Mindflex - REVELATION - G-d Speaks to Man, Part 2, with Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan

class i want to dedicate to uh for shlima a speedy recovery for yoseph and rifle is having an operation should have a speed recovery so this is class number two on revelation last class we discussed the idea of the revelation that abram abbino abraham our father had with god and different communications that god had with avraham with abraham and tonight i want to focus in on the revelation at sinai and really everything that we did yes last time was really going in this direction ultimately to the revelation at sinai but what we saw last time was that everything is really predicated on this relationship that avraham that abraham had with hashem with god and that this is really the beginning point where everything started with abraham and the promises that god gave to abraham and their special relationship and that really was the precursor it was the foundation that everything was built upon and when we looked at those the discussions there when we studied through them and the covenant of the splitting the wristband of saram and actually even with bruce mila we saw a bit of a shift we saw though that abram asked god when he promised him multiple times that he and his children would inherit the land of israel that abraham asked god at a certain point how will i know and the answer that god gave him was you will surely know or yadawa tayda like a sec like a double uh emphasis or that there's something about knowing and it had to go through a process to get there through the process of being a foreigner of being in exile and slavery in in going through difficulties but to ultimately come out from that to be redeemed and and then what would be the final thing would be able to come to the land of israel what's incredible if we stop and we look back there's something missing and that is at no time are we told or do we or do we see that god tells abraham anything about mohammed harassing about the revelation at sinai if this is such an important event which it is which is the basis of our torah and everything that we have so then where is it where it should be it should be front and center but it never it never appears um in terms of god's promises to avram but what is god promising avraham he promises him that his children will inherit the land but there's this other thing that we mentioned just now is yadav avraham abraham asked the question how do i know that my children will inherit but irashena in that question what abraham is asking god is more than just inheriting the land but how do i know that my children will inherit this legacy what is this legacy what is the legacy that abraham is referring to is it just the inheritance of the land the answer is no it's more than that it's this relationship what abraham was able to foster and to be able to create with god that special connection that special relationship is also being asked about how do i know that my children will inherit that they'll be able to attain what i've attained so what did abraham attain he obtained a tremendous relationship with god but also he attained or an understanding of the oneness of god it says that abraham wrote about the idea of the negativity of isle of worship he wrote 500 some odd chapters or more he wrote books and books chapter upon chapter about the idea of the negative aspects of foreign worship of avodah zarah what does that mean what's he what was he so caught up on but what he what he was addressing was the idea of creating gods of foreign worship what he was able to attain was the recognition the understanding of a one god a unified god that was all one not multiple not of multiplicity but at one uni uh unified god and that meant to put into our language what that meant was many of us we're all guilty of this of where we project we project onto things we want things to be a certain way and so too when it comes to god we all have the challenge of projecting and that projection is we create an image of god and in that creation we create limitations by defining and obviously this is the challenge but that avraham was able to attain a level of where he was able to work through this the idea of his chapters and verses on anti-idol worship was this challenge that we all have but he attained it so then he asked god how do i know that my children will be able to inherit this legacy because part of the idea of the land is the idea of what we talked about last time becoming of never creating limitation just like we shouldn't be creating limitations for ourselves our understanding of god is god is unlimited he's the ainsof he's the unlimited auburn was able to take to attain this and to understand that there's this unified one god that has no limitation they're obviously very difficult and challenging to really be able to attain an understanding of god in this way but that's the idea of my duck here hashem how do i know that they'll be able to attain this level and god says they're going to have to go through a process they're going to have to go through this the servitude and the slavery and the redemption and then ultimately look i'll bring them back to the land to be able to continue this path but it's this this idea which doesn't is not referred to but it's understood is that there's a need to have a revelation at sinai we're going to need to be able to meet god the same way that abraham did and not only that in that meeting we're going to be given this tremendous gift which is the torah which is the what the catalyst explain is god god is the torah and he's embedded within the torah however we understand that but it's a transfer of god to us but it's the ultimate experience which is everything is predicated for us as a people is this experience of coming to harassina coming to mount sinai so tonight i want to look at is first we're going to look at moses at the burning bush we're going to look at a couple of things that are there and then the next step is to look and understand a little bit about what occurred at mount sinai and the truth is there's so much that's that's that's in it that we can look at we're just gonna we're gonna scratch the surface and the idea is for us to this should be a beginning point for us to be able to start looking and thinking about what this was what what occurred there and that based on this this is a tremendous fundamental a foundational event in our in our religion so and and then one other idea that is important is that at mount sinai there is also a coming together there's a marriage that occurs between us and god and that our relationship is taken to another level and it's it's it's hinted to also we've referenced this last time when when avraham is commanded but abraham is commanded to do the risk of circumcision that for the first time we see this idea that god says that i'm going to be a god to you and to your offspring and so that this idea of this relationship which is also again when god refers them i am the god who took you out from our costume and we're going to see this idea at mount sinai that god says i am the god who took you out from egypt the first commandment because we see that god is saying to us i want you to understand i'm identifying myself connect as with the connection to you not the god of creation or the god of this or god of that but in the god who took you out from egypt that there's some kind of personal connection that we have with god which is very very special and that really is the extension of what abraham created and fostered and that we as the offspring are are the beneficiaries of that so we said last last time that genesis 15 is is a very fundamental uh uh paragraph or a chapter in the torah secondly what we have is also exodus three exodus three schmos perak gimmel and that is the story of moshe at the burning bush we have there moshe rabbis tell us that this conversation was over a seven day period it was uh you know this the phrase don't you know uh jump dance around the bush or or something like that this idea of a you know avoiding so moshe is here by the bush he sees god he sees this this this uh the burning the bush that's burning that perhaps others had seen but didn't take notice of he understood this is something special and god speaks to moses and he tells him i've seen the suffering that's going on in egypt and i'm coming to save the jewish people and to take them out from the land to bring them to the land of israel so in this discussion moses has doubts whether he is worthy of being the messenger of god to pharaoh so in this discussion in the back and forth so moses asks first what name should i tell the jewish people that's an important idea that we have to understand that god is is again conveying his identity to us and in this context he says i'm the god who is will be there with you that god's there with us when we go through difficulties he's there with us at all times but he also when moses asks who am i to go so this is in verse number 11 who am i that i should go to pharaoh and moses said to god and how can i possibly get the israelites out of egypt so he asked him two questions who am i that i should go to pharaoh and how can i possibly get the israelites out of egypt and god answers because i will be with you proof that i have sent you will come when you get the people out of egypt all of you will then become god's servants on this mountain it's a very strange so listen to the question and the answer moses asks who am i to go to pharaoh very basically i'm not worthy and how can i possibly get the israelites out of egypt and god answers because i will be with you so that answers whom who are you who am i my worthy god says don't worry i'm going to be with you is it to say by me being with you that makes you worthy okay but he also then asks how can i possibly get the israelites out of egypt to which god seems to answer a very strange answer proof that i have sent you will come when you get the people out of egypt all of you will then become god's servants on this mountain how is that an answer to moses question the proof is that after i take you them out you'll come to mount sinai because we are told that the burning bush occurred at mount sinai so they're on the mountain and god's answer to moses is to the question of how can i possibly bring the israelites out is because when you come out of egypt you're gonna you're gonna worship you're gonna be you'll come and worship on this mountain if i'm looking for a sign so give me the sign now what kind of answer is it to say you'll know it's a sign because when you come out you're going to worship me on this mountain that you will all come more shall be on this mountain how exactly does that answer anything very strange so we need to understand what is the exchange here it's very important what it really is saying is something different moses is complaining who am i to really be worthy and the truth is he's troubled with this issue of being believed because what he's asking is how can i possibly get the israelites out of egypt what he's saying is how can how do i know that they're actually ever going to believe me moses is being told that he's going to be the messenger of god and he doesn't understand first i'm not worthy to go to pharaoh okay god's gonna be with you but i'm also if you want me to be the messenger to the jewish people to the israelites then why should they believe me and we see that he comes back and asks for signs which is something separate but here god's saying the sign that they're ultimately going to believe you is because you're going to come back when everything's said and done you come out of egypt you're going to come to this mountain to worship me which is referring to the revelation at simon so moses is saying i'm not going to be believed they'll never believe me and god says they will believe you you know what they're going to believe you when you bring them out of egypt you're going to bring them to this mountain and when there is the revelation and when they see the revelation occur then moses guess what they will believe you not just for now but forever moses will become the true servant of hashem and the one who brings us the torah in its in its fullest manner so right here at the burning bush we have an incredible exchange such a fundamental an important exchange because this really is the basis of our torah the integrity of our torah is based on the fact that this that we have a revelation and it's that revelation that in turn empowers the transmission that comes through moses so right here when moses says how can i possibly get the israelites out of egypt he's asking more than that he's asking how is it that they're going to believe me and god says they'll believe you and the belief in you is predicated on revelation at mount sinai so what's going to happen there is going to really be the game changer now just as a parenthetical because we have two things or multiple things going on at the same time but i wanna i wanna be able to capture a couple of these things and that is that when we see the abraham ask the question of how will i know that they'll be able to inherit this legacy of mine of being able to see and to to worship a single god to have this relationship with god but we also saw at the time of the circumcision that god said i also will be their god to them it'll be this special relationship so fast forward moses finally agrees he goes down to egypt and the first time he goes to pharaoh he says pharaoh let them my people go they don't go pharaoh makes life more difficult and then moses goes back to god and he complains you not only did not nothing positive it got worse for them and god says now you'll know and in partials by era it opens up and god now says to moses that he explains his name he never revealed himself or his reputation to the forefathers to abraham isaac and jacob in a certain way that he's now going to be able to orchestrate he's going to show himself more overtly more publicly than he did with the with the forefathers with the elder and in this message we have the four languages of redemption and the one that is so really beautiful and also again conveys this idea of love is that of god says i will take you to myself as a nation and i will be to you as a god you will know that i am god your lord the one who is bringing you out from under the egyptian subjugation and then of course the fifth language which god willing will come soon i will bring you to the land regarding which i raised my hand swearing that i i would give it to abraham isaac and jacob i will give it to you as an inheritance i am god so this idea of inheritance we see that god again this description of the love i will take you for me and you i will be will be together as one and then i'll bring you to the land that i promised abraham isaac and jacob as an inheritance so we see this idea of when abraham asks how will i know that this will be an inheritance and then we see here fast forward to much later on now when we're at the beginning of the redemption the redemption from egypt that we see now that this idea of inheritance the language of inheritance because what is being inherited is the special relationship and connection with god so now we said that they're going to believe in moses our ultimate belief in moses will be predicated on the revelation that's what god was answering him there at the burning bush so let's just understand what does it mean if god is not physical so then how exactly what did we experience as a nation at mount sinai if god is not physical how does he speak how does he articulate so that is a very difficult question that we need to i guess it's really almost impossible to wrap our our heads around and then the question is if that's what's happening that there is this barrier or this challenge of how does something that's not physical enter into the physical realm and then how do we convey that in the text so there's there are a couple of things that pop out in the text that are rather unusual and then we realize that what the text is really explaining to us is some kind of event that is almost impossible to really explain something that's so beyond but what where we understand what we recognize is that for a moment in time there was this experience of a revelation that was so powerful and was experienced not by one person some guy goes into you know uh a cave and comes out and says god spoke to him but rather the revelation at sinai where god spoke to us or communicated with us directly 600 000 men between the ages of 20 and 60 which means that there were at least a few million people there that experienced this revelation where god communicated where he came down the torah tells us that god came down and and so however that we understand it but god came down on mount sinai to the peak of the mountain he summoned moses to the mountain peak and moses climbed up god said to moses go back down and warn the people that they must not cross the boundary in order to see the divine because this will cause many to die so he gives he's coming down he tells moses prepare the people make sure that they understand that they have to be careful here because this is serious stuff they cannot come too close then again fast forward god said to him go down you can then come back up along with aaron but the priests and the other people must not violate the boundary to go up to the divine if they do he will send destruction among them so this is not a simple thing this is serious stuff this is very heavy weighted and and very potentially dangerous and then we have the the recording of the ten commandments and after after that the turret houses like this all the people saw the sounds the flames the blast of the ram's horn and the mountain smoking the people trembled when they saw it keeping their distance they said to moses you speak to us and we will listen but let god not speak with us anymore for we will die if he does again they saw the sounds what do we know about that we understand that that's just not possible people don't see sound what the torah is telling us it's describing something that we can't explain something that's supernatural something that's beyond our normal comprehension we don't see sound so they experienced something that was so overwhelming and whatever god spoke or communicated was just too much to bear that they said to moses moses you need to take over here you cannot let if again they said to most you speak to us and we will listen but let god not speak with us anymore for we will die if he does what it's telling us here is that the power of this of this event was so overwhelming but they experienced god in such a way that it was it was something that was beyond now we mentioned that it's this event though that really gives us the basis or gives moses the the credibility so i wanted to read to you from my mom these in isaiah torah rahmani's wrote a 14 a book called 14 strong hand which basically is his this his work that covers all of the laws of the torah comprehensively it's incredible work and he has something that talks about the basis the basis of the torah the foundations of torah and in chapter eight the rambam explains the fundamentals of what really explains what what i mentioned here about moses's discussion with god about being believed by the people so the rambam says like this my mommy says the jews did not believe in moses our teacher because of the wonders that he performed whenever anyone's belief is based on wonders the commitment of his heart has shortcomings because it's it is possible to perform a wonder through magic or sorcery so to base belief on miracles is not going to last all the wonders performed by moses in the desert were not intended to serve as proof of the legitimacy of his prophecy but rather were performed for a purpose it was necessary to drown the egyptians so he split the sea and sank them in it we needed food so he provided us with mana we were thirsty so he split the rock providing us with water cross banned mutinied against him so the earth swallowed them up the same applies for the other wonders so basically my mom is just telling us that all the miracles that occurred were practical miracles these were things that just needed to happen but our belief system is not based on these miracles rama continues so what is the source of our belief in him the revelation on mount sinai our eyes saw and not as strangers our ears heard and not in others there was fire thunder and lightning he moses entered the thick clouds the voice spoke to him and we heard moses moses go tell them the following thus in deuteronomy 5 4 relates face to face god spoke to you meaning to moses and deuteronomy 5 3 states god did not make this covenant with our fathers but with us who are all here alive today how is it known that the revelation of mount sinai alone is proof to the truth of moses prophecy that that leaves no shortcoming it says in exodus 19 9 behold i will come to you in a thick cloud so that the people will hear me speaking to you so that they will believe in you forever it appears that before this happened they did not believe in him with the faith that would last forever but rather with the faith that allowed for suspicions and doubts so thus those to whom moses was sent witnessed his appointment as a prophet and it was not necessary to perform another wonder for them he and they were witnesses like two witnesses who observed the same event together each one serves as a witness to his colleague that he is telling the truth and neither has to bring any other proof to his colleague similarly all of israel were witnesses to the appointment of moses our teacher at the revelation at mount sinai and it was unnecessary for him to perform any further wonders for them this concept is alluded to in the interchange between god and moses at the revelation of the burning bush at the beginning of his prophecy the holy one blessed be he gave his him the signs and wonders to perform in egypt and he told him and they will listen to your voice moses our teacher knew that one who believes in another person because of signs has apprehension in his heart he has doubts and suspicions therefore he sought to be released from this from the mission saying they will not believe me until the holy one blessed be he informed him that these wonders were intended only as a temporary measure until they left egypt after they would leave they would stand at this mountain and all doubts which they had about him would be removed god hope told him here i will give you a sign so that they will know that i truly sent you from the outset and thus no doubts remain in their hearts this is what is meant by what it said this was your sign that i sent you when you take the people out of egypt you will serve god on this mountain thus we do not believe in any prophet who arises after moses our teacher because of the wonder he performs alone as if to say if he performs a wonder we will listen to everything he says rather we believe in him because it is said in mitzvot which was we were commander moses who said if he performs a wonder listen to him i mean the only time that will listen to a prophet is because moses told us we can listen to that prophet just as we are commanded to render a legal judgment based on the testimony of two witnesses even though we do not know if they are testifying truthfully or falsely or falsely similarly it is a mitzvah to listen to this prophet even though we do not know whether the wonder is true or performed by magic or sorcery therefore if a prophet arises and attempts to dispute moses prophecy by reforming great signs and wonders we should not listen to him we know with certainty that he performed those signs through magic or sorcery this conclusion is reached because the prophecy of moses our teacher is not dependent on wonders so that we could compare these wonders one against the other rather we saw and heard with our own eyes and ears as he did to what can this be compared to witnesses who gave testimony concerning a matter to a man who had observed the situation with his own eyes we will he will never listen to them and will know for certain they are false witnesses therefore the torah states that even if such a wonder or sign will come you should not listen to the words of that prophet he comes to you with signs and wonders to deny what you saw with your own eyes we believe in a wonder as evidence of a prophet's belief reliability only because of the mitzvah which moses commanded us therefore how can no wonder cause us to accept this person who comes to deny the prophecy of moses which we saw and heard so the problem is telling us a very important idea what we have today our torah is predicated on one thing and one thing only and that is because we witness god we as a people as a community as a nation we were there at mount sinai we heard and experienced hashem directly that experience is the fulfillment of god's answer to avram you should know know well that your legacy this connection that you formed with me is going to be fulfilled to your children and it is going to be through the process of going down to egypt and then ultimately being brought out and then taking to the land again what we said last time the first revelation that god gave to avraham go to you and to this land that will be that i will show you that will become that is a place of becoming this is the prophecy this is the this is the journey that started then that goes through egypt that we experience on an annual basis through us re-experiencing that that that process of slavery and then redemption of freedom and liberty and then going to mount sinai the revelation of connecting and meeting god directly and that's the basis for our torah and our relationship with god but it's the continuum it's the basically it's our inheritance that we excuse me that we inherited from abraham this incredible connection potential that we can connect to god on such a in such a level it says avram is called abraham is called god's lover alvin avraham ohavi what attracted perhaps there's many things but this is a love relationship and so we inherit this we inherit this relationship this opportunity to be able to connect to god on such a deep and profound level and when hashem revealed himself at sinai that became the basis of everything that we have in torah the prophecy that moses is able to convey to us which is torah that we have and just like we see the beginning of this path this traveling this becoming this continuous journey that was we see from abraham to moses at the burning bush to us at mount sinai and ultimately the goal is to get to the holy land to the promised land to the place of becoming and so as we described last night this is something that we were there we were expelled we were there we were expelled we're constantly in this as a nation we're working through this process but it's at the revelation that we were able to fortify to establish that connection that was promised to avram we experienced it as a nation and it is with us today we're told that we have a mitzvah to remember what happened at mount sinai the revelation what's interesting is that we celebrate a holiday of shavuot which is the first giving of the of the ten commandments which had to be redone because forty days after the initial revelation we ended up messing up with the golden calf and it's the second set of tablets we were given on yom kippur so the question is so why are we celebrating if it didn't really go well and the answer is we're celebrating that revelation the revelation that incredible experience which is experiential you can't even but we know we have a tradition we was passed down because it was on such a hot large scale so many people that was passed down to us and we are it's the basis of everything that is what everything is pretty therefore have the holy spirit because that is is worthy of the holiday just that to remember that incredible events and so as we go through like we described last night as we go through these weeks of the show of them of shamot vahrehvah bashar yitro meshvatin where we experience where we go through this again and this week we just last week read about the splitting of the sea there was a revelation there this week on willing we read the revelation of mount sinai and so it's described as like a it's like a it's like a wedding canopy we got we got uh we were there with god it was us and god and so we are in the crazy times and uh we have to listen to hear the messages what exactly god is is sending us but as god said to moses at the burning bush i'm there with you i'll be with you he's always there with us he is there so if we come to this time to re-experience the revelation we should be able to open up and try to take that incredible energy that's there and to then take it with us and to be able to realize that wherever we are in our lives we have to hear that message of we have to constantly realize that we're just starting and we're always in a constant state of becoming and that we whatever we're doing wherever we're at we can always be doing more to quote again we always have to push ourselves to do whatever you're doing you could do more wherever we've attained in our knowledge we can be always be learning more we've done good things we can always be doing more good things but to always see that we are so capable of doing more just like alvin was told i want you to become you go to become you we're all being told that we should take this and to be able to strengthen ourselves and to push ourselves to be able to connect hashem and to be able to come closer and to be able to come that much greater and to become the best that we can become