Tales of Hasidim- Martin Buber
The rabbi of Kotzk was asked: “Why is Shavuot called ‘the time the Torah was given’ rather than the time we received the Torah?” He answered: “The giving took place on one day, but the receiving takes place at all times.
(א) וכל העם רואים את הקולות. וכבר פירשתי טעם רואים את הקולות. כי כל ההרגשות מתחברות אל מקום אחד. והנה הטעם כאשר ראו הקולות והלפידים. כי מנהג האדם שיתפחד מהם וקול השופר שלא נשמע כזה לעולם. ואת ההר לבדו עשן. כאשר ראו הפלאים האלה נעו.
And all the nation saw the sounds: I have previously explained the intent of seeing the sounds. All sensations join together and are processed at one point. And this is the meaning when they saw the sounds and the lighting. This drove a person to be afraid, and the voice of the shofar was something never heard before. And the mountain itself was smoke. When they saw these wonders, they trembled.
(א) וכל העם רואים את הקולות וגו'. יש לדקדק בענין זה איך ראו את הנשמע, ומהו שאמר אח"כ וירא העם וינועו ויעמדו מרחוק אחר שכבר נאמר וכל העם רואים וגו' א"כ וירא למה לי, וכן מ"ש דבר אתה עמנו ונשמעה מלת ונשמעה מיותרת.
We have to understand how they could see the sounds ... It sounds reasonable that each word the G-d spoke became palpable and tangible to the extent that it took on physical form and could be seen in the air as floating letters as is they were written in front of them.
(א) רואים את הקולות כמו ולבי ראה. התבוננו בענין הקולות שלא יוכלו לסבלם, כאמרם לא אוסיף עוד לשמוע את קול יי אלקי, ואת האש הגדולה הזאת לא אראה עוד, ולא אמות:
(1) רואים את, the word רואים as “seeing” is to be understood as like the same word in Kohelet 1,16 ולבי ראה, “and my heart ‘saw.’” Just as the heart cannot see, so people cannot “see” sounds. The meaning is that they understood the meaning of these sounds.
Shemot Rabbah 29:9
Said Rabbi Abahu....in the name of Rabbi Yochanan...When the Holy Blessed One gave the Torah, no bird chirped, no fowl fluttered, no ox lowed, the angels did not fly, the Seraphim did not utter the Kedusha, the sea did not roar, the creatures did not speak; the universe was silent and mute. And the voice came forth “Anochi Adonai Elohecha” (I am the Infinite, your God).
וְאוֹמֵר (שמות כ, טו): וְכָל הָעָם רֹאִים אֶת הַקּוֹלֹת. הַקּוֹל אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן אֶלָּא הַקּוֹלֹת, אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן הָיָה הַקּוֹל יוֹצֵא וְנֶחְלַק לְשִׁבְעִים קוֹלוֹת לְשִׁבְעִים לָשׁוֹן, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּשְׁמְעוּ כָּל הָאֻמּוֹת,
בּוֹא וּרְאֵה הֵיאַךְ הַקּוֹל יוֹצֵא, אֵצֶל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד לְפִי כֹּחוֹ, הַזְּקֵנִים לְפִי כֹּחָן, הַבַּחוּרִים לְפִי כֹּחָן, וְהַקְּטַנִּים לְפִי כֹּחָן, וְהַיּוֹנְקִים לְפִי כֹּחָן, וְהַנָּשִׁים לְפִי כֹּחָן, וְאַף משֶׁה לְפִי כֹּחוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות יט, יט): משֶׁה יְדַבֵּר וְהָאֱלֹקִים יַעֲנֶנּוּ בְקוֹל, בְּקוֹל שֶׁהָיָה יָכוֹל לְסוֹבְלוֹ. וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר (תהלים כט, ד): קוֹל יי בַּכֹּחַ, בְּכֹחוֹ לֹא נֶאֱמַר אֶלָּא בַּכֹּחַ, בְּכֹחוֹ שֶׁל כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד, וְאַף נָשִׁים מְעֻבָּרוֹת לְפִי כֹּחָן...
...And it is stated (Exodus 20:15), "And all the people saw the sounds (literally, voices)" - it is not written, "sound," here, but rather, "sounds." Rabbi Yochanan said, "The voice would go out and divide into seventy voices for the seventy languages, so that all the nations would hear"...
Come and see how the voice would go out among all of Israel - each and every one according to his strength: the elders according to their strength; the young men according to their strength; the infants according to their strength; the sucklings according to their strength; the women according to their strength; and even Moshe according to his strength, as it is stated (Exodus 19:19), "Moshe would speak and God would answer him with a voice" - with a voice that He could withstand. And so [too,] it states (Psalms 29:4), "The voice of the Lord is in strength" - it is not stated, "in God's strength," but rather "in strength"; in the strength of each and every one, and even the pregnant women, according to their strength...
Pesikta D'Rav Kahana 12:25
One sage taught: “The Holy One appeared to [the Jews at mount Sinai] as though God were a statue with faces on every side. A thousand people might be looking at the statue, but it would appear to be looking at each one of them”…
The Divine Word spoke to each and every person according to their particular capacity. And do not be surprised at this idea. For when manna came down for Israel, each and every person tasted it in keeping with his own capacity- infants in keeping with their capacity; young men in keeping with their capacity; and the elderly in keeping with their capacity…Now what was true about the manna-that each and every person tasted it according to their own particular capacity- was equally true about the Divine Word. Each and every person heard it according to their own particular capacity…
We All Stood Together
By Merle Feld
My brother and I were at Sinai
He kept a journal
of what he saw
of what he heard
of what it all meant to him
I wish I had such a record
of what happened to me there
It seems like every time I want to write
I can’t
I’m always holding a baby
one of my own
or one for a friend
always holding a baby
so my hands are never free
to write things down
And then
As time passes
The particulars
The hard data
The who what when where why
Slip away from me
And all I’m left with is
The feeling
But feelings are just sounds
The vowel barking of a mute
My brother is so sure of what he heard
After all he’s got a record of it
Consonant after consonant after consonant
If we remembered it together
We could recreate holy time
Sparks flying