CHAPTER IX
THE REVELATION
Exodus 19.1 to 20.18
Interpretation. The event which is the subject of this lesson is without exception the most important event in Jewish history, and from the point of view of Judaism, in the history of the world. All previous Jewish history leads up to it; all subsequent Jewish history harks back to it. In the story of the Patriarchs, the central theme is the choice of the material out of which that nation is to spring, which will accept the Torah, and commit itself to live for and by it. The central theme of the story of the exodus is the preparation of the people for this event, God's purchasing Israel, to use the Biblical phrase, from his masters, that he might serve God alone. And the central theme of all subsequent Jewish history is the struggle to make the principles of this Torah dominant over Israel and to guard its ideals, and the institutions to which it gave rise against foreign aggression on the one hand, and foreign seduction on the other. The event of the great Revelation is therefore of the utmost significance.
What took place at Mt. Sinai? Something of the awe which set bounds about the mountain that the people dared not break through, must be ours, as we approach this subject. We must realize that an event such as this cannot be recorded in the terms of our daily experience. We can only guess and guess feebly at what the experience meant for our forefathers from the records that they have left us, clothed in all the poetic imagery of our Bible narrative. At Sinai, in the midst of most impressive natural surroundings, thunder, lightning, earthquake, fire and smoke, the people became conscious of God's presence, as they had never been conscious of His presence before. And while thus impressed with the infinite power of the God who had led them out of Egypt that they might worship Him there in the wilderness, they entered into a covenant with Him. Under the inspired guidance of the greatest of all prophets, they were made to realize that this God demanded obedience to law, as the condition of His continuing to be their God and to lead them as His people, whom He had redeemed from Egypt.
And the content of this revealed covenant is the Decalogue, the most significant moral code in the world's history, which has exercised an influence upon mankind more profound and beneficent than any other. After insisting upon the recognition of the God who redeemed Israel from Egypt as the sole source of all authority and the sole object of worship, and endeavoring to secure the acknowledgment of these claims by enjoining reverence for God's name, this code lays down laws governing all the most important human relations. It insists on the sanctity of the home, both in the tie between husband and wife, and between parent and child. It insists on the sacredness of human life, and guarantees the right of property, which is essential to human development. It demands truth and justice in the administration of law. It concerns itself little with ceremonial forms, but it insists, nevertheless, on the observance of the Sabbath, without which man cannot attain to full human dignity and to the consecration of life but sinks to the level of a beast of burden or an automaton, mechanically securing the means of life with no leisure to contemplate its ends. Nor is the Decalogue merely concerned with man's overt acts, but demands purity of motive, for it condemns covetousness equally with theft and adultery.
The revelation on Mt. Sinai, meant to the soul of Israel, what the experience of the prophetic call meant to the prophet, when he first heard the voice of God appointing him to a mission of which he had not dreamed before. Israel left Egypt a fugitive horde, it came to Sinai and was there transformed into a great nation, conscious of a historic mission that distinguished it from and exalted it above other peoples, to become "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Exodus 19. 6.) Israel has not always been true to this mission, has perhaps never lived up fully to all its implications, but from that time to this Israel has never quite forgotten it, has never lost faith in it.
In emphasizing the significance of the Decalogue, one must, however, not lose sight of the fact that the Ten Commandments were not the only laws that were revealed to Moses on Sinai, and that the Sinaitic covenant involved not merely obedience to the Decalogue, but obedience to all other laws to which Judaism attributes a divine origin. According to tradition many of the oral laws, which are not contained in the Bible, were halakah lemosheh misinai, "Laws revealed to Moses on Sinai". Historic criticism may suggest a later origin to most of these and even to many laws in the Pentateuch, but there is nothing in the Biblical narrative that limits revelation to the Decalogue, and, according to Jewish belief, all of the Torah is revealed.
Aim. The aim of this lesson should be to inspire the child with reverence for the Law, and faith in its divine origin and authority over him.
Suggestions to the teacher. The teacher may well begin the lesson by calling the child's attention to the reading of the Sefer Torah in the synagogue. Ask whether the Sefer Torah is, in appearance, like any other book, and let the children tell the obvious differences. Inform them of differences of which they are not aware, as for example, that it is always written by hand and on parchment, with ink especially prepared for the purpose, etc. Then continue somewhat as follows:
"Now, do you know why we always treat this book differently from other books, why we take such pains in writing it, why we write it always on strong parchment rather than paper which can tear easily? Why we dress it, so to speak, in velvet or other beautiful coverings? Why we decorate it with silver or gold ornaments? Why we keep it in the most beautiful part of the synagogue? It is because this book is different from all other books. This book contains the word of God, which God himself taught to the people of Israel in ancient times, and which was handed down from father to son until the present time. It contains the history that we have been learning, but it contains much more. It contains laws and commandments that God wants us to keep, and whoever obeys all these laws and commandments is a good Jew. In the lesson that we shall take up today, we shall learn how God began teaching these laws to our fathers, and we shall learn some of the most important of these laws of God, which are so important that all the civilized nations have made them a part of their law."
The great task of the teacher in this lesson is to create that atmosphere of awe and reverence, with which the Biblical narrative invests the episode of the Revelation. The mere explanation of the meaning of the Ten Commandments is not enough to effect this, because the significance of their content is in large part beyond the child's comprehension, and their form is too abstract to appeal to him emotionally. The point of contact that we have suggested will aid somewhat by associating with the Revelation the reverence that the child sees paid to the Sefer Torah in the synagogue.[11] A close following of the Biblical narrative suggests other devices. The people of Israel were to prepare themselves for three days, and the necessity for this preparation kept them in an attitude of conscious suspense and attention. The narrative of these preparations will have a similar effect. Attempt to arouse the children's curiosity as to what God was going to tell Israel before you begin to tell them the Ten Commandments. Exodus 19. 3-6 should be quoted and explained. The fact that Moses and Aaron were required to set bounds about the mountain beyond which none but he whom God called could pass, also adds to the impressiveness of the occasion, which will not be lost upon the children. Finally, the concomitant disturbances of nature, the thunders, lightnings, quakings, and flame, and thick darkness, and the voice of the Shofar waxing louder and louder, together with the picture of the trembling people at the foot of the mount and Moses going up alone into the "thick darkness where God was" must be told in such graphic terms as to impress them deeply on the imagination of the child. Instead of telling the children the Ten Commandments in the usual conversational tone that you would naturally employ when addressing children, it would be well in this instance to read them the Biblical account from Exodus 19.16 to 20.21, and require that when you come to the actual reading of the Decalogue, the class rise as the congregation does when it is read in the synagogue and remain standing until the reading of the Ten Commandments is completed.
The children will, of course, understand very little of the meaning of the Ten Commandments from the reading, but they will understand and absorb the reverential attitude of the teacher towards them. After the reading, however, it devolves upon the teacher to explain their significance as far as this can be done to children. Avoid, however, too lengthy and discursive treatment, as the child will be impatient to go on with the story. A more detailed treatment of them should be taken up later in the course, either when the children are taught to translate the Decalogue in their Hebrew work, or in connection with the instruction about the significance of Shabuot, or as part of the work of a Bar Mitzvah, or Confirmation Class, or on several or all of these occasions, but not as a lengthy interruption to the "story" of the Bible in which children in their early years of school are most interested.
The First Commandment can be explained, however, very easily as implying the grateful worship of God by Israel and obedience to all His laws as the first duty of the Jew in view of what God had done for his people in Egypt.
The Second Commandment need not present any difficulty as the sin and folly of idolatry, the worship of the creature instead of the creator, is easily grasped by children. As the child will not be tempted to idolatry this need not be given much time.
The Third Commandment, however, should receive more attention than it usually does. Nothing is more conducive to that spirit of reverence, which it is the aim of this lesson to cultivate than the conscious avoidance of God's name, except in association with a truly religious thought. Profanity is a common vice of children, as well as of adults. Children, especially during the habit-forming age, should be made to feel that it is a sin and should be avoided.[12]
The Fourth Commandment is also of the utmost importance to childhood. As this is not the first time that reference to the Sabbath has been made, the teacher may take a knowledge of the general significance of the Sabbath for granted, and should mainly dwell on the significance of the phrase "to keep it holy" by asking the children what we do to keep the Sabbath holy, i. e., different from other days and devoted to Jewish thoughts. Take occasion to admonish the children not to attend theatres, moving picture shows, etc., on the Sabbath, and urge their attendance at services.
The Fifth Commandment is, of course, the first law of childhood. In discussing it with the children, try to get from them suggestions as to how to honor parents. Encourage such rules of family etiquette as never to contradict father or mother, never to sit in father's or mother's seat at table, always to rise and give either of them a seat if the other chairs in the room are occupied when they come in, and the like.
The Sixth Commandment needs no prolonged discussion.
The Seventh Commandment must be explained to mean that husband and wife must always be faithful and kind to each other.
The Eighth Commandment needs some discussion, because children are often prone to petty thieving. In the moral code of many children stealing means taking money or objects of great value, but the appropriation of small objects, such as pens, pencils, chalk, etc., does not come under the same category. Moreover, stealing only means taking something from somebody's hand or pocket, and does not include the appropriation of an object which the owner has carelessly left where another might claim it under the law of "Finding's keeping", which, according to the code of childhood, is often held to apply even when the finder knows to whom the object found belongs. The teacher's duty is, therefore, to take this opportunity of enlarging the child's concept of theft and developing his property sense, a sense which is naturally defective in children, since they neither earn nor hold property in their own right. Avoid, however, abstract and purely theoretic discussion and make your point by presenting concrete hypothetical examples for the exercise of their moral judgment, as, for instance:
"I am sure that none of you would take from anybody money or anything else that you thought of great value, but suppose you saw a little stump of a pencil that a boy had left on his desk, and you just wanted it, or a piece of chalk from the blackboard, or some fruit or candy that you saw in your neighbor's desk, would it be right for you to take it? If you saw some money on the street and you did not know how it came there, would you take it? If you saw some money fall from a man's pocket on the street, would you take it? If you found a pocketbook and when you opened it, saw that it had a card with the owner's name and address on it, what would you do? If you found a pocketbook or some money, or some pencils or books in this school, what would you do, etc.?"
The meaning of the Ninth Commandment must be extended to enjoin truthfulness in general. By methods similar to those used in explaining the Eighth, the teacher must extend the child's concept of lying to include any kind of conscious deception, the silent lie equally with the spoken one.
The Tenth Commandment is a little too subtle and refined for the child's grasp and need not be dwelt on at length. The teacher need only explain that to want to steal, even if we are kept back from stealing because we are afraid of the police, or afraid of our teachers, or of any punishment, is just as wrong as to steal.