Parshat Yitro
20 Shevat 5762
February 2, 2002
Daf Yomi: Baba Metzia 72


Guest Rabbi:
Rabbi Nosson Schuman
Young Israel of Pawtucket, RI

At Kabbalas HaTorah, the revelation on Mt. Sinai, we find an insistent command for the Bnei Yisrael to distance themselves from the mountain, "Let them be prepared for the third day, for on the third day HaShem will descend in the sight of the entire people on Mt. Sinai. You shall set boundaries for the people roundabout, saying, �Beware of ascending the mountain or touching its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall surely die�..." (Shemos 19:11).

A few verses later, this command is repeated two more times with HaShem saying to Moshe, "Go down and warn the people lest they break through to HaShem to see, and a multitude of them will fall..." (Shemos 19:21) and "Go and descend, bring Aharon up with you, but the Kohanim and the people should not break through to ascend to HaShem, lest He burst forth against them..." (Shemos 19:24).

Three times HaShem commanded Moshe to warn the Bnei Yisrael on this matter. Why was it so necessary for the people to stand from afar in order to experience this great revelation?

Another question we can ask, is in regard to how the Torah describes the witnessing of this monumental event: "And all the people saw the sounds (the statements) and the lightning and the sound of the Shofar and the mountain smoking, and the people saw and they stood from afar..." (Shemos 20:15).

How can people see sounds?

The Mechilta is perplexed by this idea, as well: Mechilta D'Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Perek 20 states, "Normally, it's impossible to see sound, but here the verse says �they saw the sounds and the lightning', just like they saw the lightning, so did they see the sounds."

Yet, how can one see what is normally heard, and what was the necessity for this miraculous phenomenon?

There exists a fundamental difference between sight and sound, both in regard to the viewer/hearer, as well as with regard to the object that is seen or heard.

With regard to the person: Sight has a more profound impact on the viewer than hearing has on the listener. Accordingly, the person who sees something is more sure of the information conveyed to him by his sense of sight than the listener is of that which is conveyed to him by his power of hearing. An outgrowth of this fact is the Halacha that "a witness to an event may not serve as a judge." The gemara explains, since he actually saw the person commit the misdeed, it will be impossible for him to find extenuating circumstances and deal leniently with the perpetrator. However, when a judge merely hears the testimony of witnesses, he is still capable of dealing leniently with the defendant by reason of extenuating circumstances. This applies even when he is thoroughly convinced that the eyewitnesses are telling the truth, and that the person did indeed commit the misdeed of which he now stands accused.

The difference between sight and sound with regard to the object seen or heard is as follows: Sight recognizes the external physical matter. If one sees it, one can usually touch it. Hearing detects airwaves. One cannot feel airwaves; hearing is almost metaphysical when compared to seeing. Advancing this concept, we could say that hearing perceives what is beyond the three dimensional physical aspects of an item and relates to it spiritual aspects. We could propose that sound waves represent the spiritual, whereas light waves convey the material. These two differences between sight and sound, with regard to the person and with regard to the object, are interdependent: as a physical being, man is naturally closer to the material than to the spiritual. It follows that he will grasp a material object with his power of sight more intimately and thoroughly than something spiritual, which he will only grasp from "afar" with his power of hearing.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsh writes that the command to distance the nation from the mountains was to install in them that their objective was to hear, not to see. As it says in the verse: "And HaShem said to Moshe, �Go down and warn the people lest they break through to HaShem to see..." (Shemos 19:21).

Seeing is how one perceives the physical; hearing is how one detects the spiritual (Perhaps, this is why one of the most essential teachings of the Torah is Shemah Yisrael, �Listen O' Israel...)

At Kabbalat HaTorah, HaShem wanted the Bnei Yisrael to prepare for an unlimited spiritual experience, not a limited physical one. Therefore, they were told to stand from afar in order to weaken their physical receptors and make them concentrate on their spiritual sensors.

Yet as we mentioned before, hearing has a weakness in that it is not as proof positive as seeing; the expression goes, �seeing is believing'. Therefore, in order to make this experience unquestionable and everlasting, the rules of nature were changed. "And all the people saw the sounds..." Ordinarily, one cannot see sound. At Mattan Torah, the sound took on an extra dimension. The Bnei Yisrael's hearing was elevated to the level of seeing. Not only were the "Ten Commandments" heard, but they were received with undeniable reality. The experience of G-d speaking to the entire nation would forever be embedded in their collective memory.

Through over three thousand tumultuous years, our belief in Matan Torah has remained firm. Perhaps it was due to these two elements: The emphasis on using our hearing, our spiritual receptors to experience the event, and the supernatural occurrence of bringing the hearing into the seeing aspect of believing, "And all the people saw the sounds..."