Rosh Chodesh Sivan
1. "בחדש השלישי גו' ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני . . ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר" ("In the third month… on this day they came to the Sinai desert… and Israel encamped there opposite the mountain")1 — Chazal say2 that "on this day" means the day of Rosh Chodesh: on the day of Rosh Chodesh Sivan (the third month) the Jews arrived at Mount3 Sinai.
The very fact that the Jews came to Mount Sinai, even before they were given the Torah there, is already an exceedingly wondrous virtue, as we say in the Haggadah: "אילו קרבנו לפני הר סיני ולא נתן לנו את התורה דיינו" ("Had He brought us before Mount Sinai and not given us the Torah, it would have sufficed us"). For4 the very fact of being "opposite the mountain" accomplished a wondrous elevation in the Jews, as Chazal5 say on the verse "And Israel encamped there": "כאיש אחד בלב אחד" ("as one man with one heart")6: [OCR unclear] that the Jews encamped "opposite the mountain," they became completely united, "as one man with one heart."
Now, we find something seemingly astonishing regarding Rosh Chodesh Sivan:
The Gemara7 enumerates in detail how Moshe Rabbeinu prepared the Jews "for receiving the Torah"8 during the days from their arrival at Mount Sinai until the day of Matan Torah: on the 2nd of Sivan he told them "ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים" ("And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests")910; on the 3rd of Sivan — the commandment of setting boundaries; on the 4th of Sivan — the command to separate; on the 5th of Sivan there was "ויבן מזבח ויקריב עליו קרבן" ("he built an altar and offered a sacrifice upon it")11, up to the declaration of Naaseh V'Nishma by all of Israel. Whereas on Rosh Chodesh Sivan — the day they arrived at Mount Sinai — the Gemara12 says: "לא אמר להו ולא מידי משום חולשא דאורחא" ("He said nothing at all to them, because of the weariness of the journey"): since the Jews were weakened by the toil13 of the journey, Moshe14 waited with the preparations for receiving the Torah until the following day (the 2nd of Sivan).
At first glance this is not at all understandable: it is known that Chazal15 say that upon leaving Egypt the Jews had a tremendous yearning to receive the Torah, to the point that they counted the days remaining until Matan Torah. And it is plainly understood that the nearer the day of receiving the Torah came, the greater this longing grew in them; all the more so upon coming to Mount Sinai, the place where the Torah would be given — this certainly, most certainly, evoked in the Jews the strongest feelings of yearning and anticipation for receiving the Torah16.
And we see in human nature that when a person has a strong longing for something, the weariness of his body does not then take up any place in him, such that it would hold him back in his effort to obtain the thing; especially when he is already close to receiving what he yearns for — he surely does not then feel the weariness of the body.
It is therefore puzzling: being "opposite the mountain," after all the weeks and days of longing for receiving the Torah16, Moshe Rabbeinu14 should refrain from preparing the Jews for receiving the Torah because of "the weariness of the journey"?! And even more (as Chazal are precise to say) — "he said nothing at all to them": he did not say a single word to them17 about this whole matter (the preparation for receiving the Torah)! Also from the side of the Jews: how is it that they agreed "to rest" and did not demand of Moshe that he let them hear something (at least) about receiving the Torah!
Especially since there was no great "toil of the journey" here that would cause great weakness — for: (a) from Refidim to Mount Sinai is not a great distance18. (b) The walking itself did not involve any extra toil, for the Cloud of Glory went ahead of them and "every low place it raised and every high place it lowered"19, so that it was walking on a level road. (c) Rosh Chodesh Sivan was on Sunday (or on Monday20), right after the complete rest21 of Shabbos22.
So it is even more puzzling: why did the Jews have such great weakness that because of it they would not be capable of hearing even a single word ("nothing at all") about receiving the Torah?
2. It may be said that the explanation of this is as follows:
By "the weariness of the journey" Chazal do not mean (so much) the bodily weakness from physical walking on the road, but (mainly) the spiritual weakness resulting from the spiritual walking on the "road" that the Jews were then undergoing.
Just as there is physical walking on a road from one physical place to another, so there is the matter of spiritual walking on the spiritual "road"23 — a person goes from one state (place24) in spirituality to another state (place) in spirituality — in ascent, or in descent, or in a change to a different matter — and this can be in the emotions (in the heart — love, fear, etc.), in the intellect (in the brain — his intellectual understanding, etc.), or in modes and levels of Divine service; all this is "walking on a road" in spirituality.
In our case: the journeys that the Jews traveled from Egypt to Mount Sinai were not only physical walking, but also, and mainly, spiritual walking — a change in the spiritual state of the Jews and an ascent in Divine service — becoming ever closer and ever more fit to receive the Torah. As it is written in sefarim25, while in Egypt the Jews were sunk in the forty-nine gates of impurity, and each day was a (counting and) ascent from those gates — until after forty-nine ascents they were elevated completely — to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" at Matan Torah.
All these "journeys" — ascents in Divine service — were in an orderly manner, an ascent from level to level; but the ascent in the journey from Refidim to Mount Sinai was in the manner of an essential change26 — they traversed a great "distance" (spiritually) and were elevated incomparably beyond the walkings and ascents of the days before — it is understood that this involved great "toil" and effort (in Divine service).
3. Chazal reveal the distinctiveness of this journey in their above-cited statement (on the verse "And Israel encamped there") — "כאיש אחד בלב אחד אבל שאר כל החניות בתרעומות ובמחלוקת" ("as one man with one heart, but all the other encampments were with complaints and dispute")27: at "all the other encampments" there were complaints and dispute, and specifically at the encampment opposite the mountain the Jews stood in complete unity, "as one man with one heart."
It may be said: the meaning of "all the other encampments were with complaints and dispute" is not, G‑d forbid, in the simple sense, that at all the encampments they had disputes over material matters and the like; rather it was a dispute for the sake of Heaven28. For by the nature that the Holy One, blessed be He, implanted in human beings, "their opinions are not alike"29; and moreover — in the Torah itself there are differing opinions (and moreover: "לא ניתנו דברי תורה חתוכין אלא כל דבר כו' מ"ט פנים טהור ומ"ט פנים טמא" ("The words of Torah were not given cut-and-dried; rather, every matter… forty-nine aspects pure and forty-nine aspects impure")30) — and "אלו ואלו דברי אלקים חיים" ("these and these are the words of the living G‑d")31. Accordingly it is understood that by the nature of holiness and the order of things in spirituality, "all the other encampments" had dispute for the sake of Heaven.
But standing "opposite the mountain," an essential novelty (contrary to nature) took place in the Jews: all differences of opinion became nullified among them, and they became united "as one man (and moreover) with one heart": not only "as one man," with a unity in which eyes of flesh see them all "as one man" with regard to action, etc. (that all Jews agree and decide with one decision regarding actual action, etc.32), but also "with one heart" — a complete unity, including the heart (feeling) of man.
And it is understood that such great toil, spiritual exertion and effort to attain this unity (which is a very "long distance" in spirituality — to nullify every movement of dispute, even dispute for the sake of Heaven, and even if only in one's heart) had to bring about a great exhaustion in the Jews — and therefore "he said nothing at all to them."
4. A deeper explanation of this may be said:
"The weariness of the journey" is not only a matter of deficiency (that because of the weakness of the Jews they could not engage in the preparations for receiving the Torah) — rather, in this matter it is the opposite: "the weariness of the journey" here is a virtue and an elevation in the state of the Jews, and it may be said, as a possibility, that it is higher even than the later preparatory matters of the days that followed.
By way of preface: the distance between Moshe Rabbeinu and the simplest of the simple among the Jews is beyond estimation — and here it says "And Israel encamped there," that all Jews (from Moshe Rabbeinu to the simplest of the simple) became united in complete unity (with one heart), and plainly not in the manner of "a commandment of men learned by rote," G‑d forbid33, but with a true unity.
From this it is understood that the Jews possess a point in the heart in which ("as one man with one heart") the greatest of the great is equal to the simplest of the simple. And in this consisted the accomplishment of "And Israel encamped there opposite the mountain": standing "opposite the mountain" in order to "receive the Torah from Sinai"34, the point in the heart was revealed in them, which makes them all equal as one, and in this35 consists the main preparation for receiving the Torah.
5. The explanation of this:
It has already been discussed several times concerning the novelty in (and of) Matan Torah
— for seemingly, Torah study existed also in the earlier generations before Matan Torah; for example — the yeshivah of Shem and Ever, the Patriarchs who studied the entire Torah before it was given, and likewise their children after them (before Matan Torah), to the point that "the yeshivah never departed36 from our forefathers" in Egypt37: so in what does the novelty of Matan Torah consist? —
And it was explained that the accomplishment consists in the fact that then there was Matan Torah, "נתן לנו את תורתו" ("He gave us His Torah"): it was given by the Giver of the Torah. Before Matan Torah one "took" Torah, with and according to one's own power (of intellect and self-nullification). At Matan Torah, the Al-mighty gave the Torah according to the mode and power of His giving. At Matan Torah there was38 "וידבר אלקים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר" ("G‑d spoke all these words, saying") — "saying" the "G‑d spoke"39 (and likewise afterward, Moshe Rabbeinu on the mountain learned the entire Torah from the mouth of the Al-mighty and transmitted it, etc.).
And this was not a one-time thing; rather, in giving the Torah the Al-mighty, as it were, "put Himself" into the Torah (as in the well-known interpretation of the saying of Chazal40 "אנא נפשי כתיבת יהבית" ("I Myself wrote and gave")), so that when a Jew studies Torah, at whatever and every time it may be, it must be preceded by the declaration and blessing "who gave us His Torah": "אותי אתם לוקחים" ("It is Me that you take")41.
And this is the novelty of "אתה נגלית" ("You were revealed…") of Matan Torah — not merely that an addition and elevation came relative to before Matan Torah, but that a novelty took place that is entirely beyond comparison: before Matan Torah, when Torah study was by one's own power, the power of intellect, etc., it is understood that one took from Torah only as much as the learner is able to grasp of the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He; whereas after Matan Torah, Torah study is in such a manner that through it one connects with the Giver of the Torah Himself, Who put Himself into His Torah.
6. And this is connected with "And Israel encamped there — as one man with one heart":
The differences in Torah study between one Jew and another (up to the greatest difference, between Moshe Rabbeinu and the simplest of the simple) concern comprehension of the Torah: that one Jew, by virtue of the powers of his soul, has a greater and higher understanding and comprehension of Torah than another Jew has — up to an incomparable difference.
But the fact that a Jew, through Torah study, connects himself and becomes entirely one with the Giver of the Torah — this is so for the greatest of the great and the smallest of the small. The "Me42 you take" of a simple person who studies "Mikra"43 (even when he does not understand what he is learning, he must precede it with "who gave us His Torah"44, as mentioned above) is the same "Me"45 as for the great scholar who has a very deep understanding and comprehension of Torah and produces true novel insights in it.
The elevation of "It is Me that you take" (is not attained through one's own powers, but) comes from Above, because "He gave us His Torah."
And this matter is connected with the heart of the Jews, because in the (inwardness and point of the) heart of a Jew there shines the Yechidah of the soul46, entirely higher than his comprehension, reason and knowledge (for in this point every Jew has his faith in the Al-mighty, above reason and knowledge47).
And this is the meaning of "And Israel encamped there — as one man with one heart": coming "opposite the mountain," where the stand at Mount Sinai, Matan Torah, was to take place, evoked in the Jews the revelation of their inwardness and point of the heart, which is equal in all Jews — and the revelation of the point in the heart made them a vessel for the G‑dliness of Torah, for the "G‑d spoke… (until it becomes) saying."
7. However, the preparation of "And Israel encamped there… with one heart" is only the first level in the preparation for Matan Torah. Through the wondrous virtue of bittul and unity one becomes a vessel for Torah. But the purpose of Torah is that one should study it, with understanding and comprehension — and therefore, in accordance with this, a whole order of preparations for Matan Torah was required.
The intent of Matan Torah is that a person should become united with Torah, to the point that it becomes his life and very being. Therefore Torah must be received (also) through study, comprehension and intellectual understanding. When one understands a matter intellectually, the concept becomes grasped in the person's intellect until it becomes (a part of) his being (similar to the nourishment from bread, which becomes blood and flesh like his own flesh), and in the language of the Tanya48 — there comes about a "wondrous union" between, and of, the "one who comprehends" with the "concept comprehended."
It follows that through comprehension of the Torah a Jew takes in, and becomes united and one with, the "word of G‑d" (which is entirely higher than the world)49.
And these were the two kinds of preparation of the Jews for receiving the Torah:
The first preparation for Matan Torah is50, as mentioned above, "And Israel encamped there, as one man with one heart": the ultimate bittul51, which brings about that all Jews are "as one man with one heart" — the general preparation of the entire Jewish people as one.
But from the 2nd of Sivan, "Moshe began to occupy himself with them in the matter of receiving the Torah"52, by which are meant the preparatory matters that bring about that the person's very being (not only from the aspect of the Yechidah in the inwardness of the heart) should be suited, fit, and a receptacle for receiving the Torah: "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests," the commandments of setting boundaries and separation, etc., which made the Jews holy, etc. — and in these preparations there are differences among Jews53, each according to his level in Divine service [to the point that we find that at the receiving of the Torah itself there were differences among the Jews: Moshe54 had a partition to himself, etc. — but for everyone55 there was "their souls flew out"56, and "at each and every utterance"57].
And this is what the Gemara says: "He said nothing at all to them, because of the weariness of the journey": the "journey" — the spiritual walking, so that all Jews (from Moshe Rabbeinu to the simplest of the simple among the Jewish people) should become united — is connected with "weariness" (in a positive sense), a weakness and bittul in the Jews. And in accordance with this — "he said nothing at all to them": this preparation is not connected with speech; rather it is a matter of "he did not say" — silence and bittul.
And after this bittul was attained (by virtue of which all Jews are "as one man with one heart"), it is required that the Jews descend from this intense bittul and engage in the other preparatory matters, because specifically through this the purpose of the Torah is accomplished — the "wondrous union," together with "Me" — "It is Me that you take."
(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar, 5743)
Notes
1) Yisro 19:1–2.
2) Shabbos 86b. Mechilta and Rashi on the verse.
3) In Bachaye on Yisro ibid.: that on Rosh Chodesh "they came to the Sinai desert, and on the second day they journeyed and encamped opposite the mountain" (and see Ralbag, cited below in note 18). But from the plain wording of Chazal (cited below in the text), that on Rosh Chodesh he said nothing "because of the weariness of the journey," it is seemingly proven that there was no moving from place to place (a journey) on the second day, since already before the second day they were opposite the mountain (cf. Rabbeinu Chananel, Shabbos ibid.: "and it is explicit in the Torah…"). Note also that Bachaye ibid., continuing his commentary (the content of this saying of Chazal), describes the order of preparation for Matan Torah, and nevertheless writes: "on Rosh Chodesh… they came to the Sinai desert; the next day… they journeyed from there and encamped opposite the mountain, and the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded us…" — and does not cite that on Rosh Chodesh "he said nothing to them… because of the weariness of the journey." Perhaps he did not have these words in his text of the Talmud (see Rashi, Shabbos ibid.: "'because of the weariness of the journey' — this is our reading"). This is not the place to elaborate.
4) See also Alshich, Yisro ibid. (s.v. "VeHeshiv"), and elsewhere. — For other explanations of this statement, see the Haggadah with Likkutei Taamim uMinhagim, at its place.
5) Mechilta and Rashi on the verse. Targum Yonasan on the verse.
6) The wording of Rashi. In the Mechilta (and Targum Yonasan) ibid. the wording differs (explained in Likkutei Sichos vol. 21, p. 101ff.).
7) Shabbos ibid., end of side b ff. (both according to Rabbi Yose and according to the Rabbis). Cited in the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, end of sec. 494.
8) In the wording of the Alter Rebbe there: "Moshe began to occupy himself with them in the matter of receiving the Torah."
9) Yisro ibid., 6.
10) In the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch there he adds "and a [holy] nation" — explained in Likkutei Sichos vol. 8, p. 20ff. (and see note 30 there).
11) Shabbos 88a. Mechilta (and Rashi) Yisro 19:10–11. Rashi on the Torah, Mishpatim 24:4. — The opinions of Chazal and the commentators on this are collected in Torah Shleimah there, on the verse, and in the appendices there, sec. 27. See also below, p. 15ff.
12) In the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch there this matter is not cited (only that immediately after Rosh Chodesh "Moshe began…"), and the reason is simply that the Alter Rebbe cites only what is relevant to the subject in the Shulchan Aruch — the reason for not saying Tachanun on these days. See Likkutei Sichos ibid., p. 19, note 15.
13) See Rabbeinu Chananel, Shabbos ibid. And in Midrash Lekach Tov (Yisro ibid., 10): "they were exhausted from the road."
14) So it is in Rabbeinu Chananel, Shabbos ibid.: that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe "You have seen…" on Rosh Chodesh, and "on that day Moshe did not say anything to Israel because of the weariness of the journey and the toil." — According to Rashi there (end of side b; and so he writes in his commentary on the Torah, Yisro 19:3), that Moshe ascended only early on the second day, one must say that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not tell Moshe to ascend on Rosh Chodesh (and to transmit anything to the Jews) because of the weariness of the journey (Re'em on Yisro ibid. See at length the discussion in the commentators on Rashi there; Maharsha's Chiddushei Aggados there (87a, s.v. "BiSrei"), and elsewhere. This is not the place to elaborate). See also below, note 17.
15) "Haggadah," cited in the Ran at the end of Pesachim, and elsewhere (cited in Likkutei Sichos vol. 22, p. 114, note 2).
16) Especially according to what is written in Or HaChaim, Yisro 19:1. See also Ramban there.
17) But see Rashi, Shabbos 87a, s.v. "Lechedtanya" (and s.v. "Shishi"), and Maharsha there (and so it is in Chiddushei HaRan there, in the name of the Ra'ah).
18) See Ramban, Beshalach 17:5. Ibn Ezra in the short commentary there (and there, 9). Abarbanel there (and in Parshas Yisro there, at the end of his commentary on the verse "They journeyed from Refidim…"). But in Ibn Ezra, Yisro ibid. (end of verse 1), [it is stated] that from Refidim to Mount Sinai "was greater than the distance of any [other] journey" — cited in Ralbag there, who continues: "Nevertheless they reached the Sinai desert on that very day, and therefore they encamped there in the desert so as not to burden them more than proper, and after they had encamped there for some time they returned to encamp opposite the mountain." This is not the place to elaborate.
*) Note that according to one opinion (Shabbos 87, beginning of side b) they did not come to the Sinai desert on the day they journeyed from Refidim (see Rashi there, s.v. "LeMas'an") — that is, on Rosh Chodesh they traveled only part of the way. See also Maharsha's Chiddushei Aggados cited in note 14.
19) Mechilta, Beshalach 13:21. Sifri and Rashi, Behaaloscha 10:34.
20) According to the Rabbis (Shabbos ibid., beginning of side a).
21) According to the opinion (Shabbos ibid., beginning of side b) that at Marah "they were commanded also concerning the Shabbos boundaries."
22) For they had already been commanded concerning it before this, at Marah (Shabbos ibid. Sanhedrin 56b. Mechilta and Rashi, Beshalach 15:25. Rashi, Mishpatim (24:3) and Va'eschanan (5:12). And elsewhere).
23) Note Biurei HaZohar of the Mitteler Rebbe and of the Tzemach Tzedek (vol. 2), beginning of Vayishlach.
24) Moreh Nevuchim, part 1, ch. 8. See also Rambam, Laws of the Foundations of the Torah 2:6. The Tzemach Tzedek in Likkutei Perushim on the Moreh Nevuchim, entry "Makom" (at the end of Sefer HaChakirah, p. 148ff.).
25) Zohar Chadash, beginning of Yisro. See also Zohar III, 97a–b. Likkutei Torah on our parsha, 17c. And elsewhere.
26) Note the saying of Chazal (Mechilta, Beshalach 17:8; Bechoros 5b) that Refidim means "that Israel slackened their hands from the words of Torah" — and from there they journeyed to Mount Sinai, the place of receiving the Torah.
27) The wording of Rashi. In the Mechilta there the wording differs (explained in Likkutei Sichos vol. 21, p. 101ff., p. 108ff.).
28) See at length Likkutei Sichos ibid., p. 109ff.
29) See Berachos 58a. Sanhedrin 38a. And elsewhere.
30) Midrash Tehillim 12:4. See also Yerushalmi, Sanhedrin 4:2.
31) Eruvin 13b, and the sources cited there.
32) See at length Likkutei Sichos ibid., p. 102ff.
33) Note the Mechilta, Yisro 19:8: "They did not answer… rather they were all equalized as one heart."
34) For at the time of Matan Torah, when "G‑d spoke all the words… saying" (even what a seasoned student will in the future innovate — see below, section 5), all the Jews received it, to the point that their souls flew out at each utterance, etc. (Shabbos 88b. — In Shabbos there the wording is "went out," but in Tanya (beginning of ch. 34; ch. 36) and elsewhere it is cited as "flew out." See also Shemos Rabbah 29:4; Shir HaShirim Rabbah 5:16 (3)).
35) Note the saying of Chazal that through the peace and unity of "And Israel encamped there," the Jews became prepared for the Torah (see Vayikra Rabbah 9:9; Derech Eretz Zuta, Perek HaShalom; see also Tanchuma (Buber), Yisro 9).
36) It may be said that this alludes to the manner of "his mouth never ceasing from study" (Shabbos 30, beginning of side b; Bava Metzia 86a), a loftier level than simply "Torah is his occupation" (concerning whom it was said: "Does not Rabbi Shimon concede that one interrupts to make a sukkah…?" (Yerushalmi, Berachos 1:2; Shabbos 1:2)).
37) Yoma 28b (according to the reading of the Ein Yaakov; and so it is in Yalkut Shimoni [OCR unclear], remez 104; see also Dikdukei Sofrim on Yoma there).
38) As at the beginning of the Ten Commandments (Yisro 20:1).
39) Note the concept of "the Shechinah speaks from his throat." See also Likkutei Torah, maamar "Vayedaber Elokim" (Bamidbar 9c; Shir HaShirim 25c). Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 42, end of col. a. Torah Or, maamar "BaChodesh HaShlishi" (66b). Note also the explanation of the opening of the prayer (Berachos 4b, 9b), that each person says "and my mouth (only) shall declare (draw down through its speech) Your praise" (Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim 41a; Sefer HaMaamarim 5657, p. 443; and elsewhere).
40) Shabbos 105a (according to the reading of the Ein Yaakov). Likkutei Torah, Shelach 48, end of col. d ff. Or HaTorah, Yisro, p. 901ff. And elsewhere.
41) The wording of Tanchuma, Emor 17. See also Shemos Rabbah 33:1; ibid., 6; and elsewhere. — See also Tanya, ch. 47.
*) A saying of Chazal cited in many places (Or Torah of the Maggid, Bechukosai 43, end of col. c; Tanya, ch. 34; Iggeres HaKodesh, sec. 25 (139, beginning of side b); and elsewhere). See also Likkutei Torah, Va'eschanan 3d, and the sources cited in Marei Mekomos there (Kehot edition, 5744 and later).
42) Similar to "they will all know Me" (Yirmeyahu 31:33). See also below, note 45.
43) See at length the maamar "VaYigdelu," 5675 (in Hemshech 5672, vol. 2).
44) See the Alter Rebbe's Laws of Torah Study 2:2, and the sources cited there.
45) The differences among Jews (up to the difference between Moshe Rabbeinu and the simplest of the simple) are only in the revelation of "It is Me that you take," and the extent to which it becomes united with the person. — Note Tanya, end of ch. 4: "there is no difference…". In the time to come the "Me" will be revealed in each one in the manner of "they will know" — and therefore "no longer will each man teach his fellow (with regard to the 'Me') … from the smallest of them to the greatest of them" (Yirmeyahu ibid.).
46) See Likkutei Sichos ibid., p. 106, and the sources cited there.
47) See Tanya, ch. 18–19.
48) Ibid., ch. 5; see there at length.
49) See Tanya there: "he comprehends and grasps… the will and wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, which no thought can grasp…".
50) Note [OCR unclear], Yisro (66c), that on Rosh Chodesh Sivan "Israel then became prepared and ready to receive this level of bittul." See there (and ibid., 109c).
51) Likewise, in Torah study after Matan Torah one must "bless over the Torah first" (Nedarim 81a; Bava Metzia 85, beginning of side b), whose meaning is bittul to the Giver of the Torah, and in the words of the Bach (on the Tur, Orach Chaim, beginning of sec. 47): "that our soul become bound up with the essence and spirituality and holiness of the source from which the Torah issues" (see there at length).
52) The wording of the Alter Rebbe in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, ibid.
53) Note the Mechilta on the verse "And all the people answered together…" (cited in note 33): "they were all equalized as one heart," which implies somewhat that in the interim they were not "together." See also Seder Eliyahu, ch. 41.
54) Mechilta and Rashi, Yisro 19:24.
55) What is written on this in Chiddushei Aggados on Shabbos (88b), in my humble opinion, requires great examination.
56) Including Moshe (for certainly Moshe too had the revelation of "the dew of resurrection" — Shabbos there). In Tanya, beginning of ch. 34, it is explained that "the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, surpasses them all, for they said of him that the Shechinah speaks from the throat of Moshe; and something of this the Jews merited at the stand at Mount Sinai, only they could not bear it, as Chazal say that at each utterance their souls flew out…". From this it seemingly follows that Moshe did not need to have "his soul fly out" (just as his soul did not fly out when the Shechinah spoke from his throat), and so it is stated explicitly in Likkutei Torah, Bamidbar (14a), on the verse [OCR unclear], at its beginning. See also Hemshech 5672, vol. 2, p. 931. But one must necessarily say that the revelation of Matan Torah, "face to face"*, is above the revelation of "the Shechinah speaks…", and because of this revelation** it may be said that Moshe's soul too flew out (since it is very difficult to say that Moshe Rabbeinu lacked the elevation of the dew of resurrection, as mentioned above), and this requires further examination. This is not the place to elaborate.
*) As is plain, the great difference between the Shechinah and "face to face."
**) Also in Likkutei Torah there the discussion is (only) of the revelation of the Infinite Light within Chochmah (see there), not the revelation of "face to face" — the inwardness and essence of the Infinite Light, blessed be He.
57) Cited above, note 34.
Key Lesson
At Mount Sinai the Jews became "as one man with one heart" by revealing the point in the heart that is equal in the greatest and the simplest, and this bittul is the first and essential preparation for receiving the Torah. Yet after attaining it, one must also descend to study and comprehension, so that the Torah, and the Giver of the Torah Himself, become united with one's very being.