By Avner Friedmann
We are told that the Torah is the blueprint of creation, the manual and purpose of our lives, as well as the only antidote for the evil inclination. If so, why was it not given at the very beginning of creation, in Parshat Bereshit? After all, that is where it all began. Why did HaShem wait twenty-six generations before giving the Torah on Mount Sinai?
Now, the secret to this question is associated with the refinement of the soul. Adam, the first man, originally possessed a perfect soul, pure of the dross of any evil. He therefore was able to see from one end of the world to the other, with the light that was created on the first day of creation.[1] He possessed a general soul that consisted of all the souls of mankind that were destined to be, and we are all sparks of the original root soul of Adam.[2] However, after eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, good and evil became inextricably mixed within him.
The result is that throughout history, human beings must struggle with good and evil. We must choose between our own selfishness and inclinations towards lust and greed, on the one hand, and the inner desire to sublimate ourselves to HaShem and to fulfill His will, on the other hand.
If the Torah would have been given to the generations that lived before and immediately after the great flood – such as the generation of Enosh, the generation of the flood or the generation of the tower of Babel, due to their evil inclinations, they very possibly would have abused the tremendous power of Torah for destructive purposes rather than for goodness and righteousness. As we know, because of the evil of the generation of the flood, the entire world was destroyed. The Holy Zohar states[3] that those generations only added blemish upon blemish, to the blemish caused by Adam, thus making it worse and worse.
Because of this, the human soul needed tremendous refinement. This took place through seven generations of Tzaddikim (Righteous Individuals), beginning with our father Avraham. Avraham recognized the wrong path that humanity taken and was determined to change its course. He started the process of revealing HaShem’s presence in the world. Ultimately, through his descendents, this would bring the world to the state that Adam was on before eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Nonetheless, as great and lofty as the soul of Avraham was, the world needed further cleansing and refining before the Torah could be given. The Holy Zohar tells us that each of our forefathers made his own fundamental and unique contribution to this process, by perfecting one of the three main G-dly qualities of the soul. Avraham perfected the attribute of loving-kindness, Yitzchak perfected the attribute of strength and severity and Yaakov perfected the attribute of beauty and truth.
Even then, the souls did not yet reach the required level of perfection. Yaakov gave birth to twelve righteous sons, who together with their descendants were the seventy root souls who went down into Egypt. The Torah describes Egypt as the “iron furnace”[4] which purifies gold and purges it from the dross of foreign elements.[5] In Egypt they received their final refinement and purification. There they multiplied into the 600,000 original souls of Israel. When this process was completed, they left Egypt and marched to receive the Torah at Mount Sinai.
The seven week period from the Exodus until the giving of the Torah was the “seal on the product,” so to speak. It was a period of final elevation and refinement of the seven emotional qualities of the soul, until they reached the level of Adam before the sin and were ready to receive the Torah.[6] To behold this awesome revelation they needed to be cleansed totally of any of the impurities of the primordial snake. The Exodus from Egypt and receiving the Torah at Sinai was accomplished through Moshe, the seventh generation from Avraham, who brought the Shechinah (Divine Presence) back down to the world.
The Holy Zohar states that at that point, for the first time, the world could stand on its own merit.[7] At Sinai the Jewish people became holy, sanctified and elevated, thus reaching a status that is unchangeable, no matter what the Jew does. The Jew became connected to HaShem with an everlasting covenant. At Mount Sinai the Jewish people took the mission of being a light unto the nations and of turning this world into a dwelling place for HaShem.
May we merit the final perfection, in the true and complete redemption, through our righteous Moshiach. Amen.
[1] Zohar Chadash 20a.
[2] Zohar Bamidbar 117a.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Devarim 4:20.
[5] Rashi on the verse.
[6] The Holy Alshech on Vaeira.
[7] Netivot Shalom Yitro p. 159, Shemini p. 48, Masei p. 177-179.
