Musar do Wyjścia 24:7

The third path is [that] when he hears reproof from the sages that are reprimanding [him], he listens, submits, repents and accepts in his heart all the words of reprimand - and not subtract one thing from their words. And behold that man went out from darkness to a great light at that instant. For at the time that he listened and paid attention and his heart understood and repented and accepted the words of the rebuker on the day he heard them, and took upon himself to do like everything that the holders of Torah instructed him - from that day onward - to be careful as the knowers of understanding of the times instructed him: His repentance is effective and he is changed into a different person. And from the time that he accepted this in his heart, he acquired merit and reward for his soul for all of the commandments and ethical acts. And happy is he for justifying his soul in a short time. And so did our Rabbis, may their memory be well, say (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael, 12:28), "And the Children of Israel went and did' - and did they do it right away? Did they not only do it on the fourteenth of the month? Rather since they accepted upon themselves to do it, [the verse] counts it for them as if they did it immediately." And he said in Avot of Rabbi Natan (Avot d'Rabbi Natan 22), "Anyone whose actions are greater than his wisdom - his wisdom will endure, as it is stated (Exodus 24:7), 'we shall do and we shall listen.'" The explanation of the thing is that when a man accepts upon himself with a faithful heart to keep and do according to the Torah that he was taught and about the law which those sitting upon judgement told him - from that day, he has the reward for all of the commandments that his ear heard and that he understood, [as well as] for all of the things which his ear has still not heard about. So he wore righteousness and acquired merit for all of what was revealed to him and for all that was hidden from his eyes. And after this, he should study from and regularly attend the doors of those that reprimanded him, and comprehend [the teachings] of all that teach him. And it comes out that the actions of this man are greater than his wisdom, since he did not know the thing, but behold its reward (for it) is with him. And it is like the matter that Israel said, "We shall do and we shall listen," at [Mount] Sinai - as they had the acceptance of the deed upon themselves, precede the listening. And in no other way it is possible for the actions of a man to be greater than what he knows.

The principle involved in that statement is bound up with the word בראשית, which some of our sages (including Rashi on Genesis 1,1) explained as the raison d'etre of the universe, בשביל התורה וישראל שנקראו ראשית, on account of the Torah and Israel which are called Reshit, G–d created the universe seeing that they are a "first," and the appellation "first" does not really belong to anyone but G–d Himself, who did not even have a "beginning, i.e. ראשית.” The meaning of the word Reshit is the "beginning of creation," that the very first thought concerning creation included thoughts of the final product of such a creation, i.e. אדם, Israel and the Torah which Israel was meant to accept. All of this is alluded to in G–d's words when He said: נעשה אדם. The word נעשה distinguished Israel at the time when they accepted Torah without insisting that they first wanted to know its contents (Exodus 24,7). G–d, the Torah, and אדם are entwined with one another. Kabbalists who are deeply immersed in these esoterics described it in these words: "Torah is the imprint (רושם) of Divinity, whereas אדם is the imprint of Torah. The true revelation of G–d's Divinity is through His holy names, and Torah itself is a string of G–d's holy names. It consists of 600,000 letters which represent the 600,000 souls of Israel. Torah also consists of 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments; they represent expressions of G–d's attribute of Mercy and G–d's attribute of Justice respectively. The 365 negative commandments correspond to 365 sinews or tendons in man. Seeing the latter are red, the Kabbalists see in this a symbolism for the attribute of Justice. The 248 positive commandments, however, represent the bones of man, something white, symbolic of the attribute of Mercy.

Hearing is also used in connection with acceptance and approval, which are at the basis of love; thus it is written (Ex. xxiv. 7), "We will do and we will hear." The performance of a thing is due to the love of a man therefore; thus it is said (Gen. xxvii. 4), "Make me savoury meat, such as I love."

The third thing that can stir the heart to repentance is when he hears the chastisement of the wise and of those who reprove him, and this arouses his heart to repent, and he receives upon himself all the words of these rebukes. From the time that he accepts them, this man earns great merit, and in a short space of time he has gone forth from darkness to light, and he has gained reward and merit for all of the commandments and all of the chastisements, inasmuch as he has resolved to receive them upon himself. And happy is he who receives this upon himself, for he has won merit in a brief moment. And thus did our Sages, of blessed memory, say "And the children of Israel went and did." Now had they already done this (i.e., prepared the Passover)? Surely, they did not do so until the fourteenth day of the month! But when they took it upon themselves to do it, Scripture ascribes it to them as though they had already done it" (Mechilta on Exodus 12:28). And thus did our Sages say, "All whose deeds are greater than his wisdom, his wisdom will endure" (Aboth 3:12). As it is said, "We will do and we will hear!" (Ex. 24:7).

When we keep this in mind we can understand the Midrash Rabbah 3,1 on Song of Songs 3,9 אפריון עשה לו המלך שלמה, that "King Solomon made for himself a canopy," as referring to the construction of the Tabernacle. Rabbi Yehudah bar Ulla explains this by means of the following parable: A king had a young daughter. As long as she did not reach the age of puberty, he would meet her in public and speak with her both in public and private. Once she reached the age of puberty the king said to himself that it was no longer seemly that he should converse with his daughter in public. He therefore constructed a pavilion for her so that whenever he felt the need to converse with his daughter he could do so within this pavilion. We find an allusion to this in Hoseah 11,1: "For when Israel was still a child I fell in love with Israel." As long as the people of Israel were in their national infancy in Egypt, they saw manifestations of G–d all around them such as when G–d smote the Egyptians both in Egypt and later on when He drowned them in the sea. This was a public manifestation as testified to in Exodus 14,31: "Israel saw the great hand of the Lord and what He did to Egypt". Even infants would point with their fingers declaring "This is my G–d I shall glorify Him" (Exodus 15,2). At Sinai they beheld G–d "face to face," as we know from Deuteronomy 33,2: "He (Moses) said The Lord came from Sinai, He shone upon them from Se-ir; He appeared from Mount Paran." At that point Israel received the Torah and declared כל אשר דבר ה' נעשה ונשמע, "All that the Lord has said, we shall do and hear." As a consequence Israel became G–d's nation in the fullest meaning of the word. G–d next said Himself that it was no longer seemly that He should speak to them in public, without the benefit of privacy, so He instructed them to build a Tabernacle so that whenever He wished to speak to them, He would do so from the interior of the Tabernacle. This is the meaning of Numbers 7,89: "Whenever Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the voice of G–d addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Covenant between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him." Thus far the statement of Rabbi Yehudah bar Ulla.