“We will do and we will listen (understand).”
A pledge of loyalty was made first – a commitment to the observance of Torah – before fully hearing or understanding why it was important to observe the mitzvoth. Instilled with yiras H’Shem (awe, reverence, and respect toward G-d), they decidedly committed to His words.
A certain sense of “intuitive knowledge” already exists within us. Contrary to the appearance of blind obedience to G-d’s commandments by stating first, “We will do,” Avraham Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel explained that at Sinai, the people were intuitively connected to their “natural essence” that was in alignment with G-d’s will, unhindered by the prevailing culture at that time.
They had been removed their shackles of Egyptian civilization, brought into the desert, and had revealed to them G-d’s Presence at Sinai – this was a transformative experience of the nth degree.
Today, many of us are entangled to a lesser or greater extent with the surrounding culture of society – the zeitgeist that is composed of the shifting sands of time, and therefore not a stable, nor a consistent foundation to build upon.
It is important to extricate ourselves from the beliefs and practices, presuppositions and behaviors of society, especially the pseudo-morality and virtue-signalling that permeates society today, via the so-called social justice movement, institutional capture, and educational indoctrination. After removing the confusion that occludes our intellectual faculties, the value of Torah will become inherently understood. B’ezrach H’Shem (With the help of G-d).
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