What commandments did God give at Mt. Sinai? Usually, we think of the Ten Commandments only, but sages and scholars have offered a variety of answers to this question. Indeed, immediately after the giving of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, many more commandments are given in Chapter 21. It is logical to think those were also given at Sinai. But, now, in this week’s parasha, Behar, toward the end of Leviticus, and well into the wilderness journey, we get new commandments about the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. These mitzvot have never been mentioned before, and yet, we read: “Vay’dabeir Adonai el Moshe b’Har Sinai, “The Eternal One spoke to Moses at Mt. Sinai.” (Lev 25:1)
Rashi explains that by mentioning Mt. Sinai here, the Torah “intends to teach regarding every Divine command that was spoken by Moses in every case they, their general rules and minute details, originated at Sinai and that they were only repeated again later…” (Rashi on Lev 25:1). Ancient and medieval scholars felt it essential to tie all laws of Judaism, whether biblical or rabbinic, to having originated at Sinai. If not from God at Sinai, what authority would they have?
As modern Jews, we wrestle with or even outright reject the idea that God gave the whole written Torah and even the rabbinical law, through an oral tradition, at Mt. Sinai. It defies reason. And yet to us, this does not diminish the authenticity and value of the laws. The Sabbatical and Jubilee years were visionary laws that sought to bring justice, equity, freedom and land conservation to an ancient society. Divine inspiration may have enabled biblical writers to imagine such a society, but that inspiration need not have happened at Sinai alone.
-Rabbi Dena A. Feingold
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