Timeless Seasons:
Insights on our Yomim Tovim
By Rabbi Pinchos Roberts

Shavuous

CHASTE VISION

It is a remarkable fact that when klal Yisroel were offered the Torah at Sinai, not a single Jew raised any objections or even hesitated. This outstanding phenomenon is recorded in the zemiros that we sing on Shabbos, the day when the Torah was given - ובאו כולם בברית יחד נעשה ונשמע אמרו כאחד . In general, Jews are somewhat contentious; yet, in this instance, there was not one dissenting voice!

The reason could well be based on something which our Sages reveal. In parashas Va’eschanan the verse says אתה הראת לדעת...אין עוד מלבדו . These words mean, “You have been shown, in order that you should know, that Hashem is the sole power in the universe” (Devorim 4:35). What exactly were they shown? Rashi explains that at Sinai, God opened up all the seven heavens so that every Jew, without exception, perceived the Divine sovereignty. For one glorious moment, they caught sight of ’ מלכות ה in all its splendour and, having feasted their eyes on this revelation, the Torah was willingly accepted by the entire nation.

There is a well-known yalkut (Bamidbar 684) which records a complaint by the other nations that the Jewish people enjoyed undue favouritism at Sinai - although they had also been offered the same Torah and had rejected it! Rav S. Brach (Kashow) suggested that their grievance could well be based on the fact that only the Jews had been privileged to experience such an inspiring sight, which won them over, whereas the other nations had not been given this preferential treatment.

However, to counter this accusation, Hashem responded by saying to the other nations הביאו לי ספר היוחסין שלכם כשם שבני מביאים . In other words, the Jewish people were entitled to this revelation because of their unique extraction. To be able to see a מראה אלקים , one needed eyes that were pure, and only klal Yisroel possessed this quality of chasteness - an inheritance from their ancestors.

Right from the beginning this distinction was apparent. When Noach drank strong wine and became exposed, his son Cham, who fathered the Canaanites, gazed unashamedly at his naked parent, whereas Shem, our forebear, carefully averted his eyes (Bereishis 12:11). Avrohom Ovinu was even careful not to stare at his own wife, although she was one of the four most beautiful women in the world (Megillah 15a). Likewise, Yosef resisted every force and torture so as not to look directly at Potifar’s wife and be ensnared by her charm. These roots gave rise to descendants who pitched their tents in the desert in such a way that no family could see into its neighbour’s dwelling. Bilaam was amazed at such refinement and exclaimed, מה טובו אהלך יעקב - but what does a non-Jew know about shemiras ha’einayim!

Unfortunately, however, this is one of the dreadful temptations of our decadent age. So many people are enticed into looking at things and images that are out of bounds for Jews, and they do not realise the harmful effect that such sights have on our innate kedushas Yisroel. On the one hand, we want to discern Hashem directing the world - we daven daily והאר עינינו בתורתך . Yet, at the same time, we are not careful to avoid glancing at immodest spectacles or reading suggestive articles in the newspaper. When the sefer Torah is held aloft, everyone strains to look at its letters radiating holiness - but with eyes that all too often are tarnished with profanity.

Our ancestors toiled to project the sanctity of their vision and that is why their descendants at Sinai merited אתה הראת לדעת...אין עוד מלבדו , a Divine manifestation that inspired them to embrace the Torah. The other nations, without that legacy, were unfit for such a revelation and, therefore, lost out on the most precious gift offered to mankind.

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