Parshah - Yitro- Accepting The Torah In a Desert
In this Torah portion, Yitro, we read about the revelation on Mt. Sinai. Mt. Sinai is situated in a desert. The desert has no owner. By giving the Torah in the desert, G‑d showed that everyone regardless of what he has can accept the Torah. The Jewish people accepted the 613 commandments while the 7 Noahide commandments were given to all the nations with no exception. Torah was given with the 7 Noahide laws on Mount Sinai in order to enable man below to build G‑d a dwelling place in the lowest levels of creation. G‑d gave us the task of revealing the true essence of the world, and transforming its darkness into light, into an environment in which G‑d’s Presence is felt.
The first Noahide commandment, The Prohibition of Idolatry also includes the belief that there is no supreme entity except the creator. The Essence of G‑d is totally independent of any other existence. All other existence depends on G‑d, but He does not need or depend on any other existence. He may therefore be defined as the true existence. It is a principle of our faith that G‑d is One, a belief that not only means a singular being but also that G‑d is everything and everywhere. He was, is, and will always be. He has no beginning and no end. There is nothing whatsoever that resembles Him. The Divine light undergoes stages of constriction, in order for Him to create the finite world. There is a concealment of His infinite light, however, there is no concealment of His true essence.
“The purpose for which this world was created is that the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to have a dwelling place in the lower worlds,” says the Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.
This revelation on Mt. Sinai was an introduction to the Era of Redemption where all of mankind will be able to comprehend that the world is G‑d’s dwelling place. May this happen in the immediate future.
Rabbi Moshe Bernestein is a writer and a Community Rabbi in Netanya, Israel. He believes in making connections between the Jewish People and the Noahides worldwide in order to share and enhance the knowledge of the Torah's Universal Code for Humanity and fulfil Isaiah's Prophecy 11:9 " And the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the oceans".
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Shalom Rabbi.
I really enjoyed the article you wrote. As I was reading through this week's Torah Portion "Yitro" I was doing some more Noahide brainstorming thoughts about it and I have some questions that you may be able to help me with.
First, I am really curious about how Torah ethics were upheld prior to Mt. Sinai. What standards did the Creator have for humans prior to the giving of Torah at Mt. Sinai? What Code of Ethics were followed? How did people know right from wrong? For example, what about the 6 Laws of Adam? If there were no Code of Ethics that the Creator gave to mankind prior to Mt. Sinai, then how would it be just…