Sinai

At the mountain

Thunder, fire and a voice

The giving of the Torah is the heart of Shavuot. Seven weeks of road from the Exodus brought the people to Mount Sinai, wrapped in fire and cloud.

1. Counting the OmerFrom the second day of Passover the people count seven weeks — forty-nine days of road from slavery to Sinai. The fiftieth day is Shavuot.
2. At Mount SinaiIn the third month after the Exodus the people encamp at the foot of Sinai — in the sages' words, “as one person, with one heart.”
3. Three daysFor three days the people sanctify themselves and prepare to meet the revelation; a boundary is set around the mountain not to be crossed.
4. Thunder and lightningAt dawn — thunder, lightning, a thick cloud upon the mountain and the rising blast of the shofar. The whole camp trembles.
5. The mountain in fireMount Sinai is wholly in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; the smoke rises as from a furnace, and the mountain quakes.
6. The Ten CommandmentsFrom the fire a voice sounds — the Ten Utterances: “I am the Lord your God…”. The people hear the very foundation of the covenant.
7. “Na'aseh v'nishma”The people answer: “We will do and we will hear” — accepting the Torah in trust, before understanding. So the eternal covenant is sealed.