בס"ד

Before and after Mount Sinai

(Based on Likkutei Sichot, vol. 5, p. 86)

What does it really mean to have a commandment?
What is a mitzvah?
And what is the difference between the commandments before the Giving of the Torah and those after it?

To understand this, we begin with a verse from Shir HaShirim:

“For the fragrance of your good ointments is pleasing; poured oil is your name.”

Our Sages explain in Midrash Rabbah that this verse is not poetic imagery alone. It describes two distinct stages in history and two fundamentally different kinds of commandments.

The commandments fulfilled by the forefathers are compared to fragrance.
The mitzvot that the Jewish people fulfill today are compared to poured oil.

This distinction is essential.

What Is “Fragrance”?

Fragrance is something beautiful, but limited.
It is not the essence of an object, only a reflection of it.
And it does not endure. It fades.

Spiritually speaking, this means that the commandments fulfilled before the Giving of the Torah, even when performed by the greatest individuals, brought only a reflection of G-dliness into the world. That G-dliness did not remain embedded within physical reality.

This is why our sages say that the mitzvot of the forefathers did not leave lasting holiness within the material world.

The World Before the Giving of the Torah

Before Sinai, there was a decree separating spirituality from materiality. The higher worlds and the physical world were not truly connected.

A well-known example is Yaakov. The Zohar explains that Yaakov fulfilled the mitzvah of tefillin. However, he did not do so with leather boxes as we do today. Instead, in Parshat Vayetze, he used wooden sticks that he had shaped for the purpose of multiplying his sheep. When he finished, he discarded them. But in a certain way, by using them, he thereby fulfilled the mitzvah of wearing tefillin.

Why?
Because the holiness did not remain in the object itself. The material was not transformed.

This kind of service was based on personal understanding and spiritual insight. It was elevated, but it had limits.

Avraham, too, searched for G-d through intellect. The Rambam in the beginning of Laws of Idolatry describes how he arrived at monotheism purely through contemplation. Yet the Torah tells us nothing about the first seventy-five years of Avraham’s life. Only when G-d speaks to him directly does the Torah begin his story.

Because no matter how great human understanding may be, it cannot be compared to a moment in which G-d says, “Go.”

The essential point is not what a person seeks from G-d, but what G-d asks of the person.

What Changed at Sinai?

At Mount Sinai, something entirely new occurred.

G-d said to Moshe: “You ascend, and I descend.”

The separation between heaven and earth was removed.

From that moment on, the essence of G-dliness could enter the physical world. Not as fragrance, but as poured oil. Not temporarily, but permanently.

That is why tefillin today are not merely leather, but holiness.
That is why a physical action can truly transform reality.

This idea is reflected in the blessing recited after using the bathroom, where we thank G-d “who heals all flesh and works wonders.” The Rama explains that this “wonder” is the continuous joining of soul and body, spirituality and physicality, functioning together.

That union is precisely what became possible through the Giving of the Torah.

And Where Do Bnei Noach Fit In?

The Rambam writes that a non-Jew who accepts and carefully fulfills the seven commandments is considered among the pious of the nations and merits a share in the World to Come.

But he adds a critical condition: this applies only when those commandments are fulfilled because G-d commanded them in the Torah, and because Moshe taught us that they were originally given to the descendants of Noach.

This is not a technical detail. It is the foundation.

Because when the Torah was given, the law was renewed. Everything that existed before Sinai gained its validity only through Sinai.

That is why we do not derive halachic obligation from the actions of the forefathers. We learn values, character, and inspiration from them — but not commandments.

A mitzvah exists only where there is a divine command.

Practical Implications

Commandments that were given to Bnei Noach and later repeated to Israel apply to both.
Those that were not repeated were removed from Bnei Noach and given exclusively to Israel.

Likewise, certain positive commandments, though valuable, are not obligatory for Bnei Noach. A good example is the sciatic nerve: this may not be eaten by Jews, but it may be eaten by non-Jews.

Doing good is always good.
But a mitzvah is something more precise: a commanded connection.

What Is the Main Point Today?

For Bnei Noach, the focus is not only on prohibitions — not to kill, steal, worship idols, commit sexual immorality, eat from a living animal, blaspheme, or pervert justice.

It is also about building a life of meaning: charity, honoring parents, hospitality, emotional and intellectual growth, moral living, and learning.

Not to become a “better animal,” but simply to become a better human being.

The world was created to be refined. That task is not limited to one people.

Final Thought

The Alter Rebbe once cried out:

“I do not want Your Paradise.
I do not want Your World to Come.
I want only You.”

The question, in the end, is this:

Is spiritual life merely fragrance — uplifting but fleeting?
Or can it be poured oil — real, enduring connection?

According to the Rambam, when the commandments are fulfilled in recognition of the Giving of the Torah, that connection is real. It changes the person, and it changes the world — not only in the future, but now.

With thanks to Rabbi Tuvia Serber for the shiur and the feedback.



© Copyright, alle rechten voorbehouden. Als je dit artikel leuk vond, moedigen we je aan om het verder te verspreiden.

Onze blogs kunnen tekst/quotes/verwijzingen/links bevatten die auteursrechtelijk beschermd materiaal bevatten van Mechon-Mamre.org, Aish.nl, Sefaria.org, Chabad.orgen/of VraagNoah.orgdie we gebruiken in overeenstemming met hun beleid.