[Index of all Weekly Divrei Torah pages]
What is the Jewish conversion procedure, and where is its source? The main thing, say the rabbis, is the acceptance of 613 mitzvoth. There are the things that the prospective convert has to know (that there is one G-d, and idol worship is forbidden, plus some of the positive and negative commandments), and there are the things he then has to do, in order to be considered a Jew. They are, to undergo circumcision, to bring a sacrifice (not applicable today), and to go to the mikveh (ritual pool) for purification. We learn all this from the history of the Jews as they approached that momentous occasion, seven weeks after leaving Egypt, when they received the Torah. The males had to circumcise themselves, and everyone had to purify themselves in the mikveh (a body of live water of a certain amount), and they had to be present when Moses offered a sacrifice on their behalf. All this prepared them for that thunderous occasion, the giving of the Ten Commandments, at which they Jews accepted the 613 mitzvoth. Conversely, if a prospective convert fails to accept all 613 commandments, then there is no validity to his or her conversion. So, the main thing is acceptance of the commandments, while the other steps (circumcision, mikveh, etc) are conditions and preparations.
However, we run into a bit of a problem when we get historical. That is, the Jewish people received the Torah on Shabbat (according to most opinions). In fact, the whole process, including circumcision, the mikveh and the sacrifice, occurred on Shabbat. And that presents a bit of a problem, because strictly speaking, we’re not supposed to go to the mikveh for halachic purposes on the Shabbat. We’re allowed to dip in the mikveh as preparation for prayer on Shabbat, but not in order to remove impurity or to otherwise rectify ourselves. And for the Jews about to “convert” and receive the Torah on Shabbat some 3300 years ago, the purifying power of the mikveh must have been the greatest rectification. So, how do we understand the sequence of events, including going to the mikveh on Shabbat, that lead to the conversion of the Jewish people and their acceptance of mitzvoth during the Ten Commandments?
One could argue that since the Torah hadn’t yet been given, the Jews were not obligated in its laws, and therefore there would be no problem in going to the mikveh on Shabbat. However, that belies the fact that the forefathers and their offspring made every effort to keep the Torah (which they had fathomed on their own) even before it was given. And especially in such a spiritually charged situation as receiving the Torah, they would not have wanted in any way to violate the rules of the Torah, even before it was given. So, we’re back to square one: How was it permissible for the Jews to go to the mikveh for purpose of conversion on Shabbat?
The answer is the following; the order of the conversion procedure before the Torah was given was the opposite of the order after it was given. Before the Torah was given, it was necessary to “set the stage” for conversion. By undergoing circumcision, mikveh and sacrifice, the person became ready to convert. Circumcision and mikveh were “conditions” for conversion, but they weren’t the essence of the conversion. That only came later with their acceptance of the six hundred and thirteen mitzvoth. Therefore, the “conversion” took place only when they heard the Ten Commandments. It was with the Ten Commandments that the Jews actually took upon themselves the six hundred and thirteen mitzvoth and obligated themselves to fulfill them. In such a case, the mikveh (and circumcision) did not constitute rectification. They were only conditions that prepared for conversion, and were therefore permitted on Shabbat.
However, now that we have Torah, and there is an entity called 613 mitzvoth (commandments) that is “present” in the world, the conditions of conversion can take place after the individual convert accepts the mitzvoth. Now, when a person appears before a Beit Din and declares that he or she accepts all the mitzvoth, they have performed the essence of the conversion (since the Torah has been given and there are six hundred and thirteen mitzvoth that connect man and G-d). He must also undergo circumcision and mikveh, but they may take place after his acceptance of the commandments. In such a case, it is the mikveh that is the final step in his conversion. The acceptance of mitzvoth remains the most important factor and the essence of conversion, but the mikveh is the final rectification, bringing the person under the wings of the “shechina.” It is the true rectification of the person, and therefore it is forbidden on Shabbat.
Before the giving of the Torah, no complete rectification (total connection with G-d) of the person was possible. That was only enabled by the granting of the Ten Commandments, that included all of the six hundred and thirteen mitzvoth of the Torah. In that case, the circumcision and mikveh were only preparations for receiving the Torah, and there was no transgression involved in performing them on Shabbat. Real rectification (connection) could take place only afterward, when the Torah was given and the Jews heard the Ten Commandments. And thereafter, the mikveh become a rectifying factor that made it forbidden on the Shabbat.
The Midrash (Tanhuma Va’era 15, and Shemot Raba 12:3) says, “When G-d created the world, He decreed that ‘the heavens are for G-d, and the earth is given to man.’ When He decided to give the Torah, He nullified the original decree, saying that the lower realms can ascend to the upper, and the upper realms to the lower, and I am the initiator, as it says, ‘And G-d descended upon Mt. Sinai.Ҕ This Midrash proves that whatever revelation occurred before Sinai was not complete. It was only upon the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai that G-d made a complete appearance to man and to the world. Even though previously He made Himself known to the forefathers and even to Moses Himself (at the burning bush), His revelation wasn’t complete until the giving of the Torah.
The same is true regarding the “conversion” of the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai. There are those who declared that the forefathers were not just “bnei Noach,” but were actually Jewish. And there are those who point out regarding the exodus from Egypt that G-d already declared that He “took one nation out from another nation,” indicating the birth of the Jewish nation before the giving of the Torah. Nevertheless, these were only “connections” that G-d established with individuals before the giving of the Torah. His complete revelation didn’t occur until afterward, with the giving of the Torah at Sinai. His revelation at Sinai produced an absolutely new sensation in the world, a new people. The Jews became like a “new-born” baby, and their connection with G-d was complete and absolute in a way that had never been until then. It’s that awareness that we should take into the festival of Shavuot, knowing that with the Ten Commandments, we’re not just receiving some basic and essential directives, but we’re receiving “G-d Himself.”
From Likutei Sichot of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, ztz’l, vol. 33, pp. 26-33 Rabbi David Sterne, Jerusalem Connection in the Old City of Jerusalem