As the Jews stood at Mt. Sinai receiving the Torah, they “ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:11) Isn’t this inappropriate, especially when considering the holiness of the moment?

Rashi, in fact, maintains that the people acted improperly. It can be suggested that only because of divine mercy were the Jews spared a punishment. So, at the very moment of revelation, God manifests Himself as loving and forgiving.

Unlike Rashi, Targum insists the Jews did not literally eat and drink – for it would never enter their minds to do so at such a powerful time. Still, he suggests that the moment of revelation was so exalting, it was as if they ate and drank.

Although Rashi and Targum disagree as to whether the Jews actually ate or drank, both maintain that it is wrong to do so during a moment of deep spiritual experience.

Ramban sees it differently. He maintains that while the Jews did eat and drink, it was not inappropriate. They ate the peace offerings, and drank, making it “an occasion for rejoicing and festival…Such is one’s duty to rejoice at the receiving of the Torah.”

Here, Ramban offers a critical insight. While some insist that the pathway to spirituality is the suppression of the body, others maintain that the pathway to Godliness is to sanctify the physical. In fact, the very essence of halakha is to take every moment of human existence and give it spiritual meaning.

For most faith communities, a moment of revelation could never involve eating and drinking. Ramban points out that for the Jewish people, physical enjoyment may not contradict Divine revelation. After all, the goal of Torah is to connect heaven and earth.

Once, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch decided to vacation. He was asked by his followers how he could indulge himself in such frivolity. Rabbi Hirsch responded that when, after death, he would come before God, God would ask him, “Shimshon, why didn’t you see my Alps?” R. Hirsch said that he wanted to have what to answer. For Hirsch, the Alps are manifestations of God’s creative power. Through an experience of pleasure, he was able to experience the Divine.

And at the moment of revelation, we are taught a similar message. Torah is not meant to separate us from the real world of physical needs and desires. Even eating and drinking can enhance the most holy of moments.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Avi Weiss