The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Va’eschanan

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) recounts what happened at Mount Sinai where the Yidin (the Jewish people) received the Ten Commandments/ the Torah.

During this repetition of the Ten Commandments, Moshe Rabbeinu reminds the Yidin that throughout the giving of the Ten Commandments the voice of Hashem was “a great voice which did not stop” .

2. The Rebbe now quotes the Midrash which brings three possible meanings for “it was a great voice which did not stop” :

The first explanation: “It was a great voice which did not stop” means that during the Ten Commandments there was one voice (the voice of Hashem) which then split into seven voices and these seven voices then split into the seventy languages of the world.

The second explanation: “It was a great voice which did not stop” means that the voice of Hashem did not stop after the giving of the Ten Commandments, it is a continuous voice which our Prophets and Sages use to reveal new Torah insights.

The third explanation: “It was a great voice which did not stop” means that there was no echo of Hashem’s voice.

3. The Rebbe now asks three questions:

Question number one: The first and second explanation clearly testify to Hashem’s greatness and infinite power; the first explanation showing that the Ten Commandments were not limited only to the Holy Tongue (Hebrew), and the second explanation showing that Hashem’s voice was not limited to that time. What’s left to understand is how the third explanation demonstrates the greatness of Hashem and His infinite power. How does the absence of an echo express Hashem’s power? On the contrary, the absence of an echo would seemingly illustrate the feebleness of His voice!

Question number two: Every voice naturally has an echo, and the stronger the voice is the stronger the echo will be. If so, the “great voice” of Hashem at the giving of the Ten Commandments naturally should have had a strong resonating echo. Instead, Hashem made a miracle and took away the echo of His “great voice”. Now, our Sages have told us that Hashem does not make a miracle without reason , therefore, we must try to understand the need for this miracle?

Question number three: The Torah does not tell us random stories, every story must have a useful lesson for us . This being the case, we must try to find out what the Torah is trying to teach us when it says that “It was a great voice which did not stop”.

4. The Rebbe now gives some background information concerning the Ten Commandments which will lead us to the answers of all three questions:

The first word of the Ten Commandments, and indeed the seminal point in which all the Ten Commandments were included , is “Anochi – I” (i.e. G-d). The Talmud tells us that the word “Anochi – I” is an acronym for “Ana Nafshi Kesavis Yehavis – I Myself wrote and gave” . This means that when Hashem said the Ten Commandments He put His Essence (Etzem) into them.

Another crucial point is that Hashem said the Ten Commandments to each and every Jew individually, and this includes every Jew throughout the generations . As it says “I am Hashem your G-d (singular form)”.

The outcome of these two facts is that Hashem gave His Essence (Etzem) to every single Jew individually.

5. The Rebbe now tells us the lesson we can learn from the second explanation of the words “It was a great voice which did not stop” (that it was a never ending voice):

A person could be fooled into thinking that “Hashem only put His Essence into the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, not the new Torah insights which our Prophets and Sages have taught us. The new Torah insights do not have the same power as the words at Mount Sinai! And, the new enactments of our Sages were given to the general public, not to me specifically, and therefore I must only fulfill these commandments because I am a part of the general public”.

The answer to this is the verse “It was a great voice which did not stop” (according to the second explanation): The same strength with which the Torah was given on Mount Sinai continues to course through the Torah today and therefore every new insight from our Prophets and Sages are being said with the strength of Hashem’s Essence and is being said to every Jew individually (just like at the giving of the Torah).

6. The Rebbe now tells us a lesson we can learn from the first explanation of the words “It was a great voice which did not stop” (that the voice split into the seventy languages of the world):

The Rambam (Maimonides) tells us that non-Jewish people are obligated to keep the “Seven Noahide laws” and the Jewish people should strongly encourage them to keep these laws.

It is possible however for a one to mistakenly think that this is only a “side-dish” and it is not really important. Therefore the Torah says “It was a great voice which did not stop” (according to the first explanation): The Torah is telling us that the voice of Hashem at the giving of the Torah was split into the seventy languages of the world and the non-Jewish people got their Seven Noahide Laws from Hashem also at that time.

7. The Rebbe now tells us another lesson we can learn from the first explanation of the words “It was a great voice which did not stop” (that the voice split into the seventy languages of the world):

The Talmud tells us that the Jewish people were exiled to live among the nations of the world so that they could elevate any sparks of Holiness which are present among them. This mission includes elevating the sparks which are found in their languages; when a Jew uses the language of the land in his conversations which are in accordance with Torah Law, and certainly if he learns Torah while using the language of the land, he is elevating the sparks of Holiness which are in that language.

Now, one could mistakenly think that learning Torah while using the language of the land is not as Holy as learning Torah with it’s original language because the Torah was given in the Holy Tongue. To this the Torah answers “It was a great voice which did not stop”: The voice of Hashem at the giving of the Torah was split into the seventy languages of the world. And, on the contrary, the Torah which is learnt in the language of the land has a deeper source then the Holy Tongue , which is why the first word of the Ten Commandments (“Anochi”) is in the Egyptian language!

8. The Rebbe now explains the third explanation of the words “It was a great voice which did not stop” (that there was no echo):

An echo is created because the sound bounces off the walls, however if the walls would absorb the sound there would be no echo. Just like for an example if you throw a ball against a wall- if the wall would absorb it, it would not return to you, however since it doesn’t absorb it the ball bounces back to you.

According to this we can answer our first and second questions: When Hashem gave the Torah and said “I am Hashem your G-d”, nothing could keep His voice out, the whole world was permeated with the voice of Hashem. Therefore when the Torah says “It was a great voice which did not stop” and the Midrash explains that this means there was no echo, this does not diminish from Hashem’s great power, it actually shows the greatness of Hashem- since His voice was so great it permeated every being.

And now can also answer our second question: The absence of an echo was not a miracle! The automatic result of Hashem’s voice being so great is that every being was permeated and therefore there was no echo.

9. The Rebbe now applies this to the fulfillment of Mitzvos and Torah study of today:

In truth, every one of us is able to permeate the walls/world so that there is no echo:
The Talmud tells us that when Moshiach (the Messiah) comes the walls of a person’s home will testify for all his deeds, as the Torah says “For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it” . In other words, this means that when you learn Torah and do Mitzvos your walls are getting sapped with their energy.
As the Talmud relates an amazing story about how the walking stick of Rebbe Meir taught Torah to an elder who acquired this stick after Rebbi Meir passed away.

10. The Rebbe finishes up with the lesson we can learn from the third explanation:

We must try to have the Torah permeate our lives and not echo off of us. And through this we will merit to experience the times when our walls testify to our good deeds.

Translated and adapted by Rabbi Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos Volume 4.