"...v'kol ha'am ro'im es ha'kolos..."
"...and every one saw the sounds..." (20:16)
 
The outstanding imagery of our verse, seeing sound, has drawn great attention from our sages and commentaries. You may have noticed that we see with our eyes and hear with our ears, but seldom experience a crossover of our senses which would result in our seeing something which was audible. Yet, the Torah proclaims that we saw the sounds of Sinai.
 
The Rambam (Moreh HaNevuchim 2:33) understands that we are not referring to the sounds of thunder and the blasts of the shofar alone; the Torah is referring to the kol HaShem - the Divine voice - which is also referenced in our parsha.
 
That "voice" of HaShem was not actually His voice, for HaShem is not embodied in either physical or sensory manifestations. Rather, the Voice refers to the experiences at Matan Torah in which all of us engaged. Virtually every facet of Torah was broadcast to us through the medium of Moshe's prophecy. However, the first two Divine declarations, the dibros of "I am the L-ord your G-d who brought you out of Egypt" and "You shall have no other 'gods'" were heard at a sublime and transcendent level by every one of us. This latter experience was known as the kol HaShem.
 
Why was there this difference between all of the words, and commandments, of the Torah, which were given us via Moshe's prophetic pronouncements, versus the first two of the "top ten commandments" which we needed to hear through the experience of kol HaShem, a phenomenon which the Rambam says was a one-time creation just for that moment?
 
The Rambam writes that virtually all of the Torah is instructive, and can be presented directly or through a spokesperson (prophet). The means through which we were given Torah was not as important as the reality that we received, accepted and internalized it. However, those first two principles, HaShem's omnipresence and HaShem's One-ness, cannot just be told to us and accepted. They are not lessons which can be intellectualized and left at that.
 
Metzius HaShem and Yichud HaShem require profound analysis, personal engagement, and meditative contemplation. They are transcendent and spiritual realities. In order to grasp their depth and magnitude, each of us needed a personal epiphany, a moving subjective moment of apprehending the numinous. This was the experience of kol HaShem. The Torah depicts this as seeing the sounds, because that Voice of HaShem was presented so that we could fathom and grasp those essential principles deep within.
 
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The Rosh takes these already mystical views and adds to their mystique. What does it mean to "see" a sound? We often speak about how "seeing is believing." The Rosh argues that "seeing is enjoying": the prophet Yeshaya (44:16) uses the expression chamosi ra'isi ur - I warmed myself and saw the fire, where it is clear in context that "seeing" means taking delight or pleasure. The Torah (VaYikra 20:17) admonishes the one who has ra'ah es ha' erva - who has seen the forbidden relationship, where it is clear in context that "seeing" means enjoying or taking benefit.
 
The experience of hearing the powerful Voice of HaShem touched our deepest souls. We heard those Divine declarations, but the experience moved us in a profound manner. It was as if our very soul was aflame with supernal delight. We "saw the sounds" in the sense that we exalted in that moment. We took delight and benefit from that spiritual encounter. That form of seeing was sensory and fulfilling.
 
Good Shabbos, if you see what I mean. D Fox