Seeing the Voices: “We Will Do and We Will Hear” and the Angels
From the Torah ofRav Dovid Matisyohu Rabinowitzהרב דוד מתתיהו בן יחיאל יהושע רבינוביץProfile ›
Shemos 20:15
וְכׇל־הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת־הַקּוֹלֹת וְאֶת־הַלַּפִּידִם וְאֵת קוֹל הַשֹּׁפָר וְאֶת־הָהָר עָשֵׁן וַיַּרְא הָעָם וַיָּנֻעוּ וַיַּעַמְדוּ מֵרָחֹק
And all the people saw the voices and the torches, and the sound of the shofar, and the mountain smoking; and the people saw, and they trembled and stood from afar.
Rashi: “Saw the voices”: they saw what is heard, something that is impossible to see anywhere else.
1“And all the people saw the voices …”1 Rashi explains: “They saw what is heard, something that is impossible to see anywhere else.” The commentators ask what kind of seeing this was.2 The verse should have said “heard,” since a sound cannot be seen.
וְכָל הָעָם רוֹאִים אֶת הַקּוֹלוֹת וְגוֹ׳ (כ, טו). פֵּירֵשׁ רש״י, רוֹאִין אֶת הַנִּשְׁמָע, מַה שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לִרְאוֹת בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר. וְהִקְשׁוּ הַמְּפָרְשִׁים (אלשיך, ועיין בכלי יקר), מֶה הָיָה עִנְיַן רְאִיָּה זוֹ, שֶׁהָיָה לוֹ לוֹמַר שׁוֹמְעִים, כִּי אֵין רְאִיָּה בְּקוֹל.
In shortHow could the people “see” the voices, as Rashi says, when a sound can only be heard?
2The Midrash comments on the verse “Show me your appearance, let me hear your voice”:3 “R' Akiva applied the verse to Israel at the time they stood before Mount Sinai. ‘My dove, in the clefts of the rock’: they were hidden in the shelter of Sinai. ‘Show me your appearance’: as it says, ‘And all the people saw the voices.’ ‘Let me hear your voice’: this is the voice before the Ten Commandments, as it says, ‘All that Hashem has spoken we will do and we will hear.’”4 But what does saying “We will do and we will hear” have to do with their being able to see the voices?
וְאִיתָא בַּמִּדְרָשׁ (שיר השירים רבה ב, לז) עַל הַכָּתוּב ״הַרְאִינִי אֶת מַרְאַיִךְ הַשְׁמִיעִינִי אֶת קוֹלֵךְ״ (שיר השירים ב, יד), רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא פָּתַר קַרְיֵיהּ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁעָמְדוּ לִפְנֵי הַר סִינַי, ״יוֹנָתִי בְּחַגְוֵי הַסֶּלַע״ שֶׁהָיוּ חֲבוּיִין בְּסִתְרוֹ שֶׁל סִינַי, ״הַרְאִינִי אֶת מַרְאַיִךְ״ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״וְכָל הָעָם רוֹאִין אֶת הַקּוֹלוֹת״, ״הַשְׁמִיעִינִי אֶת קוֹלֵךְ״ זֶה קוֹל שֶׁלִּפְנֵי הַדִּבְּרוֹת שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (כד, ז) ״כֹּל אֲשֶׁר דִּיבֶּר ה׳ נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע״. וְצָרִיךְ בֵּיאוּר שַׁיָּיכוּת אֲמִירַת נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמַע, לְמַה שֶׁזָּכוּ לִרְאוֹת אֶת הַקּוֹלוֹת.
In shortThe Midrash ties “seeing the voices” to “We will do and we will hear,” but how is the one connected to the other?
3aWe can explain this with a teaching of the Gemara: “When Israel put ‘we will do’ before ‘we will hear,’ a heavenly voice went forth and said to them: Who revealed to My children this secret, which the ministering angels use? As it is written, ‘Bless Hashem, His angels, mighty in strength, who do His word, to hear the voice of His word’: first ‘who do,’ and then ‘to hear.’”5 We see, then, that by putting “we will do” before “we will hear,” Israel rose to the level of the angels, whose whole world is nothing but doing their Maker's will, since they have no body.
וְיֵשׁ לְבָאֵר עַל פִּי מַה דְּאִיתָא בַּגְּמָרָא (שבת פח, א), בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהִקְדִּימוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל נַעֲשֶׂה לְנִשְׁמָע יָצְאָה בַּת קוֹל וְאָמְרָה לָהֶם מִי גִּילָּה לְבָנַי רָז זֶה שֶׁמַּלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת מִשְׁתַּמְּשִׁין בּוֹ, דִּכְתִיב (תהילים קג, כ) ״בָּרְכוּ ה׳ מַלְאָכָיו גִּבּוֹרֵי כֹחַ עוֹשֵׂי דְבָרוֹ לִשְׁמוֹעַ בְּקוֹל דְּבָרוֹ״, בְּרֵישָׁא ׳עוֹשֵׂי׳ וַהֲדַר ׳לִשְׁמוֹעַ׳. וּמְבוֹאָר, כִּי בְּהַקְדָּמַת נַעֲשֶׂה לְנִשְׁמָע הִגִּיעוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְדַרְגַּת מַלְאָכִים אֲשֶׁר אֵין לָהֶם בְּעוֹלָמָם אֶלָּא עֲשִׂיַּית רְצוֹן קוֹנָם, לְפִי שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם גּוּף.
- Shabbos 88a; Tehillim 103:20. ↩
3bFor the angels, who are purely spiritual, there is no difference between sound and sight,6 since their perception is spiritual. That is why they can see even sounds. Only the body divides the senses from one another; at the level of the soul there is no difference between sound and sight, and it is all one. So once Bnei Yisrael reached the level of angels at that time, the body no longer formed a separating screen for them. They were privileged to see the voices with their very senses, since for them hearing and seeing were no different. This is why Rashi ends with the words “something that is impossible to see anywhere else.” Only at the giving of the Torah, when they stood on the level of angels, were Bnei Yisrael privileged to reach so great a height, and they never reached it anywhere else again.
וְהִנֵּה אֵצֶל הַמַּלְאָכִים אֲשֶׁר הֵמָּה רוּחָנִיּוֹת לְבַד, אֵין הֶבְדֵּל בֵּין קוֹל לִשְׁמִיעָה, כֵּיוָן שֶׁמַּשִּׂיגִים בִּבְחִינוֹת רוּחָנִיּוֹת, עַל כֵּן יְכוֹלִים לִרְאוֹת אַף הַקּוֹלוֹת, שֶׁרַק לְהַגּוּף יֵשׁ הֶבְדֵּל בֵּין הַחוּשִׁים, אֲבָל כְּלַפֵּי דַּרְגַּת הַנְּשָׁמָה אֵין הֶבְדֵּל בֵּין הַקּוֹל לְמַרְאֶה וְהַכֹּל שָׁוֶה. וְעַל כֵּן מִכֵּיוָן שֶׁהִגִּיעוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה לְדַרְגַּת מַלְאָכִים, לֹא הִיוָּוה הַגּוּף מָסָךְ הַמַּבְדִּיל כְּלַפֵּיהֶם, וְזָכוּ לִרְאוֹת הַקּוֹלוֹת בְּחוּשׁ, לְפִי שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה הֶבְדֵּל אֶצְלָם בֵּין שְׁמִיעָה לִרְאִיָּה, וְזֶהוּ שֶׁסִּיֵּים רש״י ׳מַה שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לִרְאוֹת בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר׳, הַיְינוּ שֶׁרַק בְּעֵת מַתַּן תּוֹרָה שֶׁהָיוּ בְּמַדְרֵגַת מַלְאָכִים, זָכוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמַדְרֵיגָה גְּדוֹלָה כָּזוֹ, וְלֹא זָכוּ לָזֶה בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר עוֹד שׁוּב.
- The sefer has “between sound and hearing”; the passage goes on to speak of “between sound and sight” and “between hearing and seeing,” so sight is evidently meant. ↩
In shortPutting “we will do” first raised Israel to the angels' level, where the senses are one, so at Sinai alone it could truly see sound.
4This explains the Midrash we cited. The Midrash was asking how Bnei Yisrael earned so high a level. Its answer is that all of them together took it upon themselves and said, “We will do and we will hear.” Because of this they were privileged to become holy like the ministering angels, who have no body to form a separating screen, and so they were able to see the voices.
וּבָזֶה יִתְבָּאֲרוּ דִּבְרֵי הַמִּדְרָשׁ הַנִּזְכָּר, דְּהוּקְשָׁה לוֹ מֵהֵיכָן זָכוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמַדְרֵיגָה גְּדוֹלָה כָּזֹאת, וְעַל זֶה הֵשִׁיב שֶׁמִּתּוֹךְ שֶׁקִּבְּלוּ עַל עַצְמָם כּוּלָּם יַחַד וְאָמְרוּ נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמַע, לָכֵן זָכוּ לְהִתְקַדֵּשׁ כְּמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם גּוּף הָעוֹשֶׂה מָסָךְ הַמַּבְדִּיל, וְעַל כֵּן זָכוּ לִרְאוֹת אֶת הַקּוֹלוֹת.
In shortSaying together “We will do and we will hear” made Israel holy like the angels, with no bodily screen, so it could see the voices.
5May Hashem remove every separating screen from us. May we be privileged to sanctify all 248 limbs of our bodies and to serve the Creator, and may the earth soon “be filled with knowledge of Hashem”7 with the coming of our righteous Moshiach. Amen.
ה׳ יִתְבָּרֵךְ יָסִיר מֵעָלֵינוּ כָּל הַמְּסָכִים הַמַּבְדִּילִים, וְנִזְכֶּה לְקַדֵּשׁ רמ״ח אֵיבָרֵינוּ, וְלַעֲבוֹד אֶת הַבּוֹרֵא יִתְבָּרֵךְ שְׁמוֹ, וּבְקָרוֹב תִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ דֵּעָה אֶת ה׳ בְּבִיאַת מְשִׁיחַ צִדְקֵינוּ, אָמֵן.
- Yeshayahu 11:9. ↩
In shortThe Rebbe prays that Hashem remove every screen, that we sanctify our limbs, and that the earth soon be filled with knowledge of Hashem.
Takeaway
At Sinai the body stopped being a screen, and Bnei Yisrael could see what is normally only heard. What brought them there was saying together “we will do” before “we will hear,” living, like the angels, for nothing but Hashem's will. As we sanctify our own limbs by doing His will, we can pray that Hashem remove the screens that separate us, and that the earth soon be filled with knowledge of Hashem.
Learn this in the merit of Rav Dovid Matisyohu Rabinowitz. His yahrzeit and life ›
English translation, notes and summaries © Zechusam.