Rabbi Avdimi bar Ḥama bar Ḥasa said: the Jewish people actually stood beneath the mountain, and the verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, overturned the mountain above the Jews like a tub, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, excellent, and if not, there will be your burial. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: From here there is a substantial caveat to the obligation to fulfill the Torah. The Jewish people can claim that they were coerced into accepting the Torah, and it is therefore not binding. Rava said: Even so, they again accepted it willingly in the time of Ahasuerus, as it is written: “The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them” (Esther 9:27), and he taught: The Jews ordained what they had already taken upon themselves through coercion at Sinai.
What is the definition of a table? A table is a piece of furniture having a smooth flat top that is usually supported by one or more vertical legs. Similarly, our world stands on three things: Torah study,[3] on the service [of G-d] and on kind deeds[4] (I.e. bestowing kindness).
Lechem HaPanim is translated as show-bread. Bread, lechem, is made of flour. As Avos says,[5] “If there is no flour, there is no Torah.” Too which the Zohar makes the following analogy: “Torah is nourishment for the soul as bread[6] is food for the body.”[7]
Panim literally means face. As Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l says, “One’s face is like a screen and his soul like a projector which projects on his face the glory of the human soul, which has in it the greatness of Hashem.”[8] In addition, the Gemara[9] states, “Each person’s face is different because a person’s mind[10] is reflected in his face.”
Tamid means always or constantly. What is the definition of always? 1) At all times; all the time and on every occasion. 2) Seemingly without interruption; often and repeatedly. This is codified in the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch,[11] “I put Hashem before me always.” (I.e. He always has involvement in my daily life in whatever I do)
What do these words come to teach us? A table is like bread. What do I mean? In order for a table to remain sturdy it needs to have all its legs, otherwise, it will topple over. Similarly, the body of a person needs sustenance[12] in order to function effectively (sturdy).
With Hashem’s help, we should incorporate all these concepts into our lives!