יתרו י"ט:א
בַּחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י לְצֵ֥את בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם בַּיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה בָּ֖אוּ מִדְבַּ֥ר סִינָֽי׃
In Parshas Yisro, perek Yud Tes sets the scene for us- we're getting ready for Matan Torah. When we look at passuk Alef, however, something is off. The passuk tells us that Bnai Yisrael entered the Sinai Desert on Rosh Chodesh of the third month since they had left Mitzrayim, on this very day.
Why use the words ביום הזה, on this day, instead of ביום ההוא, on that day? If it happened in the past, why are we speaking about it in present tense? Rashi addresses this famous question with a famous answer that I would like to use.
בְּרֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ; לֹא הָיָה צָרִיךְ לִכְתֹּב אֶלָּא בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, מַהוּ בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה? שֶׁיִּהְיוּ דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה חֲדָשִׁים עָלֶיךָ כְּאִלּוּ הַיּוֹם נְתָנָם (ברכות ס"ג):
Rashi quotes the Gemara in Brachos in his answer. The reason for the present tense, Rashi says, is because the words of the Torah are present. The ideal is that Torah should be fresh and exciting every day of our lives, as opposed to something that happened thousands of years ago.
So how do we do that? It's a little bit of a tall order- it's hard to stay excited about something that you absolutely love for more than a couple of weeks! How are we supposed to be excited about the words of Torah, something that some of us aren't so connected to, something that is hard, every single day of our lives? To answer this, let's turn to a passuk in Devarim and the Medrash.
(יד) כִּי֩ אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֨ר יֶשְׁנ֜וֹ פֹּ֗ה עִמָּ֙נוּ֙ עֹמֵ֣ד הַיּ֔וֹם לִפְנֵ֖י ה' אֱלֹקֵ֑ינוּ וְאֵ֨ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵינֶ֛נּוּ פֹּ֖ה עִמָּ֥נוּ הַיּֽוֹם׃
Moshe is talking to Bnai Yisrael in Parshas Netzavim, making a bris with them. He specifies that the covenant between HaShem and the nation includes "but both with those who are standing here with us this day before the LORD our God and with those who are not with us here this day."
שמות רבה כ"ח:ו
מַה שֶּׁהַנְּבִיאִים עֲתִידִים לְהִתְנַבְּאוֹת בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר קִבְּלוּ מֵהַר סִינַי, שֶׁכֵּן משֶׁה אוֹמֵר לָהֶם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל (דברים כט, יד): כִּי אֶת אֲשֶׁר יֶשְׁנוֹ פֹּה עִמָּנוּ עֹמֵד הַיּוֹם וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר אֵינֶנּוּ פֹּה עִמָּנוּ הַיּוֹם...עִמָּנוּ עוֹמֵד הַיּוֹם, אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן, אֶלָּא עִמָּנוּ הַיּוֹם, אֵלּוּ הַנְּשָׁמוֹת הָעֲתִידוֹת לְהִבָּרְאוֹת
The Medrash in Shemos Rabbah tells us that every navi that would come in the future got what he needed to say at Har Sinai- and uses this passuk in Devarim as proof. The Medrash points out that the words at the end of the passuk, וְאֵ֨ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵינֶ֛נּוּ פֹּ֖ה עִמָּ֥נוּ הַיּֽוֹם׃, refer to the neshamos that have not yet been created, that don't have substance, which is why it doesn't refer to them as standing. Even though they were not created yet, each soul was there and got what it needed at Har Sinai.
Within this medrash lies my answer the question we posed before. Inside each of our souls is the spiritual DNA that was at Matan Torah, that saw the thunder and lightning and heard HaShem's voice. Each of our souls were there when we said Naaseh V'Nishmah, when we bound ourselves to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Our job now, as we get ready for Shavuous, is to tap into that spiritual potential, and say Naaseh V'Nishma once again in our own personal way. What do I mean?
Each and every one of us needs to find our derech in Yiddishkeit. We have to find what makes us sing, what makes us tick- a type of learning and connecting to HaShem that we relate to and that resonates with us. It might be Tanach, or Halacha, Mussar or Chassidus. It might be reading biographies of our gedolim and trying to learn from them. It might be analyzing the words of Tefilla and learning them in depth- what matters is that it feels right to you. When you find your derech, then you can once more accept the Torah- your Torah, in a way that you will be excited about it and find new and fresh ideas in it every day of your life.
The learning from this sheet should be l'ilui nishmas Moshe ben Menachem, Rivka Brein bas HaChaver R' Eliezer, and Refael ben Moshe.