The Bumpy Road to Achdus
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
The Torah says that on Rosh Chodesh Sivan the entire Jewish people gathered at the bottom of Har Sinai. The Gemara says that on Rosh Chodesh itself Moshe Rabbenu did not speak to Bnei Yisroel because they were tired from the journey. On the following day he spoke to them about how they are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The following day he told them that they should separate for days in preparation for Matan Torah.
The Rebbe asks two fundamental questions about this narrative. First, since they arrived on Sunday or Monday, this means that they had only been traveling for a day or two. In those days that wasn't considered a lot of travel; so why were they so tired?
Also, the Jewish people had been counting sefirah for almost 50 days and they were full of anticipation. After all this time, they finally arrived at the spot where they would merit to receive the Holy Torah. The place where they would complete their bond of marriage with Hashem. Imagine it's the big day before the wedding, because of the excitement how can one sleep? How could they have not been spoken to and told to wait until tomorrow?
The Rebbe explains that their journey was both spiritual not just physical. On Rosh Chodesh Sivan the Jewish People arrived from their spiritual travels to becoming;"K'Eish echod b'lev echod- Like one man with one heart". Until then their journey had been filled with strife, struggles and arguments.
What kind of arguments could they have possibly had in the desert. Was it about money? They were all wealthy from MItzrayim and the booty of the Yam Suf. Was it about food or drink? They had the manna and the well of Miriam. Was it the heat of the desert? They had the clouds of Aharon. None of this was the cause of their strife. The cause was that they were a 'Dor Deah- a generation full of knowledge'. Each person felt that they knew the best way to receive the Torah and was advocating their point of view to the point that it lead to arguments and struggles.
So when did this end? When they realized that we all have a neshama that is beyond our individual feelings and understanding. We realized that we are all really like one big person with one big heart. To go beyond oneself, from one's own feelings and understanding is a long journey, and that's how we became connected as a nation. This is the meaning of the Gemara. Being tired from the journey means that they had weakened their own sense of themselves and therefore were able to become united with each other. Because they had reached this level, Moshe Rabbenu didn't need to speak. Because by reaching this level they had accomplished themselves what is necessary to receive the Torah, the entire Jewish people together from the same source.