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"Take heed to yourself, and guard your soul diligently, lest you forget
the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life, but teach them to your
children and your childrens' children: the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Chorev, when Yahveh said to
me; Gather the people to Me, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall
live upon the earth and that they may teach their children." Deuteronomy 4:9-13
These verses describe the remembrance of the revelation at Sinai. We must be careful to
remember the author of all the commandments and recall the Mount Sinai experience - the thunder and lightning,
(Exodus 20:14) Yahveh's "Glory and Greatness" and His Words coming from the midst of the fire. (Deuteronomy 5:21) We
are also charged to transmit this experience to our children throughout all future generations. Our remembrance is two fold. First, there is the memory of the event itself.
We need to re-experience the awe and power of Har Sinai, and feel it in the depths of our personality. The description of the Mount Sinai in the book of Psalms captures
some of this power. "Yahveh, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, the earth shook,
the heaven dropped at the presence of Yahveh, even Sinai itself, at the presence of Yahveh, the Elohim of Israel." (Psalm
68:8-9) It was an overwhelming experience. Furthermore,
the revelation at Mount Sinai represented a high level of prophecy.
Beyond the power of the experience itself, the receiving of the Torah was also a crucial formative
stage for the people of Israel, playing a central role in the very emergence of the Jewish people as a nation. Moses refers
to it as the day of the assembly." (Deuteronomy 9:10, 10:4, 18:16). It was a day when the Jewish people grew into an
assembly. Yahveh told the people prior to Mount Sinai, "And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Exodus
19:6) Aside from the implications regarding the royal and priestly status of the nation, this verse indicates that the Israelites
will be regarded as a nation connected to Yahveh. Based on Song of Solomon 3:11, the Rabbis
say that this event represents the "marriage day" between Yahveh and His people. Isaiah 54:4 says:
"For He who made you will espouse you, Yahveh of hosts is His name."
In remembering the revelation at Sinai we are called to re-experience the events of the revelation
itself, and attempt to attain greater closeness to Yahveh. We achieve this goal by "takeing heed" and "guarding"
the experience of Mount Sinai, thus bringing us ever closer to Him.
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