This week's article is dedicated to Rav Burg's sister, Becca Burg and Benji Nachshen on the occasion of their marriage. May they be zocheh to raise a Bayis Neeman B'Yisrael. וַיִּקַּח֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּאָזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע "And he took the Book of the Covenant and read it within the hearing of the people, and they said, "All that the Lord spoke we will do and we will hear." (Shemos 24:7) One of the most famous phrases in the Torah makes its appearance in this week’s parsha. Naaseh ViNishma. We will do and we will hear. What do these words mean? What is their significance? The Gemara in Shabbos (88a,b) discusses this phrase at length. דרש רבי סימאי בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע באו ששים ריבוא של מלאכי השרת לכל אחד ואחד מישראל קשרו לו שני כתרים אחד כנגד נעשה ואחד כנגד נשמע Rabbi Simai taught: When Israel accorded precedence to the declaration “We will do” over the declaration “We will hear,” 600,000 ministering angels came and tied two crowns to each and every member of the Jewish people, one corresponding to “We will do” and one corresponding to “We will hear.” Two questions come to mind as we consider this Gemara. 1. The Gemara seems to contradict itself. Initially the Gemara seems to say that the value of Naaseh ViNishma is that we said Naaseh before we said Nishma (בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע) but then the Gemara says that the Malachim gave us two crowns, one for Naaseh and one for Nishma. Whic
Loading the rest…
