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MORNING BLESSINGS-MISHPATIM-A DUAL MISSION

The Chiddushei haRim cites the passage in the Talmud (Shabbat 88a) which says that at the revelation of the Torah at Sinai, God raised the mountain over the heads of the assembled people of Israel and said to them, “if you accept the Torah, good and well; if not here shall be your burial place!”

Tosafot asks the most obvious question: How can the Sages of the Talmud assert that Israel was coerced into accepting the Torah when Scripture states explicitly that the response of Israel was, “We shall do and we shall obey (Exodus 24:7),” thus implying their readiness to accept the Torah on faith?

 

The answer he offers is that indeed, both are true; paradoxically, the Children of Israel were both coerced into their historic mission and they accepted it voluntarily.


Essentially, their attitude was that given by Scripture; a warm and happy response of readiness to assume the burden of service of God. 


But the Sages insisted upon a note of reluctance as well, in order to teach successive generations that one must serve God not only in greatness, implied by the “we shall do and we shall obey” verse, but also in the darker moments of life when the human spirit is subdued and weary and vulnerable, this state of “smallness,”when one must force himself obstinately and relentlessly to do God’s will even while his own spirit is unresponsive. 


God must be served not only in the presence of Revelation, but even during the green periods when the mountain seems about to crash over our very heads. Indeed, persistence in serving God during the alienation of “smallness,” the stubborn commitment to religious performance even in the absence of any redeeming religious experience, is a sign of spiritual authenticity and heroism. Yet one must always aspire to worshiping and serving God in greatness.


“May it be Your will, God, our Lord, and the Lord of our forefathers, that You accustom us to study Your Torah and attach us to Your commandments. Do not bring us into the power of error, nor into the power of transgression and sin, nor into the power of challenge, nor into the power of scorn. Let not the Evil Inclination dominators. Distance us from an evil person and an evil companion. Attach us to the Good Inclination and to good deeds and compel our Evil Inclination to be subservient to You.”


This is the prayer in which we ask God to assist us to achieve the level of persistence in serving God described above.


By:  Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n''y

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