Hag Shavuot sameakh!

In the third month after the Exodus, on the first day of the month of Sivan, the Jews came to Mount Horeb in the Sinai Desert. They encamped to the east, opposite the mountain, where once the Almighty opened Moshe Raben (Mexulta, Shabbat 86-b).

For five days he went up every morning to Mount Sinai, and in the evening he went down and gave the word of God to the people. And on the sixth of Sivan in 2448, on the fiftieth day of the Exodus from Egypt, on the Sabbath, on Saturday, the most grandiose event in world history took place - the gift of the Torah.

Fifty days of journey is seven weeks of perfection. The Jews separated, "perushim", from the Egyptians and from all the peoples of the world and became "kedoshim", the holy people of God.

Moshe ascended the mountain, that is, to God, and the Almighty called to him:

"Thus saith the house of Jacob, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have made Egypt; and I have lifted you up upon the wings of an eagle, and brought you unto myself."

Jacob's house is for women:

"... tell them in soft words" (Rashi, Mexulta). And to the sons of Israel, men, "strictly explain the punishment for transgression and details" (Shabbat 87a).

"For the third month the Almighty gathered the heritage of Israel to Mount Sinai. I checked them and found no defects. All were holy, all were pure and righteous. Then He gave them the Torah ”(Zohar 40). That is, the commandments to fulfill.

"And all the people answered together, and said, All that God hath commanded we will do ..." (chm. 19: 8) They said, "Naasa ve nishma!" That is: "We will obey and study Your laws, Almighty."

The gift of the Torah took place on the Sabbath of the sixth Sivan in 2448 from the creation of the world (1512 BC).

The world was horrified and froze. Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, a fire broke out on the mountain and the driver blew his horn. More than three million Jews and Hebrews heard and saw the voice of God at the same time: The Ten Commandments, which sounded from Sinai to the whole world:

- to recognize the Almighty and Almighty, Creator, Lord over everything and over all, He brought the people out of Egypt;

- a ban on idolatry, the making of idols and their service;

- a ban on pronouncing His Name in vain;

- a ban on work on the seventh day of the week, on the Sabbath, and the obligation to consecrate this day (Saturday meeting, Kidush, festive meal, songs and blessings);

- respect parents, father and mother;

- ban on killing;

- ban on debauchery;

- prohibition of theft;

- prohibition of perjury;

- a ban on wanting what does not belong to you.

These are the commandments heard by all the men, women and children who stood at Mount Sinai 6 Sivan in 2248 from the creation of the world (1512 BC). Moshe-Raben brought them carved on sapphire plates, on tablets. From this day began a new countdown to the existence of mankind on earth. To the already existing seven laws of "bnei Noah":

don't kill

don't steal

do not worship idols,

DO NOT commit adultery,

do not eat from the living,

do not curse God,

create courts and judge fairly,

Jews received commandments governing Jewish life.

Along with the assertion of monotheism and the prohibition of worshiping idols were given the mandatory laws of morality: the prohibition of desire, the prohibition of gossip and perjury, the obligation to respect parents.

Jews were commanded to keep and remember the Sabbath, received the laws of kashrut, a special Jewish food system, and received the laws of family purity and social justice.

Then all nations had their own strict laws. On the territory of the ancient state of Elam in Mesopotamia, in Susa, a French archaeological expedition in 1901 excavated a basalt pillar on which the laws of Hammurabi, the sixth king of Babel, were minted. Later they found clay tablets on which the same laws were scratched. However, out of 282 articles, 37 have not been restored yet.

At that time, kings and their entourage had complete power over the property and lives of their subjects. A man caught in captivity or slavery was completely disenfranchised, even more disenfranchised than the beast of the master. Most property disputes ended in the execution of one of the disputants. If the doctor could not cure the patient, his hands were cut off or he was killed. Unintentional (accidental) murder was punishable by execution of the "guilty" or his children.

Rulers made laws according to personal needs and judged according to their understanding. People considered it natural to use force in resolving property or marital disputes. Many of these laws have existed for a long time.

The laws of the Torah surprised all the peoples who inhabited the earth at that time. At that time there were no ethical norms, brute force prevailed and the strong could not give up their right to someone else's freedom and property. They did not understand why one should not desire another, if there is an opportunity to seize, they could not understand the laws of mercy, they were surprised by the prohibition of fornication and adultery.

The Torah placed the Jewish people in an exceptional position. The Jews who follow the law of the Torah have become a kind of buffer between all nations and the Creator.

Hag Shavuot sameakh!

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