“Moses summoned all Israel, and he said to them: You have seen everything that the Lord performed before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to his entire land” (Deuteronomy 29:1). “Moses summoned all Israel” – halakha: A person of Israel who stood to read the Torah, is it permitted for him to read fewer than three verses? So taught the Sages: One who reads the Torah may not do so with fewer than three verses.21Megilla 23b. Our Rabbis taught us: Why did they institute that he may not do so with fewer than three verses?

It is corresponding to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Alternatively, it is corresponding to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, through whom the Torah was given. Rabbi Hoshaya said: See that the lowliest in the days of Moses saw what Ezekiel, the greatest of the prophets, did not see: people to whom the Divine Presence spoke face-to-face, as it is stated: “The Lord spoke with you face-to-face …” (Deuteronomy 5:4).

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said: From where do you say that had Israel been lacking even one person, the Divine Presence would not have appeared to them? It is as it is written: “For on the third day the Lord will descend before the eyes of all the people on Mount Sinai” (Exodus 19:11). There was an incident involving Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi], who was lecturing in the great study hall, and when he would seek to enter to lecture, he would say: ‘See if the entire congregation has gathered.’

From where do you derive it [this practice]? It is from the giving of the Torah. From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “When the Lord said to me: Assemble the people for Me, and I will have them hear My words” (Deuteronomy 4:10).

Another matter: The Rabbis said: You find that when the Holy One blessed be He gave the Torah to Moses, He gave it to him with a summons. From where is it derived? It is as it is stated: “The Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses ascended” (Exodus 19:20). So too, Moses our master, when he came to teach the Torah to Israel, he said to them, ‘Just as I received the Torah with a summons, so I am passing it to His children with a summons.’

From where is it derived? It is from what is written regarding the matter: “Moses summoned all Israel, and he said to them.”