The Parsha of Mishpatim is a continuation of the revelation at Sinai. It outlines numerous institutions and features of the Torah’s system of justice. It then discusses the Jewish people’s acceptance of the Torah.

שמות כד

(ז) וַיִּקַּח֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע׃

Shemot 24

(7) And he took the Book of the Covenant and read it within the hearing of the people, and they said, "All that the Lord spoke we will do and we will hear."

According to Rashi, Moshe reviews the Torah with them from the beginning up until this point. The people respond with a twofold acceptance, “we will do and we will listen”. There is an interesting Gemara that elaborates on this acceptance.

תלמוד בבלי – שבת פח.

דרש ר' סימאי בשעה שהקדימו ישראל נעשה לנשמע באו ששים ריבוא של מלאכי השרת לכל אחד ואחד מישראל קשרו לו שני כתרים אחד כנגד נעשה ואחד כנגד נשמע

Talmud Bavli – Shabbat 88a

Rabbi Simai taught: When Israel accorded precedence to the declaration “We will do” over the declaration “We will hear,” 600,000 ministering angels came and tied two crowns to each and every member of the Jewish people, one corresponding to “We will do” and one corresponding to “We will hear.”

Rabbi Simai builds off of the dual expression in the verse. He connects it to two crowns placed upon the heads of each person, corresponding to each expression of acceptance. He emphasizes that these crowns were not merely a result of two expressions, but a result of the order, “we will do” preceding "we will listen”. But it is not immediately clear what each crown represents, why each expression deserve its own crown, and why the order is so essential?

בית הלוי שמות פרשת משפטים פרק כד

והנה אם היו אומרים ישראל נשמע ונעשה לא היה במשמעות קבלתם רק עול מצות אלא שמוכרחין ללמוד קודם כדי שידעו היאך לעשות והיה נשמע נמשך ומבוא לנעשה ונעשה הוי התכלית והיה רק קבלה אחת ומש"ה אמרו נעשה ומובן מאליו שמוכרחין ללמוד מקודם ואח"כ אמרו נשמע ונמצא דהוי נשמע תכלית מצד עצמו ג"כ דגם שלא יצטרכו ללמוד משום עשיה ג"כ ילמדו מצד עצמה ונמצא ע"י ההקדמה נעשה ב' קבלות של ב' תכליתים עול מצות ועול תורה וזהו שאמרו בשעה שהקדימו והוו ב' קבלות עול מצות ועול תורה, ירדו ס"ר מה"ש וקשרו לכל א' מישראל ב' כתרים א' כנגד נעשה וא' כנגד נשמע דע"י ההקדמה זכו לב' כתרים:

Beit Halevi - Rabbi Yosef Dov HaLevi Soloveitchik (Sr.)

Behold, if the Jewish people had said “we will listen and (then) we will do”, it would have only implied their acceptance of the responsibility of mitzvot. Indeed, one is forced to learn beforehand in order to know how to do something properly. Thus the “we will listen” [the learning] would merely have been subservient to the “we will do” [the action], with action remaining the objective. This would have amounted to only a single form acceptance. As a result of this, they [first] said “we will do”, which automatically implies that it will be necessary for them to learn beforehand in order to do the action. However, by starting with “we will do”, two distinct acceptances are implied with two distinct objectives, the responsibility of [observing] mitzvot and the responsibility of Torah. And this is what was meant [by the Talmud] “at the time they preceded”, thus amounting to two acceptances, the responsibility of mitzvot and the responsibility of Torah, then 600,000 ministering angels came down and tied two crowns on each member of the Jewish people, one for “we will do” and one for “we will listen”, for as a result of ordering [“we will do”] first, they merited two crowns.

The Beit HaLevi explains that if the Jewish people had said “we will listen and we will do”, in that order, it would imply both learning and action. However, the type of learning that would be implied would merely be the preparatory learning required to execute the action properly. In fact, it would be similar to simply saying “we will do”, as was stated in Chapter 24 verse 3, signifying only the acceptance of performing actions as prescribed. However, with the introductory acceptance of “we will do” followed by “we will listen”, this implies an additional acceptance of learning as an independent objective. The Jewish people thereby accepted the responsibility of performing the actions required by the Torah, including the necessary learning to perform them properly, and then accepted the responsibility of studying the Torah, acknowledging study as an independent responsibility.

What emerges is a distinct ethic of learning within the Torah system. Even at Sinai, the Jewish people acknowledged and accepted the inherent ennobling character of the study of Torah. The precise balance of learning and action is a larger subject, discussed across the writings of the Sages. But the cognitive and intellectual engagement with Torah is foundational, part of our original acceptance of the Torah at Sinai.

References

Rosenberg, A. (1980). A new English translation of the Hebrew Bible text and Rashi, with a commentary digest. New York: Judaica Press. Retrieved from: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/

Steinsaltz, A., In Weinreb, T. H., In Schreier, J., & Hotsaat Koren (Jerusalem),. (2017). Koren Talmud Bavli, the Noe edition: Talmud Bavli. Retrieved from: https://shas.alhatorah.org/

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