Nishma V’Naaseh – An Old/New Paradigm
Nishma V’Naaseh – An Old/New Paradigm Rabbi Jim Rogozen There is a famous verse that, I believe, is the most misunderstood verse in the Torah . In Exodus 24:7 we read: (ז) וַיִּקַּח֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּאָזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר ה' נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע׃ And he [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant, and he read it aloud to the people; and they said: ‘All that God has spoken “ naaseh v’nishma.” How do we translate that? We will do and hear? We will do and hear more later on? We will do and only later understand? This last translation was first mentioned in the Talmud , Shabbat 88a. Rabbi Elazar taught: When the People of Israel said “We will do” before “We will hear” a Bat Kol, a heavenly voice, emerged and said to them, “Who revealed to my children this secret, which only the angels know? At first the angels fulfill His word (oseh dvaro), without understanding it;...