu’s head. There since they are being utilized by a Tzadik, they actively desire to participate.
This is not an act of bechira. Even the Luchos do not have free choice. This is similar to gravity, a form of spiritual gravity.
When someone who grew up on the moon where there is no gravity, sees water flowing downhill he can think this is an act of volition. But we know this is how Hashem created the world. So too, Hashem created the world that at the core of every creation is a spark of Kedusha. And that spark gravitates towards other sparks. And it will not gravitate towards Tumah.
The kedusha of the fruit of the Eitz Hadaas rejected being used incorrectly. The Luchos did not want to go down. But the stones of Yakov are attracted to Kedusha.
And it seems this is even just the stones of the Luchos, since the letters had already left. And even the stones had such Kedusha they also wanted to fly up. But Moshe wants to at least give Klal Yisrael that part of the Luchos even within the sin of the eigel.
The sin of Adam and Chava and the sin of the eigel are parallel. As it says in Tehillim about Klal Yisrael, “I, Hashem said that you are like Adam when he was lofty, but then you sinned just like him.” But there is a difference.
The Eitz Hadaas tried to reject Chava, but Chava’s bechira for bad, overcame that. This is also the way Hashem created the world. Our bechira for bad can force kedusha to act incorrectly. But here the Luchos are forced to descend by Moshe. Why is he forcing them against their kedusha? Moshee is not sinning, and what he is doing is not wrong.
It seems that he is saying that the Luchos go down to Klal Yisrael even when they sin. Matan Torah and sin come as one. They arrive simultaneously. And Klal Yisrael gets the Torah even as sinners. At least the physical stone aspect even if without the leters.
It could be Moshe Rabbeinu is saying, “Klal Yisrael even if they sin deserve the Torah.”
And even though they are broken afterwards something remains. And with this we can answer our original question.
The answer lies in understanding what exactly was broken. The first Luchos were engraved upon the hearts of Klal Yisrael. That impression left no room for the yetzer hara, and its other manifestations; the malach hamaves and the Satan. But when the luchos were broken, the hearts of Klal Yisrael were also broken, and could accept two masters. The marriage was broken. But the possibility of a person elevating themselves to the original level still exists. That part of Matan Torah remains.[3]
But the Mishnah says that there was a wedding on Yom Kippur. How did that new ‘marriage’ manifest itself? It is the Oral Torah that allows the repair of the sin of the eigel and the return of our hearts to Hashem completely. That is the aspect of the Mitzvoth which are called guidance to return to the light of the first Luchos. And Shabbos is also a time we can return to the first Luchos and our hearts can chase away the Satan (as is said in כגוונא). Therefore, we always remain with the possibility of connection to the first Luchos, which ultimately will take place. Therefore, the Matan Torah of Shavuos is always achievable.[4]
And this remarriage is because Moshe forced the Luchos down, so we could continue to have this connection even after the eigel.
[1] פרי צדיק לר”ח סיון – אות ד – ובאמת אנו עושין שבועות ואומרים זמן מתן תורתינו אף שאז נתנו רק לוחות ראשונות שנשברו אחר כך. ואיתא (מ”ר תשא פ’ מ”ג) מוטב שתדון כפנויה ונראה שבשבירת הלוחות נתבטל כל החיתון. ומטעם זה דרשו במשנה (תענית כ”ו ע”ב) יום חתונתו זה מתן תורה על יום הכפורים יום שנתנו בו לוחות אחרונות. ולמה אנו קורין שבועות זמן מתן תורתינו.
[2] ירושלמי תענית פ”ד ה”ח – ר’ שמואל בר נחמני אומר הלוחות ארכן ששה טפחים ורחבן ששה טפחים והיה משה תופס בטפחיים והקדוש ברוך הוא טפחיים וטפחיים ריוח באמצע וכיון שעשו ישראל אותו מעשה בקש הקדוש ברוך הוא לחטפן גברה ידו של משה וחטפן ממנו הוא שהקדוש ברוך הוא משבחו לכל היד החזקה יהא שלמא על ידא דגבר על ימינא ר’ יוחנן אמר הלוחות היו מבקשים לפרוח והיה משה תופשן היינו דכתיב ואתפוש בשני הלוחות.
[3] פרי צדיק לר”ח סיון – אות ד – אך באמת נשתברו רק הלוחות, היינו מה דכתיב חרות על הלוחות שנחקק על לוח לבם הדברי תורה ונעקר יצר הרע מלב כסיל מכל וכל ולכן דרשו (עירובין נ”ד.) אל תקרי חרות אלא חירות, היינו חירות ממלאך המות והוא מלאך המות והוא יצר הרע (ב”ב ט”ז.) שכיון שנחקק הדברי תורה על לוח לבם היו כבר חירות מיצר הרע ומלאך המות ושעבוד מלכיות. וזה נשבר אחר הקלקול. אבל המתן תורה נשאר קבוע שביד ישראל לזכות לאור מאמר אנכי שיתקע תלמוד תורה בלבם ולאור מאמר לא יהיה לך שיעקר יצר הרע כמו במתן תורה
[4] פרי צדיק לר”ח סיון – אות ד – וכל התרי”ג מצות נקראו בזוהר הקדוש (ח”ב פ”ב ב’) תרי”ג זיני עיטא שהם עצות לזכות לאור מאמר אנכי ה’ אלהיך שיאיר בלב שיש בורא עולם. וכן יהיה אף בזמן הזה בשבת על ידי שמירת שבת נגאל מכל וכל ונעשה חירות מיצר הרע וממלאך המות ושעבוד. רק יום הכפורים נקרא יום חתונתו. שאז ניתן תורה שבעל פה הרב חכמה לתקן הרב כעס כמו שאמרו (מ”ר תשא פ’ מ”ו) ובלוחות שניים אני נותן לך שיהיה בהן מדרש הלכות ואגדות. אבל עיקר זמן מתן תורה שזכו ישראל שיהיו ראוים שיאיר מאמר אנכי בלבם ויעקר יצר הרע מלבם הוא בשבועות.
Torah Thoughts from Rabbi Zave Rudman 