In time for Shavuot, here is a fresh interpretation of the shofar heard at Sinai. It may take an effort to read and understand, but is worthwhile in our effort to understand the call of shofar.
The Shofar of Sinai
By Rav Yonatan Grossman
Translated by Kaeren Fish
Before the Shekhina (Divine Presence) descends on Har
Sinai, God commands Moshe to mark off the mountain and to sanctify it,
in order that no person or animal will be on the mountain at the time
when the Shekhina descends:
"And you shall set bounds to the nation around
saying: Guard yourselves lest you go up on the mountain or touch its
edge; anyone who touches the mountain will surely die. Do not lay a hand
on it for he shall surely be stoned or thrown; whether an animal or a
man - he shall not live. When the horn ('yovel') sounds long, they shall
ascend the mountain." (Shemot 19:12-13)
Strangely enough, together with the repeated
emphasis on setting bounds around the mountain and the prohibition of
touching it, God simultaneously tells Moshe that when the "yovel"
sounds, the people may ascend. This command begs clarification. All
medieval commentators understand "yovel" to mean the sounding of a
shofar. Rashi, for example, says: "The yovel - this is the shofar (made
out) of a ram's horn. For in Arabia, a ram is called yovel" (Rashi ad
loc., following the line taken by the gemara in Rosh Ha-shana 26a). The
Ibn Ezra goes even further, claiming that the Yovel year (the 50th -
Jubilee - year which follows seven cycles of Shemitta) is called "yovel"
BECAUSE OF the shofar which is sounded (on Yom Kippur) to signify the
special status of that year. The same idea arises from the only other
place where the expression "when the yovel sounds" appears - in the
first war fought by Yehoshua and the nation upon their entry into the
land, at Yericho: "... when they make a long blast with the horn of
yovel, when you hear the sound of the shofar ..." (Yehoshua 6:5).
The problem with God's command concerning the shofar
blast relates first and foremost to its content. Which shofar blast is
being referred to here?
During the giving of the Torah, we indeed hear the shofar growing stronger and louder:
"And it happened on the third day in the morning,
there was thundering and lightning and a heavy cloud upon the mountain,
and THE SOUND OF A SHOFAR WAS VERY LOUD, and the whole nation in the
camp trembled ... and the sound of the shofar grew louder and louder."
Throughout this shofar blast, which is becoming
increasingly louder and stronger, the Shekhina is upon the mountain. If
during this time it is forbidden for the people to ascend the mountain -
or even to touch its very edge - then how are we to understand God's
words, "When the shofar sounds long, they shall ascend the mountain?"
In light of this problem, the Rashbam (together with
the Bekhor Shor and the Chizkuni) interprets the "when the shofar
sounds long" (bi-meshokh ha-yovel) as referring to when the blast ends;
i.e., when the shofar ceases to be heard. Then and only then will it be
permissible to ascend the mountain. This interpretation makes perfect
sense in our context, since Moshe is commanded to set bounds for as long
as the Shekhina is upon the mountain. The clearest demarcation of this
period is the sound of the shofar while the Shekhina descends. The
bounds are obviously in force until the "sounding of the shofar" ends -
i.e., until the Shekhina departs.
The problem with this explanation lies in the
syntax. As mentioned above, the expression "when the shofar sounds long"
appears in one other place in Tanakh - in the battle of Yericho. The
context there is quite unequivocal:
"And it shall be that when they make a long blast
with the horn of yovel (bi-meshokh be-keren ha-yovel), when you hear the
sound of the shofar, all the people will shout with a great shout, and
the wall of the city will fall straight down, and the people shall
ascend, each person walking straight ahead."
It is very difficult to apply the interpretation of
the Rashbam to this verse, since "when they make a long blast with the
horn" is parallel to "when you hear the sound of the shofar." If the
expression "bi-meshokh ha-yovel" indeed hints at the end of the blast,
how can we then maintain that at that time the nation "hears the sound
of the shofar?" According to the interpretation of the Rashbam, exactly
the opposite would be true.
A different line of interpretation is to be found in
the gemara (see Ta'anit 21b, Beitza 5b) and is followed by Rav Sa'adia
Gaon, Rashi and the Ibn Ezra. The Ibn Ezra expresses the idea as
follows:
"The Gaon states: When Moshe sounds the shofar then
they will be permitted to ascend. And this was after Moshe descended
from the mountain, on Yom Kippur, and commanded that the mishkan be
built."
According to this explanation, the words "when the
shofar sounds long" refer to a later shofar blast sounded by Moshe. The
shofar blast which indicates permission to ascend the mountain is not
the increasingly strong and loud blast of the Divine Revelation, but
rather the shofar blast which Moshe will sound when he descends the
mountain on Yom Kippur. This blast will indicate that the mountain's
special status of holiness has departed.
A textual search for this latter shofar blast,
however, leaves us empty-handed. We read of no such blast sounded by
Moshe indicating the cessation of the bounds around the mountain. If in
the exalted moments just prior to matan Torah we are specifically told
this detail regarding the sounding of the shofar, it is certainly
reasonable to expect that it will be duly mentioned when it eventually
takes place.
Moreover, after reading about the expected "long
blast on the shofar" we immediately go on to read about the shofar blast
which signifies the descent of the Shekhina upon the mountain. Can we
possibly ignore this juxtaposition, contenting ourselves with the
assumption that there was another shofar blast - with exactly the
opposite aim of the one mentioned explicitly in the parasha?
The juxtaposition of the two references to a shofar
leads the Rashbam to find a connection between them, but this forces him
to abandon the simple and most obvious interpretation of the expression
"long blast" in order to make sense of the context. I would like to
suggest an alternative interpretation which adopts the connection drawn
by the Rashbam but nevertheless retains the literal meaning of the
expression just as we encounter it in Sefer Yehoshua.
In the battle of Yericho, the long blast of the
shofar was a sign to the entire nation that they were to enter the city
and destroy it. Just prior to the battle we read of a strange encounter
between Yehoshua and the angel:
"And it happened when Yehoshua was in Yericho that he
lifted his eyes and saw, behold, a man stood facing him and his sword
was drawn in his hand. And Yehoshua went to him and said to him, 'Are
you with us or with the enemy?' And he said, 'No, for I am a captain of
God's host now come.' And Yehoshua fell upon his face on the ground and
prostrated himself, and he said to him: 'What does my lord say to his
servant?' And the captain of God's host said to Yehoshua, 'Remove your
shoe from your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.' And
Yehoshua did so." (Yehoshua 5:13-15)
This strange encounter is immediately followed by
the battle of Yericho and the great miracle of the walls collapsing.
Yehoshua's encounter with the angel - especially in light of the
language which the Tanakh uses - is highly reminiscent of Moshe's
experience at the burning bush, where he is told - in exactly the same
words as Yehoshua - to "Remove your shoe from your foot, for the place
where you stand is holy ground" (Shemot 3:5).
Why does the site of God's revelation in the burning
bush merit the lofty appellation "holy ground," to the extent that Moshe
must remove his shoes? The explanation is to be found earlier in the
text: Moshe arrives with the flock in his care at "this mountain of God"
(3:12). In other words, God's revelation to Moshe in the bush is at the
same site where He later reveals Himself to the entire nation at Sinai.
And because the Shekhina is destined to be upon this mountain at some
point in the future, the site is already defined as "holy ground."
In light of the parallel language, it would appear
that in a certain sense Yericho, too, functions as the site of a future
Divine revelation. The form which the revelation takes is certainly
different from that which we find at Sinai: in the words of the angel
himself, "I am a captain of God's host" - this revelation is bound up
with armies and war, and "a sword was drawn in his hand." Nevertheless,
this still represents some type of revelation, and the angel therefore
tells Yehoshua to remove his shoes since he is standing on a holy place -
a place where the Shekhina is going to be revealed.
The revelation of the Shekhina in the battle of
Yericho is obviously related to the miraculous nature of that battle -
the first war fought by Israel immediately after their entry into the
land. The Shekhina, which plays an active role in this battle, comes to
teach the nation that even though the conquest and settlement of Eretz
Yisrael will be accomplished by natural means unlike life in the desert
(when the manna descended from the heavens and when Moshe's arms raised
heavenward brought them victory against Amalek), God continues to
personally accompany and guide the nation, to guard over them and to
take care of their safety and success.
In order that the Shekhina would in fact be revealed
in Yericho and prevail over Israel's enemies, there was a need to sound
the shofar, just as the Shekhina descended on Har Sinai amidst shofar
blasts. For this very reason it was forbidden to take of the spoils of
Yericho, for the contents of the city were "consecrated" to God!
The war of Yericho deserves scrutiny in its own
right, but this lies far beyond the scope of this shiur. I merely wish
to draw a parallel between the meaning of the expression which appears
only in these two places. In other words, just as the nation was
commanded that when they heard the sound of the shofar they were to
ascend and enter Yericho, the seat of Shekhina, the same applied at Har
Sinai: the function of the long shofar blast was to signify to the
nation that they were to ASCEND THE MOUNTAIN AND MEET GOD, whose
Presence was already there!
True, at first, while God's Presence was descending
onto the mountain, all contact with the mountain was to be avoided and
it was to be cordoned off and sanctified - just as for seven days the
nation was to walk around the city of Yericho but not to enter it. "When
the shofar sounds long they shall ascend the mountain" - at the moment
when the nation hears the shofar blast, it is a sign that God is already
upon the mountain, and they are now to ascend, to hear His words and to
receive the Torah. This parallels exactly what they did in Yericho when
they heard the long shofar blast.
If this thesis is correct, why did the nation not in fact ascend the mountain and make a covenant with God "face to face?"
The explanation given for this is quite explicit:
"And the whole nation saw the sounds and the
lightning and the sound of the shofar and the smoking mountain, and the
nation was afraid and they were shaken, and stood far off. And they said
to Moshe, 'You speak with us and we shall hear; let God not speak with
us lest we die.' And Moshe said to the nation, 'Do not be afraid, for
God has come in order to test you and in order that the fear of Him be
upon your faces, in order that you will not sin.' And the nation stood
far off, and Moshe approached the cloud where God was."
The nation is fearful of the shofar blasts and the
fire, and therefore they move away from the site. At the same time they
ask Moshe to intercede between God and themselves. The clear assumption
underlying this description is that originally the intention had been
for the nation to approach the mountain and God's Presence and to hear
God's words directly, despite the lightning and the fire. In other
words, during the long blast of the shofar the nation was indeed
supposed to ascend the mountain and hear God's words directly, but
because of their fright at the loud noise and great fire, Moshe alone
ended up ascending alone to "the cloud where God was."
God regarded this fear in a positive light: "In
order that His fear be upon your faces, so that you will not sin." But
clearly there is also some danger that because the intended encounter
between the entire nation and God never took place, there is a certain
lack of clarity with regard to the source of the Torah. Ultimately, the
nation hears Moshe and not God Himself. Therefore, immediately following
the explanation of why the nation failed to ascend the mountain, as was
originally intended, God emphasizes:
"And God said to Moshe: So shall you say to the
children of Israel, 'You have seen that I have spoken to you from the
heavens. Do not make with me gods of silver, and do not make yourselves
gods of gold.'"
This danger arises particularly because of the lack
of direct encounter between the nation and God atop Har Sinai, and
therefore it is repeated in this context, despite the explicit
prohibition of creating a likeness which has already appeared in the Ten
Commandments. Without becoming involved in a detailed analysis of the
episode of the golden calf, it is important to note that this is
specifically the sin which the nation now commits. As Moshe himself
defines it: "This nation has sinned a great sin and they have made for
themselves GODS OF GOLD." Perhaps if the unmediated encounter had in
fact taken place, this sin would never have been committed.
This explanation views God's words, "when the shofar
sounds long they shall ascend the mountain" as an actual instruction,
rather than just permission for anyone who is interested in doing so. It
is indeed a surprising interpretation, but it would appear that this is
how Moshe himself understands it. This is the impression that we
receive from Moshe's words at the end of Sefer Devarim (5:1-5):
"And Moshe called to all of Israel and said to them,
Hear O Israel the statutes and the judgments which I speak in your ears
today, and you shall study them and you shall guard them to fulfill
them. The Lord our God sealed a covenant with us at Chorev. It was not
with our fathers that God made this covenant but rather with us; we who
are here today, all living. Face to face God spoke with you on the
mountain from amidst the fire. I stood between God and you at that time,
to tell you God's words, for you were fearful of the fire and DID NOT
ASCEND THE MOUNTAIN."
These words serve as the introduction to the
reiteration of the Ten Commandments, i.e., the content of the covenant
which the nation made with God. Before mentioning the content of the
covenant Moshe speaks about the setting in which it was made, and
emphasizes that "face to face God spoke with you." As becomes
immediately apparent, this is a general statement describing the
experience of the entire nation, which by force of circumstance ended up
being realized in a slightly different way: "I stood between God and
you." Now Moshe declares more explicitly that the fact of his serving as
intermediary was a result of the nation's fear: "For you were fearful
of the fire and did not ascend the mountain."
The nation ideally was supposed to ascend the
mountain ("When the shofar sounds long they shall ascend the mountain"),
but because of their fear Moshe was forced to serve as the intermediary
between the two parties to the covenant. Sefer Devarim, too, appears to
view the nation's fear of ascent in a positive light and as something
which should be preserved: "If only they would have this heart to fear
Me and to keep all My commandments always!" (5:26). But alongside the
educational value of the great fear, there is of course the price which
had to be paid, and ultimately Am Yisrael never underwent the collective
experience of a direct encounter with the Shekhina. Rather, the
revelation was experienced through an intermediary - Moshe.
We can only imagine what our Jewish religious
consciousness would have been like had it based on ascent to the
mountain and a direct meeting with the Shekhina, without any
intermediary transmitting God's words.
(c) Yeshivat Har Etzion1997 All rights reserved to Yeshivat Har Etzion
I liked what Adin S. says about the voice which was described in the revelation on Mt. Sinai, it was a loud voice which was heard all over, he says, but not only there at a certain time and place, but a voice which constantly sounds itself, constantly available to us. I am being reminded that the message of the Letter Vav is that very truth. Vav is; the preposition letter "and". Many opening sentences or chapters in the Torah start with "and"/vav. "And God said/says to Moses tell children of Israel..." Vav was turned into "the reversing Letter" which means God actually told Moses because the story belong to the past.
