My
kids and my wife know that if I am driving, they will be listening to thirty
years’ worth of soundboard quality concerts of the Grateful Dead. It may be a concert from 1967; it may be a
concert from 1995 or the recent shows this past summer or something in between.
Every so often I will even chime in and tell them that I was at a particular
show. Yes, I am a Dead Head. If anyone has ever attended a Grateful Dead
Show (the original band played over 2300 concerts from 1965-1995), or had the
opportunity to experience the more than 200 shows after the death of Jerry
Garcia in August of 1995 (surviving members of the original band performed as Further,
The Other Ones, The Dead, and most recently Dead and Company); then
understanding the notion of public revelation isn’t so unique nor too difficult
to comprehend. Statistically, many more people have not experienced this
type of concert. Many more people have seen The Rolling Stones. However whether
one has seen one Grateful Dead show or 1000 shows, whether one saw the original
band in 1965 or saw the latest rendition of the band during the summer or fall
of 2015; make no mistake, those who have experienced a show share a common
language, saw similar sights, maybe even heard the similar songs, and were part
of a community that is happy to be routinely considered outside the mainstream
society. Everyone knows that no two shows are ever the same. Therefore the experience
at a show is both communal and individual. In today’s day and age, the concept of a Revelation
is tends to be more individual in nature. Of the three Abrahamic religions,
Christianity and Islam are based upon the revelation of the individual. However
Judaism, the oldest of the three Abrahamic religions and with the smallest
number of adherents is completely based upon a public revelation. Certainly
each individual experienced something slightly different, but they experienced
some type of revelation while standing at Mt. Sinai. When learning about another’s revelation,
“awe” and “fear” becoming obstacles for those learning about an individual’s
revelation. If the person is unapproachable, then it becomes all but impossible
to be spiritually close enough to that person in order to learn all that there
is to learn from that revelatory experience. However, after three and half
hours of a Grateful Dead Show, the experience is so powerful that it any longer
would become overwhelming. That’s not to say one might not show up for
consecutive shows or even tour with the band, but eventually individual shows, a
three night runs in a particular city, and typical six week tour will
eventually come to an end. Nobody can experience a constant first hand
revelation and be expected to live.
This Shabbat we read from Parsha
Yitro. This week's Parsha is Yitro. Named after Moshe father in-law, who
happens to be a Midianite priest, the Parsha begins with Moshe leading B'nai
Yisroel toward the wilderness of Midian where he meets up with his father
in-law, his wife and his two sons. Yitro suggests that Moshe should create a
bureaucracy whereby others administer the small everyday rulings required of a
judge. Difficult legal issues would be administered by Moshe. Moshe is then
commanded by God to bring B'nai Yisroel to Mt. Sinai. For three days they will
purify themselves, clean their clothes, not have marital relations, and purify
their souls for a revelation. There with the mountain smoking and thunder
billowing from the heavens, God begins to speak. B'nai Yisroel is absolutely
petrified and fearing death, they beg Moshe to go up the mountain as their Shaliach (appointed messenger). Moshe
ascends the mountain and receives the Aseret
HaDibrot (the Ten Commandments),
then descends. Upon his descent he tells B'nai Yisroel the Aseret HaDibrot.
However the Parsha concludes in
a very peculiar way. B’nai Yisroel just shared an absolutely surreal experience;
they prepared for three days, they approached the mountain, the mountain looked
like it was smoking and full of fire and then they heard the voice of God.
Despite this incredibly surreal moment, despite this awesome experience, they were
only spiritually capable enough to handle hearing the first commandment. They
relied upon Moshe to tell them the remaining nine commandments. Indeed this was
an awe inspiring moment, yet simultaneously it was a spiritually overwhelming
moment. V’Chol Ha’Am Ro’im et HaKolot
V’Et Halapidim V’Eit Kol HaShofar V’Et HaHar Ashein VaYar Ha’Am VaYanu’U VaYamdu Meirachok The entire nation saw the thunder and the
flames, the sound of the shofar and the smoking mountain; the people saw and
trembled from afar. VaYomru El Moshe
Daber Atah Imanu V’Nishma’ah B’Al Yidabeir Imanu Elohim Pen Namut. They said to Moshe, “You speak to us and we
shall hear; let God not speak to us lest we die. (Ex. 20:15-16) So Moshe goes back up into the darkness of the
mountain and God tells Moshe to say to B’nai
Yisroel Atem Riitem Ki Min HaSHamayim Dibarti Imachem You (B’nai Yisroel) have seen that I spoke to from heaven. (Ex.
20:19) Normally one hears what is spoken; however because the experience is so
surreal, apparently one “sees” what is spoken from heaven. Rashi, the great 11th
century French commentator, explains the phrase “see what was spoken” as
opposed to hear what was spoken. Yeish
Hafreish Bein Mah Sh’Adam Roeh L’Mah Sheh’Acheirim MSichin Lo Sh’Mah She’
Acheirim M’Sichin Lo Pa’Amim Sh’Libo Chaluck MilHaAmin There is a difference between that which a man sees and that about
which others tell him, for about that which others tell him, at times his heart
(mind) is doubtful about believing. When one experiences revelation first
hand, then there is a minimal chance of “sin”, of having some other God before
Hashem. However when one hears about revelation, there is more risk for
individual to have another god before Hashem.
Revelation is fraught with
boundaries and limitations. Too much
revelation can lead to fear, spiritual paralysis and even fear of death -Pen Namut perhaps We Die. Not enough
revelation, that is to say, experiencing it second hand creates a possibility
that followers of the individual who had the revelatory experience may elevate
that individual to a status of more than just a person, more than just a
prophet. The Revelation at Sinai had one profound
purpose. B’nai Yisroel had to see, hear, and acknowledge that there can be no
other god before Hashem. That acknowledgement, that communal and national
acknowledgement of each person having a first-hand Revelation on that day, at that
time, and at that place is what makes Judaism completely unique from the other
Abrahamic religions. Always with the fewest followers compared to Christianity
and Islam, always considered outside the dominant culture, that moment at Sinai
connected a group of people through space and time. From a secular perspective,
those who have experienced a Grateful Dead Show understand what it’s like to “See
the thunder” and hear the “sound of the smoking mountain.” Like the bumper sticker says: “There’s nothing
like a Grateful Dead concert”.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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