In this week's parsha, parshas Yisro, we recount the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, an event that forever changed the spiritual landscape of reality. It was and only time in history that G-d had physically revealed himself to humanity (this is not to say that G-d has a physical form, G-d forbid), but the level of G-dly revelation that took place at the foot of that mountain was so strong, that it was said that the souls of all the Jewish people left there bodies in spiritual expiration. One of the biggest innovations that took place after Mount Sinai was the introduction of mitzvahs as we know it.
Mitzvah, usually translated as 'commandment', is actually best translated as 'connection'; by giving over the Torah at Mount Sinai, G-d was introducing a new form of G-dly connection into the world, a way in which we could cleave to Hashem literally. Mitzvahs had existed before yet in a much different form; the Patriarchs (Avraham, Yitzchok, and Ya'akov) had actually intuited and intellectually come to a recognition of some form of mitzvahs, yet the mitzvahs that they performed had a much different effect on reality. Their performance of mitzvahs drew G-dliness into the spiritual realms, as well as into themselves for them to spread to other people. By transforming themselves into a vessel for G-dliness, they were compared to a chariot, the reason being that a chariot has no will of its own other than that of it's driver. The mitzvah given with the Torah was of a much different nature; instead of drawing G-dliness only into the spiritual realms and into oneself, they were now able to infuse holiness into physicality and to elevate the material. This is a significant change in reality, a change conveyed by the first words spoken by G-d to the Jewish People at Mount Sinai: "Anochi Hashem Elokecha" (I, the L-rd, am your G-d)
These three words in Hebrew are all considered different names of G-d, which in Torah correspond to different revelations of G-dliness. The word 'Anochi' corresponds to G-d as He is unto himself, his very Essence, I. This name of G-d was the one that played the biggest role in the giving of the mitzvahs; however, in order to understand why this is so, we must first analyse the last two names mentioned: Hashem & Elokim (the non-possessive form of the Name)
Elokim corresponds to the G-dly power invested within created beings. Within every created being is enclothed a different aspect of G-dly energy, one which is expressed according to the particular nature of that being i.e. within nature, intellect, set boundaries, etc. That means that any sort of G-dly power that we see within the trees, grass, oceans, sun, animals, humans, and even supernatural beings such as angels are governed by Elokim. There have always been many religious groups throughout history that have attributed power to the sun, moon, and stars; the Nile river, Mt. Olympus, yet these groups were merely looking at a part of G-d, the hands covering the face of a G-d who is hidden from us.
Then there is Hashem, the dimension of G-dliness which transcends nature, combining past, present, and future all into one perspective. This level is unbound by the laws of nature and of intellectual grasp. As Pharaoh had said "Who is Hashem that I should listen to Him?...I do not know this Hashem!" The reason why Pharaoh could not understand this idea of Hashem is because the religion he was accustomed to was one where different gods and goddesses governed over all of nature i.e. this one was in charge of fertility, this one agriculture, this one the sun, etc. His deities were also very mortal, they could be born, killed, reborn, etc. Hashem, on the other hand, transcended all of that; He was (and is) timeless, spaceless reality. These two names, however, do not refer to G-d's Essence, only to revelations. If something is on the level of essence, then by its own nature it cannot be revealed. This brings us to the name Anochi, where the mitzvahs came from.
There's a funny thing about Anochi: it's written in Egyptian! You would think that the Essence of G-d would be written in Hebrew, lushon hakodesh (holy tongue), the language that the Torah was written in. Instead, it was written in a language which the Jewish Sages considered to be the language that expressed the lowest level of spiritual refinement! How much more so now is the question deepened, the question of why G-d chose to express Him as He is unto Himself through the coarsest, most unrefined language. With a little bit of abstract (and a lot of help from the Lubavitcher Rebbe as well) we can have a clear understanding as to why this is. The whole point of mitzvahs is to interact with the physical world, and infuse it with holiness, thus elevating it up to the level of G-dliness. Mitzvahs show us how Torah permeates every aspect of our lives: when we eat, we can only eat certain animals slaughtered in a certain way; we wrap tefillin that is made out of leather, parchment, and ink; we wear fringed garments made out of string. This all comes to show us that mitzvahs are done with physical things, physicality being the opposite of spiritual. What this shows us about the name Anochi is that by expressing His Essence at Mount Sinai through the most spiritually unrefined language, G-d was (essentially) giving the world His mission statement: where you find me most is in refining the unrefined. You won't find Me by worshipping the Sun, you won't find Me by going to the top of a mountain and meditating for twelve hours, but you'll find Me in giving charity, in lighting Shabbos candles, in eating matzah on Passover, in elevating the physical to the level of G-dly.
The word Anochi can be understood through Chassidic teachings as an acronym for an Aramaic phrase meaning: "I wrote down and gave over Myself", meaning that G-d literally gave Himself over to the world. It also says it Proverbs to "Know HIm in all your ways." If we can understand G-d through nature and our intellect (Elokim), if we can transcend ourselves and our subjective understanding of the world (Hashem), and if we can take this physical world around us and spread the light of Torah and Mitzvahs (Anochi), then it will be as if we had recieved the Torah today.
With all of my Love,
Zach
(Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe)
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