Doubts At Mount Sinai

Torah, Deuteronomy 4:11 – 4:14: And you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire up to the midst of the heavens, with darkness, a cloud, and opaque darkness. The Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but saw no image, just a voice. And He told you His covenant, which He commanded you to do, the Ten Commandments, and He inscribed them on two stone tablets and the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, so that you should do them in the land to which you are crossing to possess.

The Creator speaks to the people out of the flaming mountain that symbolizes a huge, burning egoism. He commands them to overcome this egoism in order to unite with Him and to carve the tablets of the Covenant on their hearts and cut Ten Commandments on their flesh, meaning ten qualities in which they will adhere to the Creator. Then, their stony hearts will turn into a living ones.

Only under such conditions will they be able to enter the land of Israel and begin the correction of their animal nature to human.

Question: Why do they stand beneath the mountain and not climb it?

Answer: So far, they are unable to climb to the top. The mountain hanging over them represents an enormous hatred that divides them, but they don’t feel it completely yet. They understand that they need to climb to the top, but their desires are so small that they remain below the mountain. Therefore, only Moses, being their spiritual representative, climbs the mountain.

The mountain (Har) from the word “Hirurim,” which means “doubts”) symbolizes various problems that divide people and they have no idea how to overcome them and rise above them.

Therefore, they tell Moses, “We are afraid to approach the mountain. It burns and buzzes like a volcano that can erupt any minute! It radiates hatred. If the volcano erupts, we will tear each other to pieces. You climb and we will stay here.”

To the extent that the children of Israel correct their egoism, it becomes revealed to them as a mountain of hatred. It will be this way until the end of correction. Love always is attained above hatred.

They begin to feel what they are going for, but they don’t understand it fully yet because a person is only shown the part of egoism that he can correct. How can it be otherwise? Is it possible to entrust a serious job to a child?

Question: But was Moses given an ability to see and feel this?

Answer: Moses is the attribute of absolute bestowal that leads them. Despite the fact that their egoism resists and doesn’t want this, the point in the heart pulls them forward. Even if a person doesn’t really want it, he still rushes upward because the point in the heart is stronger, higher, and lighter than he is.

It says to a person, “If you don’t wish to go with me and you despise my moving forward, you will become worse than an animal.” A person, even out of egoism and out of his pride, can’t agree with it. Therefore, he follows the point in the heart against his will. This is our life.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/17/15