ymarkov | "The Horizontal Society", tidbit 1

5. The Berit (‘Covenant’) Sinai-Moab
Israel was constituted by a duly drawn document or bilateral berit (‘covenant’), formally contracted by the people and God. Let us note, at the outset, that in accordance to Jewish and standard legal procedure, the covenant registered the date and locale where it was negotiated—the first document in history duly listing [i] the chronological time, and [ii] the geographical locale in which the transaction took place: “On the first day of the third month of the Exodus of Egypt, on that very day, they arrived at the Sinai Desert” (Ex 19:1). As in contract law, the berit was grounded on the principle of ‘offer and acceptance.’ It was executed in four steps.

[i] Proposal. At God’s request, Moses offered Israel to establish a bilateral covenant. The terms of the covenant were as follows. Israel, on her part, would accept God’s Law as binding; God, on His part, would recognize Israel as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The proposal was accepted. Thereupon, Moses transmitted their decision to God (Ex 19:3—6).

[ii] The Theophany at Sinai. Three days after accepting the proposal, God revealed Himself amidst thunders, lightning, and turmoil “before the eyes of all Israel,” and verbally uttered the Decalogue to them (Ex 19:16— 20, 25), “face to face” (Dt 5:4). The consequence of this revelation was instruction — rather than demands imposed by virtue of might. This is the central theme of the liturgy (musaf) of Rosh ha-Shana:

You have revealed Yourself to Your holy people with the cloud of Your Glory, to speak with them. From the heavens You permitted them to hear Your voice, and revealed Yourself to them in an iridescent cloud. The whole world, too, trembled before You. And the creatures of Genesis stood in awe before You, when You, O our King, revealed Yourself at Mt. Sinai to teach your people the Law and the precepts.

[iii] Acceptance of God’s precepts. After God’s Theophany, Moses ascended to the “thick darkness” to receive representative precepts of the Law—a series of rituals, as well as moral and judicial legislation. Upon descending from the “thick darkness”, Moses transmitted these precepts to the people. The people accepted, replying: “All the words which God had spoken we shall do” (Ex 20:17—24:2). During the night, Moses put the articles of the covenant into writing. The document read by Moses is known as “the book of the berit” (Ex 24:4, 7).

[iv] Ratification of the Pact. The following morning the pact was ratified. Moses ordered the erection of twelve pillars, representing the tribes of Israel, and an altar, representing God. Then, Moses sent young men to offer sacrifices. Half of the blood of the sacrifices was poured into basins and the rest was sprinkled onto the altar. Thereupon, Moses proceeded to read to the people “the book of the berit.” At this ceremony, God is conspicuously absent. The morning is quiet, there is no thunder, lightning, or anything that could coerce, frighten, or insinuate the people. Freely and in unison the people broke the stillness of the morning with these words: “Everything that God will tell us we shall execute and we shall hear”. Moses took the rest of the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying: “Behold, the blood of the bent that God made with you, on all these words” (Ex 24:4—8).

Thus took place an event with no parallel in history: a bilateral covenant between God and an entire people. The Scripture has recorded revelations and covenants between God and individuals, but only at Sinai did God speak to an entire people and establish a covenant with them. To understand the nature of the covenant we must focus on the last word spoken by Israel: ”and we shall hear.” It meant, as properly understood by the rabbis, that the contract at Sinai was a ‘binding preliminary commitment’; sanctioning, thereby, the introduction of new terms, conditions, and provisions to be negotiated afterward. In effect, later, before leaving the Sinai Desert, the considerations and penalties contained in the covenant were stipulated (Lev 26:3—46). The rest of the precepts were delivered during the following forty years. These precepts were duly exposed and promulgated by Moses and the elders at the Ohel Mo’ed (Tent of Assembly; see Section IV, n. 78) to the entire Community of Israel. At the end of forty years, in the fields of Moab, before crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land, Moses and the people sealed with another berit the precepts that were received during these forty years (Dt 28:69). It, too, contains a series of blessings and sanctions reiterating the considerations and penalties of the covenant (Dt 27:11—28:68). The Scroll of the Law, which Moses presented to the Priests and which was deposited next to the Ark of the Covenant (Dt 31:25—26, see below Chapter 7), is designated “written to its conclusion” ("ad tumam", Dt 31:24); i.e., a technical term standing ‘for a fully redacted agreement, with all the remedies upon breach, and the institutions in place, charged with performance.’ Thus the Tora constitutes a sealed berit or entire agreement, which cannot be amended or altered in any respect by any of the parties, and no one, can either add or subtract from it (see below).

The berit at Sinai was contracted by God and “the household of Jacob,” i.e., “the children of Israel” (Ex 19:3), linking directly every Israelite to God. At Moab, before crossing the Jordan into the Holy Land, the berit was contracted by God and the nation of Israel. This is the first case in recorded history in which the term ‘nation’ includes men and women, children and alien residents, as well as the political, judicial, and ecclesiastical authorities. Accordingly, as in all national covenants, this berit is binding upon all members of the nation or the corporation of Israel, present as well as future (Dt 29:9—14; cf. Josh 8:35). In similar fashion to the covenant contracted at Sinai, it, too, was contracted in the “presence of God” (Dt 29:9), with a significant difference. Ever since God handed Moses the tablets containing the Decalogue, the Law became the hyperspace where God’s revelation unfolds. God communicates with Moses from within the “Ark of the Testimony” (see Ex 25:22; Nu 7:89; cf. Ex 31:18). Therefore, at Moab, God does not reveal His presence amidst thunders, lightning, and turmoil as in Sinai, but from within the hyperspace of the Ark of the Covenant. As noted by R. Abraham ibn ‘Ezra, in the “presence of God” (Dt 29:9) actually means “around the Ark containing the tablets of the Law” (see his Commentary on Dt 29:9). The berit at Moab, too, was formally accepted by the people. However, instead of manifesting their approval with the words “we shall do and we shall hear”, as in Sinai (Ex 24:7), this time they replied: “The hidden,” that is, transgressions committed in secret, are “for God our Lord,” i.e., they are not our responsibility. “But what is evident,” that is, public offenses, are “upon us and our children forever” (Dt 29:28). If there ever were a people that contracted a judicial and political system freely and without coercion, it was Israel at Sinai-Moab. The Tora is the fundamental Law of Israel, containing the ‘precepts’ (mizvot, sing. mizva) defining the rules of action and the institutions which have been sanctioned by the entire people in a solemn covenant before God.

The berit involves mutuality and consideration. At Sinai and Moab the people agreed, on their part, to follow a set of rules and regulations. God, on His part, will extend upon them His special care. Transgression of the terms of the national berit at Moab, as in all contracts, involves sanctions (Dt 29:11) and penalties (Dt 29:15—28), but not the dissolution of the covenant. In fact, God assured Israel that no matter what, He would redeem them and restore them to their land.

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The Tora also defines Hebrew worship and devotion, Simply put, the God of Israel can be worshiped only as stipulated in the berit: Hebrew monotheism warrants monolatry. This means that devotion is to be expressed through the fulfillment of the misvot established at Sinai-Moab. In religion, the cult derives its power from some sort of a ‘cosmic sacrality’ that, as in magic, can manipulate and compel the deity. To the Hebrews, there is something profoundly irreverent in the notion that men can ‘penetrate’ the mind of God and determine the manner in which it ought to be worshiped.’° Rather, the God of Israel is worshiped by following the precepts concluded at Sinai-Moab. Hence, the close, intimate relationship between Hebrew monotheism and monolatry: the one God must be worshiped only as ii was established in the covenant, i.e., through the fulfillment of the m&svot. Accordingly, the difference between pagan and Jewish devotion is huge. It was plainly explained by the Prophet Samuel. Defending himself for having disobeyed God’s order to destroy the sheep and cattle of Amalek, Saul argued that some of the beasts had been used for sacramental offerings (lSa,n 15:21). To which Samuel replied:

Is it that God wishes burnt-offerings and sacrifices, or to comply with the voice of God? Behold, to comply is better than a sacrificial offering; to hearken [better than offering] the fat of a sheep. Because the sin of magic is defiance, and the evil of idolatry is compulsion. (l Sam 15:22—23; cf. Ho 6:6)

Given that the purpose of ritual is compliance (rather than theological and or cultic compelling), details are of the essence. The purpose of halakha or legal definition of a misva is to spell out these details — otherwise it would be ‘alien worship’ — another human effort to manipulate the deity by doing what man deems ‘good’. To stress this fundamental doctrine, a blessing is pronounced before the performance of a ritual, ascertaining that God “has sanctified us with His mizvot and prescribed us” to perform that particular ceremony. With Wittgenstein, this proposes that “Good is what God orders” — not the other way around.’1 Hence, the rabbinic norms invalidating a ritual performed by committing a sin.

In conclusion, the Tora is the final and complete written agreement of the Sinai-Moab covenant contracted by God and Israel. Once sealed, neither God nor the people may add, subtract, or introduce modifications (Di 13:1 ).12 It is sui generis: the first and last Constitution of its class.

Outside the berit, the link with the divine is predicated on the logic of hierarchy: the inferior must submit to the will of the superior by the fiat that ipso facto an inferior must submit to the will of the superior. Pagan devotion sanctions not only hierarchic violence but also redemption through violence (see below Section III). In Israel, God is not obeyed by virtue of a prophetic oracle or a miracle (proof of might), but because of a freely negotiated covenant. The Hebrew lexicon does not have a term for ‘obedience.’ Rather than ‘obedience,’Judaism proposes ‘fulfillment’("kiyum") — implying contractual responsibility. According to this view, compliance to God’s Law is the effect, not the cause, of the berit. Thus, pre-Sinaitic rituals, although coming from God, are not binding, since they were not grounded on a national berit. The miracles performed by Moses, too, are recognized because they were performed “before the eyes of all Israel” (Dt 34:12), i.e., they were authenticated by the people — not imposed by some hierarchic authority. An accord or set of rules issued by a Rex, binding his subjects, but granting de jure or de facto immunity to some, is not a berit. Thus, the Law rejects the notion of ‘Sovereign Immunity.’ Rather, God Himself is bound to the berit that He contracted with Israel. Quoting a Greek proverb, “That the law is not written for the king,” i.e., it is not binding, the rabbis taught:

Ordinarily, when a human king issues a decree, if he chooses, he observes it, otherwise [only] others observe it; but when the Holy One, blessed be He, issues a decree, He is the first to observe it (Yerushalmi Rosh ha-Shana 1, 3, 57b).

Since God Himself is bound to the berit, the berit is eternal. Neither God nor the people can abrogate it or introduce any additions to it. A deity that can dissolve a covenant, reinterpret it, or change one contracting party for another, is one more tyrant in the long history of tyranny — not the God who contracted the berit with Israel at Sinai-Moab. Members of other monotheistic religions have to believe. Jews choose to be Jews. More precisely, they and God choose to believe in each other. The Tora is the document attesting to the berit or choosing of God-Israel.

An “Entire Agreement Clause” is reqularly appended in modern contracts stipulating that this Agreement constitutes the “entire, complete, and exclusive agreement of the parties and supersedes all prior communications, understandings and agreements relating to the subject matter here of, whether oral or written.” This is the precise sense of ‘ad tumam.’ A similar point was made in Ezra 7:12, where Ezra is described as “the Scribe that concluded (gamir) the Law of the God of Heavens.”