Q:
How could we say in the Haggadah that if Hashem would have just brought us to Har Sinai and hadn’t given us a Torah, dayeinu – that it would have been enough?
A:
So, I’ll ask you a question: Who said we deserve a Torah? You think it has to be that way? You think the Torah is coming to us? Torah is a gift. נתן לנו – It’s a gift; a matanah, a chemdah g’nuza – a precious gift. We have no right to demand that gift; we don’t have a claim on it. Hakodosh Boruch Hu in His great rachamim, in His great mercy, He decided to give us that gift.
Why did He give it to us? Because of האדם הגדול בענקים – because of that great giant of a man, Avraham Avinu. It was b’zchus Avraham Avinu that Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave us the Torah; it’s only because of our great-great-grandfather. That great man searched out Hakodosh Boruch Hu and by means of a lifetime of studying he earned for us the Torah. Otherwise, what claim do you have on the Torah?
Just to come to Har Sinai and to see maros Elokim, visions of Hashem, just that alone was something! That was more than we deserved! To hear the voice of Hashem! העם רואים את הקולות – We could see the Voice of Hashem; it means it was so convincing it was as if we saw it. And וגם בך יאמינו לעולם – it was such a sight that because of Har Sinai they believed in Moshe Rabbeinu forever – even till today.
And so, we would have been a beautiful people even without the Torah. Of course we would be nothing near what we are, but we would have been a people who believed in Hashem. We would have believed in Kriyas Yam Suf and Yetzias Mitzrayim; we would make a seder every year. Of course, we would have been lacking all the glory; all the nobility and all the happiness of Torah – but we would have been something special.
And that’s why the author of the Haggadah divides it into parts – we should appreciate each part by itself. Not wholesale; retail! First let’s understand how great it was to come to Har Sinai – what a privilege it was! Dayeinu! You deserve a Torah?! Hakodosh Boruch Hu doesn’t owe you anything.
If afterwards He gave us a Torah – Ah! We’re so happy, we don’t even know what to say! It’s a privilege more than we could imagine!
TAPE # 505
