1 1) We see this concept by matan תורה
that בני ישראל saw the thunder and the sound of the shofar.
“וְכָל הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת הַקּוֹלֹת וְאֶת הַלַּפִּידִם וְאֵת קןל הַשֹּׁפָר וְאֶת הָהָר
עָשֵׁן וַיַּרְא הָעָם וַיָּנֻעוּ וַיַּעַמְדוּ מֵרָחֹק:” ( of the shofar)
“וְנִגְלָה כְּבוֹד יְהוָה וְרָאוּ כָל בָּשָׂר
יַחְדָּו כי פי יְהוָה
דִּבֵּר:”
The Question: What does it mean to see sound?
What is the literal meaning of this? It can’t just be a metaphor? And what is
the connection between the pasuk by matan Torah and yemot hamoshiach?
Understanding Sight and
Sound:
“וְאַחַר עוֹרִי נִקְּפוּ
זֹאת ומבשרי אֶחֱזֶה
אֱלוֹהַּ”- from my flesh I will see hashem.
From this pasuk we learn that the body is a reflection of Hashem and his workings that
cannot be seen directly.
Therefore the only access
we have to that source is studying its reflection. An analogy is like a film
projected on the screen. One isn’t seeing the film itself, nor what was
actually filmed but rather its projection. Yet from it, one can see what was
filmed and the film-strip itself. Therefore by studying and understing the body
correctly one can better understand the source ( hashem and his Torah).cannot be seen directly.
The difference
between seeing and hearing:
Seeing is instantaneous perception. When one sees he is taking
in everything at once. There is no process involved in seeing. All the
components are understood at once. That is why the word in Hebrew is
re’iyah. The Hebrew word for proof is ra’ayah. Seeing is believing- it is all
there, it has been understood as truth.
Hearing, on the other hand,
is an experience which recquires much processing. One hears one piece at a time. A word is
said, it is memorized, another word is said, it too is memorized. By the end of
the sentence one can grasp the idea only by combining all the memories together
and forming a greater whole/totality.
These two are two completely opposite modes.
Seeing is an instant flash of perception, while hearing is a process of
internalizing bits of a message.
Q: So what does each function thereby represent?
Answer:
Hearing is the mode representing
this world while seeing is the mode representing the next world. In the
next world there is no construction. It is purely looking back on the journey,
an instantaneous understanding of truth. Time no longer exists. One is simply
looking back on this lifetime, now understanding his purpose and the ways of
Hashem. The individuals reward is the observing what truth he had built during
his journey. This world, on the other hand, is a long process of building day
by day, little by little. Only by internalizing the messages of every day and
creating a larger picture can one see the truth. One must listen attentively
and have a discerning ear in order to uncover this hidden truth.
When they stood at the foot of
har Sinai and received the Torah, bnei yisroel experienced the combination of
this world with the next world. The infinite of the next world melted into
the finite of this world. That is why bnei yisroel all died at har Sinai. They
were already experiencing the next world. The gemarah says that at that moment
that the Torah was given nothing moved. Because everything was already there,
and because perfection was already attained, there was nowhere to move. The
world of vision superimposed itself on the world of hearing. There was no
possibility nor need for moving, growth or and combining. Har Sinai was a
state of wholeness.
They were given the Torah,
something that is whole and perfect. They understood right from wrong, they saw
voices of the shofar- the fusing of the two worlds, each piece as part of a
greater whole. This world merged with the world to come thereby allowing them
to grasp a pure truth. Seeing alone is not enough, nor is only hearing. The
Torah- something with immeasurable depth that descended from Hashem himself- is
the totality of 600,000 letters put together creating a complete whole. Only through this process of combining the
function of hearing (a finite process) and seeing (an infinite one) could the
Torah- a scroll containing a mere 600,000 letters with infinitely deep meaning be given over. Both senses are needed in
order to fully grasp the world around us.
The message
of matan Torah is that we must learn to hear properly. We live in a world that
runs day by day, piece by piece. We don’t experience miracles all the time
in order to easily understand that truth. That is left again for the time of
moshiach as the pasuk says. We must learn how to internalize each and every
message in order to put it all together. Only then can the eid(witness) of shmah become
a dah(knowledge) of Truth.
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