"And they stood at the foot of the mountain" (Exodus 19:17). Rav Avdimi bar Chama bar Chasa said: This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, overturned the mountain upon them like an inverted vat, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, well and good; and if not, there shall be your burial place. Rav Acha bar Yaakov said: From here there is a great legal protest against the Torah. Rava said: Even so, they accepted it again in the days of Ahasuerus, as it is written, "the Jews confirmed and accepted" (Esther 9:27) - they confirmed what they had already accepted.
God's Warning
Shabbat 88a
״וַיִּתְיַצְּבוּ בְּתַחְתִּית הָהָר״, אָמַר רַב אַבְדִּימִי בַּר חָמָא בַּר חַסָּא: מְלַמֵּד שֶׁכָּפָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עֲלֵיהֶם אֶת הָהָר כְּגִיגִית, וְאָמַר לָהֶם: אִם אַתֶּם מְקַבְּלִים הַתּוֹרָה מוּטָב, וְאִם לָאו — שָׁם תְּהֵא קְבוּרַתְכֶם. אָמַר רַב אַחָא בַּר יַעֲקֹב: מִכָּאן מוֹדָעָא רַבָּה לְאוֹרָיְיתָא. אָמַר רָבָא: אַף עַל פִּי כֵן הֲדוּר קַבְּלוּהָ בִּימֵי אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, דִּכְתִיב: ״קִיְּמוּ וְקִבְּלוּ הַיְּהוּדִים״ — קִיְּימוּ מַה שֶּׁקִּיבְּלוּ כְּבָר.
Themes
Original Sources
- B. Shabbat 88a
- B. Pesahim 68a
- Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Bereshit 1
- Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Yitro 14
- Nefesh ha-Hayim 4:11, 4:25-26
- Zohar 1:193a
- Likutei Moharan 2:8.