Shavuot and Sinai: How Much Did We Hear?
When the Israelites received the Torah at Sinai, how much did they actually hear? Did they hear all 613 Commandments, or only Ten, or only the first two? Did they hear the words or just a sound? Join Rabbi David Sedley and examine several opinions of the Rishonim, including Rambam, Ramban, Rashi, Yehuda HaLevi and Rabbeinu Nissim.
Shavuot and Sinai: How Much Did We Hear?: Shavuot and SInai: How Much Did We Hear?
In this class, we look at the opinions of Rashi, Ramban, Rabbi Yehuda Halevi (Kuzari), Rabbeinu Nissim (Derashot Haran) and Rambam and discuss the answers to some of the following questions:
Did the Israelites hear all 613 commandments directly from God at Sinai?
Or only the Ten Commandments?
Or only the first two commandments?
Or did they hear no words at all — only a sound or voice?
What is the difference between Moshe’s prophecy and that of all other prophets?
Who is capable of receiving prophecy, and what are its conditions?
Rabbi David Sedley lives in Jerusalem with his wife and six children. He was born and raised in New Zealand before coming to Israel in 1989. He left Israel temporarily (for eight years) to serve as a communal Rabbi in Scotland and England and returned to Israel in 2004. His latest book is "The Elephant of Deliberate Forgetfulness: and other unexpected interpretations of the weekly Torah reading". He has also translated Rabbeinu Yonah's commentary on Pirkei Avos and is the co-author of Sefiros: Spiritual Refinement Through Counting the Omer (both Judaica Press). Over the years Rabbi Sedley has worked as a journalist, a translator, a video director and in online reputation management. He also writes a weekly Torah blog on the Times of Israel.