Standing at the foothill of Mt. Sinai, the Jewish People
received the Torah. And from that very moment onward, the
Torah has remained in its hands. The Giver of the Torah
explicitly said: "For I have given You a good doctrine."
And therefore, it is coupled with a request, "Do not abandon
My Torah." The Torah is in your hands -- guard it! Do not
forsake it!
Hand in hand with its receiving is the need, henceforth,
to guard over the Torah lest it be lost from those who now
possess it. To watch lest it be wrenched away, mutilated,
distorted or exchanged. This responsibility has been
carefully fulfilled, at great risk and self sacrifice, by the
torchbearers of our nation throughout the ages.
The "receiving of the Torah" has been subject to various
misinterpretations throughout history. The central core of
the Jewish people accepted the Torah as a trust, something to
be most carefully guarded, and so they did. They preserved
its every lettercrown, gloried in it and glorified it, girded
it with splendor and might, and veritably passed through fire
and water to keep it perfectly intact.
There were others, however, who also received the Torah,
took it, and went their merry way. The Torah was theirs, in
their possession, theirs to tamper with, mutilate, change,
add from or subtract, according to their whim. They tailored
it to their needs and tastes, trimming here when it was too
big for their measures, adding there where the fit was too
snug. Instead of safeguarding it in a suitable Aron
Kodesh, they laid it in a notorious Bed of Sodom, where
they could stretch it forcibly or shorten it viciously to
suit.
Others received the Torah and did, in fact, lay it away
in an ark, drawing the poroches closed with a parting
kiss, perhaps, and then turning their backs upon it to go
their private ways. They made sure to lock that ark up
tightly, lest the Torah infiltrate into their lives and make
an impact.
Still others received the Torah and cast it to the
ground in abuse. They trampled it, G-d forfend, ruthlessly,
turned their backs upon it, and from the remnants of its
parchments, brazenly went on to build themselves a throne.
They were joined by those who received the Torah for
foster care. They cared for it, in their own way, and when
they misperceived that parts of it were too difficult to
absorb, they simply did away with them. In their concern lest
Torah be forgotten or become unacceptable, they took measures
to make sure that it would, actually, be forgotten and become
effete. They always had tailored solutions and notions on how
to make the Torah more palatable, more acceptable to the
masses, easier to live with. And thereby, they caused it to
die a gradually accelerated but "pleasant" death.
In contrast to all these "receivers" of the Torah, were
the true bodyguards, who guarded it body and soul, who toiled
over it in purity, preserved its flame, fanned its embers,
faithfully heeded the admonition, "Do not abandon My Torah!"
They held on to it for its dear life, latched on to it lest
it slip out of their grasp, straight into the jaws of the
preying "friends" and enemies.
Their hosts include the leaders of the people, the
Jewish sages, the "eyes" of the flock, whose intense sense of
responsibility for the treasure in their charge enveloped
their entire being. They were blessed with extra- sensitive
antennae to pick up danger signals before the threats
materialized, to ward off calamity from a distance. They
bodily thwarted, rebuffed and repelled all the false
claimants to the Torah, lest they wrest this precious
treasure from their grasp.
These courageous captains did not always enjoy the
sympathy of the people. Sometimes, on the contrary, they were
the butt of their criticism and hatred. The masses accused
them of stubbornness, rigidity, narrow-mindedness,
divisiveness and quarrel-mongering and even hatred. They did
not stand by their side, even when the Torah was threatened
from the outside, when they so badly needed reinforcements to
ward off the enemies of Torah. They left the captains of
Torah stranded by the frontlines, without backing and
support, exposed fore and aft to the dangerous enemy, whom
they, themselves, often assisted.
Valiantly, these captains steadfastly fought the battle,
with their own traditional weapons, becharbom
uvekashtom, with the swordedge of their tongues -- in
prayer, and the bows -- of their bent supplications. Never
did they turn their heads to see if the masses were still
behind them.
And they prevailed! They always won; they always had the
upper hand, and the ark of Hashem was always reclaimed from
sundry Philistines and gathered back to the holy camp of the
faithful.
Today, when the Jewish people find themselves
celebrating the Festival of the Giving of the Torah, and
receive the Torah once again, as they do each year at this
time and season, their memories rise up before Him for
honors. If the Torah has again been transmitted to us wholly
intact, no more and no less pristine and perfect as when it
was originally transmitted at Sinai, uncontaminated and
untainted by anything unholy, this is only to the credit of
those unique leaders whom Hashem implanted into each and
every generation -- for that very purpose.
In the future days, a heavenly echo will resound around the
world, from end to end, declaring, "Those who toiled with
Hashem -- let them come and claim their just reward!" At that
time, says the Midrash, all the false claimants of the
Torah will hide behind the coattails of the truly faithful,
those who toiled with Hashem, while they claim their just
reward.
