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Last week (parshat Yitro), we discussed the multi-media event during which the Torah was given to the Jewish people. Our sage of the sixteen hundreds, Rabbi Nosson Nata Shapira (author of Megaleh Amukot on the Torah) tells us that matan Torah (the giving of the Torah) was characterized by ratzoh v'shuv ("running and returning"), during which the soul is alternately attracted to and then afraid of divine revelation. As a result of this initial attraction followed by running away, the Jews were "thrown back" twelve miles each time they heard one of the ten commandments. With the aid and support of angels, they were brought back to Mt Sinai ten times in order to receive the entire Torah.
R' Shapira makes a fascinating connection between the events at Mt. Sinai, and the dream of our forefather Yaakov on the Temple Mt. There, he dreamt of the ladder with angels ascending and descending. We generally accept the dream as a metaphor for prayer, during which we must ascend the ladder of spirituality and descend from Above, bringing spirituality "down to earth." But, the Megaleh Amukot points out that the gematria, or numerical value of sulam ("ladder" – without the letter vov) is equivalent to Sinai, and he posits that the dream actually took place at Mt. Sinai, and it was a metaphor for the giving of the Torah. Just as angels were present to support and help the Jews during the process of ratzoh v'shuv that they experienced during the ten commandments, so were the angels present during Yaakov's dream, ascending and descending the ladder. Their ascent and descent also corresponded to the process of ratzoh v'shuv. In fact, R' Shapira suggests exactly which angels were involved; it was the angel Nuriel who supported the Jews during their ascent (as they heard the ten commandments). That is why Yaakov said, Mah norah hamakom hazeh ("How awesome is this place…") when he awoke – the adjective norah applies to the angel of awe – Nuriel. And the angel of descent was none other than Metat, the "minister of the worlds," who occupies both worlds of bria and yetzira. The twelve tribes who were present at the giving of the Torah were also present (albeit in a nascent form) during Yaakov's dream; they were symbolized by the twelve stones that he placed around his head as he slept.
Yaakov's statement (upon awakening) that "…this is none other than the House of Elokim" corresponds to the 120 miles that the Jews covered when they "flew back" (shuv) upon hearing the ten commandments. This is because the name Elokim contains 120 permutations (five factorial, for those who know mathematics) of its five letters. For each of the ten commandments, the Jews "flew back" twelve miles, corresponding to the twelve tribes, each of which possessed its own divine path of prayer in the heavens. There are more details, but the Megaleh Amukot makes it very clear that Yaakov Avinu's dream of the ladder corresponds closely, and as a matter of fact is an event that predicts and parallels the giving of the Torah.
And now we can move on to our own parsha, Mishpatim. R' Shapira does what he so often does when interpreting the Torah portion; he asks a question regarding the pshat, or simple text level of the text, and provides an answer based upon kaballah, or the secrets of the Torah. In our case, he asks the same question that Rashi asks at the beginning of our parsha; why does it begin with the word ve'eleh ("And these…"). R' Yishmael in the Midrash tells us that the word indicates "something additional." Elaborating, R' Yishmael tells us that not only were the ten commandments from Sinai, but also the detailed laws concerning slaves, torts and civil law that are contained in our parsha, were also given to the Jews at Mt. Sinai. The Megaleh Amukot asks, "we already know (from Talmud Sanhedrin 99A) that anyone who claims that the entire Torah was given at Mt. Sinai except for one letter, is a "non-believer." So, we already know that the entire Torah was granted at Mt. Sinai, and what does R' Yishmael seek to tell us that we don't know already?
Looking back in our history, we see that most if not all of the Torah was already known to the Jews well before matan Torah, the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. For example, Shem, son of Noach, had a yeshiva, in which our forefathers studied at various times. Yaakov Avinu studied for fourteen years in the yeshiva of Shem, before he went on his way to his father in law's house. And all of the forefathers were known to have kept the entire Torah, even before it was given (their special powers allowed them to ascend to the spiritual levels above where they could understand the Torah, even though it had not yet been given here in the physical world).
As we approached the exodus from Egypt, knowledge of the Torah was extended to all the Jews, not only to the leaders. Two weeks before leaving Egypt, we were given the mitzvah, or commandment to sanctify the new month of Nissan, followed by the mitzvah to "draw and take" a lamb or goat to offer as the paschal sacrifice upon leaving Egypt. Then, finally a month or so after the exodus, at a location called Marah in the desert, we were given the commandments of Shabbat and dinim (which are the laws that are presented in our parsha). So, even though these commandments were given at Mt. Sinai, they were all known and studied before Mt. Sinai. So, what did the events at Mt. Sinai add to Jewish awareness and understanding that wasn't present already?
In answer, the Megaleh Amukot suggests that even though the dinim, or detailed civil laws of our parsha (Mishpatim) were already given at Marah, the Jews did not understand them at that time. It wasn't until God "opened up the heavens" for the Jews and showed them the Torah in its spiritual source that the Jews comprehended the detailed laws of our parsha. According to R' Shapira, at matan Torah, God "opened the seven heavens and the Jews saw the supernal thrones, and how they were organized. And as it says in Kings 1 10:19, there are "six levels leading up to the throne." The reference is to the throne of King Solomon in the holy Temple, but the Jews were able to see the spiritual "throne" (meaning the spiritual level at which God lowered Himself to appear to the Jews at Mt. Sinai). And with this visualization, they were able to comprehend the entire subject of civil laws in the Torah, which is among the most complicated and detailed sections of the Torah. The Megaleh Amukot also points out that this is hinted to by the letter vov that is the first letter of the parsha – since it is of numerical value six, it hints to the six steps leading to the throne and hence to the visual insight that the Jews achieved at matan Torah.
The Megaleh Amukot does not offer us much more "color" on his thesis – that the Jews understood the dinim at matan Torah because it was there that God revealed the laws in their spiritual source. However, his thesis does help us to understand another basic question in the pshat, or simple textual level of matan Torah. And that is, why was it necessary for Yitro, Moshe's father in law, to suggest to him to delegate authority, rather than to attempt to teach the Jews all by himself? Why was it necessary for Yitro to suggest to Moshe to appoint heads of thousands of Jews, of hundreds, and of tens, etc, in order to handle smaller cases while Moshe himself would handle the "larger," more important cases? Shouldn't that have been something that Moshe understood on his own, without any prompting from his father in law? What was he thinking, that he could single-handedly teach all of the Jews by himself?
In a sicha on parshat Yitro, the Lubavitcher Rebbe asked this question and his answer is very reminiscent of R' Shapira's answer. He says that Moshe Rabeinu did not seek to teach the Jews in the traditional manner. He sought to teach them in the same manner as they learned at matan Torah itself – visually. Because Moshe wanted to show the Jews the laws in their spiritual source, he thought that it would be possible for him to teach all of them. When one teaches in the traditional didactic manner, by listening to verbal explanations, one can only reach a limited audience over a period of time. But, by visually showing something, one can reach a large audience very quickly. This was Moshe's aim – he wanted to show the spiritual source of the laws to the Jews in such a way that they would grasp immediately in an organic whole. If he had succeeded, then the Jews would have been able to deduce all of the details of the law from the spiritual source that Moshe Rabeinu showed them.
However, Yitro informed Moshe that the Jews were just not on this level. Although they were on this level at matan Torah, because God opened up the heavens so they could detect spirituality with the naked eye, after that event, they "returned to their senses," so to speak. They could no longer detect the Jewish law in its source, so it was necessary to teach them step by step in the conventional didactic manner. This, Yitro told Moshe, he would not be able to do on his own – he needed to delegate authority – ministers over thousands, over hundreds and over tens, in order to educate the Jews. And in fact, it will not be until the meshiach – the Jewish messiah – arrives that we will be able to apprehend the Torah in its spiritual source. At that time, "the universe will be full of knowledge of God, as the waters cover the ocean bed."