The Torah is much more than a moral guidebook. It expresses our inner essence, and when we Jews violate the Torah’s teachings, we become estranged from our own true selves. For this reason, the Torah had to be given to the people of Israel in a compulsory way, as an inherent aspect of our spiritual makeup, and imposed upon us without our consent…The universe mandates the existence of the Torah and its acceptance, without which rests the impossibility of life or any aspect of existence.

ed note–a very important read for several reasons–

1. Again, that ‘Torah’ business that far too few people feel needs to be properly understood

2. That the notion it posits is that the Jews were ‘forced’ to become the ‘chosen’ people of Yahweh, the violent, vindictive deity they worship,

and

3. That the sustainability of the universe DEPENDS upon all protocols found within the Torah being implemented, and that any universe where these protocols are not implemented, must be destroyed and replaced with one that does.

Now, some of the less-than-intellectually-regimented will reply with the usual–

BFD. Some insane religious nutcase and his ramblings…Doesn’t concern me. Gimme ‘nother beer.

Except that this insane religious nutcase has near-total control over the world’s economy and possesses several hundred nuclear weapons with which he plans to ‘recalibrate’ that aforedescribed universe in order to make it more ‘Torah-compliant’.

As we like to remind people, the Jewish problem is much, much bigger than simply the agony that the Palestinians have been forced to endure on a daily basis for the last century, because–just as it is with any bite from a poisonous snake, while indeed the affected area is the one that experiences the most pain, eventually it is the entire body that will die if the proper antidote is not administered.

Israel National News

The Torah describes the remarkable events that preceded the Torah’s revelation at Mount Sinai:

“Moses led the people out of the camp toward God and they stood at the bottom of the mountain.” (Ex. 19:17)

The Midrash interprets the phrase “bottom of the mountain” quite literally: the people were standing, not at the foot of the mountain, but underneath it.

“The Holy One held the mountain over them like a bucket and warned them: If you accept the Torah – good. And if not – here you will be buried.” (Shabbat 88a)

Would it not have been preferable for the Jewish people to accept the Torah willingly? Why does the Midrash teach that they were forced to accept it?

Limits to Free Will

It is essential that we have the ability to choose between right and wrong. It is through our free will that we develop spiritually and refine our ethical faculties. There are, however, limitations to our free will.

Not everything is subject to freedom of choice. Free will itself is an integral part of life and is beyond our control. We are not free to decide whether to choose or not. We must make an ethical choice. We decide what to choose, where to go, which path to take. But the necessity to choose, like life itself, is forced upon us.

If the Torah was simply a manual on how to make good ethical decisions, it would be appropriate for Israel to be free to accept or reject the Torah. The Torah would belong to the realm of free will, and the fundamental decision whether to accept and follow the Torah would need to be made freely, without coercion.

But the Torah is much more than a moral guidebook. It expresses our inner essence, and when we Jews violate the Torah’s teachings, we become estranged from our own true selves. For this reason, the Torah needed to be given to Israel in a compulsory act and as an inherent aspect of our spiritual makeup imposed upon us without our consent.

Supporting the World

The corollary to this truth is that the Torah is not just some private possession of the Jewish people. Within the inner realm of creation, all is interconnected and interrelated. The universe mandates the existence of the Torah and its acceptance.

Why did the Midrash use the image of an immense mountain dangling overhead as a metaphor for the inevitability of Matan Torah?

Mount Sinai merited a unique role on that decisive day. The mountain represented all of creation; it became the universe’s center of gravity. Mount Sinai absorbed the quality of universality and was permeated with the force of inevitable destiny. It represented the impossibility of life, or any aspect of existence, without the people of Israel accepting the Torah.

The Jewish people made their stand under the mountain. Like Atlas, they supported the entire universe – a universe that was concentrated within the mountain held over their heads. “If you accept the Torah, good” – for then you will have been faithful to your true essence, the truth of your very existence. “And if not, here you will be buried.” The entire universe will rise up against you, just as you have rebelled against your true selves