SHAVUOT – THE GIVING OF THE TORAH – UNIVERSAL LIGHT FOR ALL MANKIND

בס”ד

The giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai was not a private event of the people of Israel alone. It was a great global divine revelation, intended to affect all humanity. The Midrash describes this in a wonderful way. When G-d gave the Torah, the divine voice split into seventy languages. Each nation heard the divine speech in its own language. The purpose of this splitting was to show that the Torah is a testimony to the entire world.

The nations of the world heard the voice at Sinai, and this deeply and essentially connected them to the Torah. This shows that the giving of the Torah was an infinite revelation. It was so powerful that the souls of the Israelites blossomed from every word. The souls left their bodies because of the power of the divine light and were reabsorbed into the infinite heavenly light that shone at that time. But G-d did not leave Israel in this state. He brought them back to life in the same way that will bring all the dead to life in the world to come.

The message here is profound, the Torah is the true source of life and vitality. True resurrection of the dead is possible only through the power of the Torah. Although the nations did not receive all 613 commandments, they heard the divine voice at Sinai in their own language. The Seven Commandments received greater reinforcement in that exalted event.

Maimonides teaches us something important and crucial:

“Whoever receives the seven commandments and is careful to do them – is one of the righteous among the nations, and has a portion in the world to come”.

The Seven Commandments are not just natural moral laws or human logic. They are an integral part of the Torah given at Sinai. When a Noahide learns them and keeps them, he connects to that infinite divine power that was revealed at Mount Sinai. He receives a share in the world to come through the Torah that illuminates the entire world.

The message is that the Torah revives – it gives true and eternal life. Everyone has a share through full observance and through recognition of the Seven Noahide Commandments. A Noahide who keeps the Seven Commandments out of the understanding that they are a Divine commandment becomes a Righteous Among the Nations and receives a share in the world to come. This is the way to connect to the resurrection power of the giving of the Torah.

By Rabbi Moshe Bernstein

Source:

Shemot Rabbah 5:9. Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings Chapter 8, Halacha 11.

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