Bamidbar: 5785 - In the Haggadah: "Had He brought us close to Mount Sinai and not given us the Torah - it would have been enough for us." Seemingly, what benefit would that be? Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld, at the conclusion of the shiur of Rabbi Betzalel…

00:01 Speaker 1 We are already very close to Shavuos, the giving of the Torah. With Hashem’s help, we will receive it with joy and inwardly. In the Pesach Haggadah, there is a passage everyone says and sings: “Dayeinu.” One of its lines is, “Had He brought us near Mount Sinai but not given us the Torah, Dayeinu—it would have been enough for us.” We are praising Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But the question arises: If He had brought us to Mount Sinai and not given us the Torah, what would we have gained? Why do we say “Dayeinu”? It’s like someone traveling to a wedding, only to find there’s no bride and groom and no wedding. So why did he travel? He brought us to Mount Sinai but did not give us the Torah, and we say “Dayeinu,” praising Hakadosh Boruch Hu. There are several answers to this, and the Rebbe brings some of them in the Pesach Haggadah. One of them is especially important now. “He brought us near Mount Sinai” refers to “Israel encamped there opposite the mountain.” Simply being at Mount Sinai, standing before it, meant that they were there as one person with one heart. It brought unity to the Jewish people. For the unity of the Jewish people alone, Dayeinu. It was worth it. Standing before Mount Sinai itself brought about “Israel encamped there as one person with one heart.” That is why we say that even if He had brought us to Mount Sinai and not given us the Torah, it would have been enough. Unity means peace. When there is peace, everything is there; when there is no peace, there is nothing. There is another answer, an explanation the Rebbe also brings in the Pesach Haggadah. What does “Had He brought us to Mount Sinai” mean? It means that we would have received only the Ten Commandments there, but not the Tablets and the Torah and its mitzvos. For this we thank Hakadosh Boruch Hu: had He brought us to Mount Sinai

02:16 Speaker 1 and we had heard the Ten Commandments from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, for that alone, Dayeinu. Even if He had not given us the Tablets and the entire Torah and its mitzvos, we would say “Dayeinu.” But there is another explanation, a very beautiful one. What does it mean, “Had He brought us to Mount Sinai but not given us the Torah”? There is a dispute in the Gemara, in Tractate Horayos: Which is preferable, a “Sinai” or one who “uproots mountains”? A “Sinai” is someone thoroughly versed in all the Mishnayos, all the Baraisos, all the laws. He knows it all. That is called a “Sinai.” One who “uproots mountains” does not know all the laws, but he is sharp in analysis and can develop new insights. So which is preferable: a Sinai or one who uproots mountains? That is the dispute. The Gemara says that Rav Yosef was a Sinai. He knew all the Baraisos, all the Mishnayos, all the laws. Rabbah was one who uproots mountains: he was sharp, analyzed the issues and developed new insights. So which is preferable? They sent the question to the scholars in the Land of Israel, and the answer was: a Sinai is preferable. Why? Because everyone needs the wheat merchant. If you want to make bread or bake a cake, you need wheat. In the same way, to analyze the Torah and develop new insights, you first need to know the laws. So the person who knows all the laws is preferable. Everyone needs the wheat merchant. That is what “Had He brought us to Mount Sinai” means here: the quality of a Sinai, someone who knows all the laws. Even if He had not given us this aspect of Torah—the ability to analyze it—Dayeinu. That is the meaning of “Had He brought us to Mount Sinai.” In other words, if we had received only

04:27 Speaker 1 the quality of a Sinai—knowledge of all the laws—Dayeinu. Even if we had not received the ability to analyze the Torah and develop new insights. Hakadosh Boruch Hu also gave Moshe Rabbeinu that ability. But Moshe Rabbeinu was humble, and so he was generous

04:53 Speaker 2 and gave it freely.

04:54 Speaker 1 He gave the Jewish people that ability to analyze the Torah as well. So that is what we mean when we say in the Haggadah, “Had He brought us to Mount Sinai but not given us the Torah”: if we had received only the quality of a Sinai, thorough knowledge of all the laws, without the ability to analyze them. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu help us receive the Torah with joy and inwardly. A happy Yom Tov to everyone.

05:18 Speaker 2 Amen.