Doing and Listening

Near the end of this week’s parshah we come upon the well-known words of “Na’aseh Venishmah” (“We will do and we will hear”) that the Jewish nation expressed concerning their commitment to God and to following His commandments. The verse writes as follows:

“…and they (the Jewish nation) said ‘Everything that God has said, we will do and we will listen ” [Exodus: 24: 7]

It is interesting to note that this is not the only time the Jewish people articulated their national devotion to God and His commandments! In fact, only four verses before the one mentioned above do we read the following:

“…and the entire people responded with one voice and they said ‘All the words that God has spoken, we will do’ ” [Exodus: 24: 3]

When comparing these two verses, one can’t help but notice an obvious discrepancy between them. At first, in verse 3 the Jews only say “we will do” while in verse 7 they proclaim “we will do and we will listen”! Why the sudden change? What changed in the hearts of the children of Israel that persuaded them to convey their allegiance to God in a new, and apparently more devoted, manner?


The clearest approach to answering this question would be to first examine the words of the Torah written between the two verses we have quoted thus far. The Torah writes:

“Moses wrote down all the words of God. He arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent the youths of the Children of Israel and they brought up elevation-offerings, and they slaughtered bulls to God as feast peace-offerings to God. Moses took half the blood and placed it in the basins, and half the blood he threw upon the altar. He took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the ears of the people, and they said ‘Everything that God has said, we will do and we will listen’ ” [Exodus: 24: 4-7]

It seems that the main subject in these verses is the sacrificial ceremony that was performed by Moshe on behalf of the Jewish people. Therefore, it may be safe to say that it was the experience of this sacrificial service that drove the Jewish nation to express their loyalty to God with the words “we will do and we will listen”. But what is the link between the two? What is it about the sacrificial service that caused the Jews to alter their words?

Up until this point in the story of the exodus, the Jewish people have no doubt witnessed the Power and Glory of God to a significant degree. Between the ten plagues, the splitting of the sea, the heavenly manna and a host of so many more miracles, the Jewish people must have realized that they were meant to share a special relationship with God. What that relationship was exactly, they may not have been entirely sure. God has established His wishes that they are meant to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus: 19: 6), which basically means they are meant to act as a beacon of light for the rest of the world; a model to the surrounding nations. In their (Israel’s) eyes, God is an all-powerful being Who has chosen them to fulfill His will and do His bidding in the world. Out of a feeling of unbounded thankfulness and gratitude to God, the Jews agree to follow His orders. Basically, the relationship seems to be going in a one-way direction; God tells us what to do, and we do it, therefore we announce our dedication to God by saying “we will do”.

But after the Jewish people experienced the sacrificial service and the message it conveys, the impression they had about God changes completely, and consequentially so does their relationship with Him. The sacrifices were the sole means of communicating with God; if we wanted to express our gratitude to Him we offered a thanksgiving offering, if we wished to repent for our sins we offered up a sin offering, and so on. Nowadays, of course we do not have our beloved Temple and the service that comes along with it, so how do replace that vital element in our relationship with God? This is how prayer was instituted. The Rabbis themselves tell us that the structure of our daily prayers parallels that of the daily sacrifices in the times of the Temple. Although we have lost the sacrificial service; the prime element in communicating with God, we are compensated with the prayer service which becomes our only way in maintaining that closer connection with Him. This parallel between prayer and the sacrifices helps us understand what the sacrificial service was all about, and the purpose it was meant to serve.

After the Jews performed the sacrificial service they understood that they were not meant to have a one-way, but a two-way relationship with God. God does not only command us to follow his obligations, but He wishes to develop an intimate connection with us as well. In the process of running the world and controlling the universe, God lovingly “pushes everything aside” in order to listen to our every word of prayer and heartfelt expressions that we pour out to Him. And since God listens, we listen as well. Not only do we simply “do” what he says, but we also “listen” carefully to every word He has to say to us, just as He listens carefully to every word we have to say to Him. Therefore, with a powerful surge of love and devotion, may we all merit to profess our commitment to God and pronounce out loud “we will do and we will listen”.

Good Shabbos,

NZL