Matan Torah; the Fusion of Unity and Responsibility and Our Future
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
Before receiving the Torah, we all arrived and camped together at Har Sinai; “V’yichen sham Yisroel neged hahar”. As is known, Moshe Rabbenu began giving specific instructions to prepare to receive the Torah after Rosh Chodesh. On Rosh Chodesh they rested from their journey.
The Rebbe asks; why they were so tired from the journey? They hadn’t walked that far, and for the short distance they had gone they were accompanied by the ananei hakavod which made it easier to travel. Also, they had just rested for entire day on Shabbos, just a day or two before, and now they were so tired?
Also, they had been counting the last 49 days in anticipation for Matan Torah, they must have been excited to have finally reached the place they would receive the Torah; how could they be tired? When someone prepares for and anticipates their wedding day they can’t sleep. Imagine making all the preparations for a wedding, sending out the invitations, making all the preparations, the food the music etc., and then when finally you arrive to the wedding hall, would you suddenly decide that now is the time to get some sleep?
The answer is because to unite 600,000 people is a strenuous job. It is a long journey to go out and leave our own personal interests and aspirations, and unite as one with others. It was because of this that the Jews in the desert needed to rest. Moshe Rabbenu didn’t need to say anything that day because they have accomplished what was necessary, they had created the unity needed for MatanTorah.
The Rebbe asks another important question. Everyone arrived together as one including Moshe Rabbenu; isn’t the goal that it stay that way, that we should receive the Torah together as one? Why, in the days following, after this great moment of unity does Hashem tell Moshe Rabbenu to create boundaries between the people and Moshe Rabbenu, explaining how far they can go and no further? Similarly, differences were made between men and women; each had to be spoken to in a different way. Can’t we all be spoken to the same way, together as one? Why does it have to be so different?
The answer is that while we are all part of one indivisible essence, nevertheless each individual has a unique way and something special to give. We all received the same message from the same Torah; nevertheless it enters each person’s heart and mind in a different way. Men hear it one way while women hear it differently. Eeach person has a unique contribution and a unique role that no other has and which completes the entire people.
We see this so clearly at home within our families. Women have a special purpose, a special responsibility and a unique merit to keep the family unit together as a family. She is irreplaceable. If she is weak in her commitment, as much as other’s may try they will not be able fill in to do what only she can. She has to be the one who brings the warmth, the closeness and the heart into the home that draws the family together, and keeps the family together.
We live in an era where family life has suffered great harm, even destruction. We have seen many precious souls, our youth that have been lost because of the lack of a strong family life. In the culture around us the focus in the home has shifted from the family, it has moved toward women having a role in the world and having equality in the workplace. We have seen this effect Jewish women and as a result the home as well. A woman already has the most important and irreplaceable role as the Akeres Habayis, and instead chooses to focus and maintain interests in areas unrelated to her essential purpose. Having the warmth of a Jewish home which holds the family together and preventing our youth from seeking that warmth in other strange places is something, which the entire future of the Jewish people is dependent!
This is also her personal freedom, to strengthen her own abilities to stay away from the improper influences, which are the idols of our time (and there are many)! Historically, the strategy of those that followed idolatry was to first draw the women into it by giving them the highest positions, which caused the families to follow. By keeping the focus in the home, and strengthening and honoring the role of Akeres Habayis, not only will it benefit all of us in general but also causes woman to feel the most successful and have the deepest sense of fulfillment to something that is eternal, not a passing phase. As she fulfills her unique role as the Akeres Habayis she will merit to see the fruits of her labor in this world which is the nachas of seeing her family grow in a good way, something she accomplished by focusing on the family. She also sees it by being a living example for other families, by seeing through her what the essential focus should be, to have a warm, Jewish, Chassidishe, Torah, home filled with heart. This is why the mother determines the identity of a Jew. It is because she provides the essential being, the emunah and the warmth. The education depends on the father. Therefore the father determines whether the child is a Cohen a Levi or a Yisroel. The mother and the father’s roles together make up a healthy family, but each one has his and her own role as an individual.
If the Rebbe spoke so strongly about this issue in 1974, one can only imagine how much more this rings true today, with the deluge of distraction that engulfs us from every direction; iPhones, smart phones, the internet, the media and the mixed messages of the culture swirling around us that our children are barraged with on a daily basis. How much more essential is the role of the Akeres Habayis today! What a mother can give no one else can give!
As we prepare for Matan Torah we remind ourselves how essential unity and ahavas Yisroel is to receiving the Torah. We remember how it was on Rosh Chodesh as we all arrived and camped together at Har Sinai; “V’yichen Sham Yisroel neged hahar”. We took the time to be together, to focus on unity without any additional instructions or guidance, all as one. Then we go each one as an individual to fulfill our unique role in fulfilling our purpose that completes our mission as a whole. This begins in our homes with our children who are our guarantors, and culminates with all of us going together as one family to greet Moshiach. A good Shabbos
(Adapted from Sichos Yud Shevat 5734-1974 and other Sichos)
