Standing Tall
If the route to success is a clear mission statement, the Jewish people are in luck. Every day, we are commanded to bring an Olat Tamid (a “daily” offering). But there’s more: the Torah continues saying that this Olat Tamid is “HaAsuyah Behar Sinai” (ready from the encounter on Mount Sinai).
This verse strongly links the daily actions we take to animate that ancient offering with our prized possession, our Masorah. Every day suggests the Sfat Emet (R. Mordechai Leib Alter of Ger, Pinchas 5600:2), we have the obligation and privilege to raise up the world, each in her or his way.
When humankind sinned just after the dawn of creation, our connection to the Divine was somehow diminished. We had turned our backs on the Divine. Rather than following direct commands, we took another route. Sadly, had we resisted the temptation to follow our own instincts and desires rather than align with the Divine, we would have fulfilled the verse (Psalms 82:6):
אֲֽנִי־אָ֭מַרְתִּי אֱלֹהִ֣ים אַתֶּ֑ם וּבְנֵ֖י עֶלְי֣וֹן כֻּלְּכֶֽם׃
I had taken you for divine beings, attendants of the Most High, all of you;
As Bnei Elyon, in an unsullied spiritual state, we would have remained on an enviable level of closeness to God. Alas, it was not to be.
After leaving Egypt as a liberated people, we assembled around the mountain and accepted the Torah in priority order – first, we will do what You ask, and second, we will listen to the whys and the wherefores of Your requests – Naaseh V’Nishma.
If we are anything during our lifetimes, we are defined as MeHalchim/walkers. We continue forward in life day after day, working hard to rise from one spiritual level to the next. Ultimately, our life goal is to attain the closest and deepest connection to our Creator.
When one walks, one is also standing. At that time, we were characterized as Omdim. What are other cases of standing/Omed in our Masorah:
Angels are called Omdim, in fact, our tradition tells us that angels have one integrated leg on which they “stand,” and each angel stands in the position and level assigned to them by God,
At Mount Sinai, we, the Jewish people, were described as Omdim – VaYaamdu. The text further states (Deuteronomy 4:10):
יֹ֗ום אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָמַ֜דְתָּ לִפְנֵ֨י יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ֮ בְּחֹרֵב
The day you stood before the Eternal, your God at Chorev
The holy service in the Temple was valid only if the Kohanim/priests were standing.
The Talmud suggests that our Tefilla service today reenacts our service in the Temple. We even call our Shmoneh Esrai prayer – the Amidah/standing service. In fact, as we recite this prayer, it is our obligation to remind ourselves of the Yom Asher Amadta B’Chorev/the day that we stood (or, in this context, that we stand) at Chorev/Sinai.
We memorialize our unique connection to the Divine and our national legacy every day while we pray. But prayer is only effective if it impacts us in ways that energize us to look for positive opportunities around us. Prayer is only effective if we internalize the significance of our literally standing before the Divine. Prayer is only useful if we recognize our dependency on a power infinitely greater than ours.
When we were omdim/standers at Mount Sinai, the Torah recounts that our nation witnessed an incredible miracle (Exodus 20:15):
וְכׇל־הָעָם֩ רֹאִ֨ים אֶת־הַקּוֹלֹ֜ת וְאֶת־הַלַּפִּידִ֗ם וְאֵת֙ ק֣וֹל הַשֹּׁפָ֔ר
And all the people SAW the sounds and the lights and the sound of the shofar.
Observed the Kli Yakar (R. Shlomo Ephraim of Luntschitz): how could the people see what is normally only heard? His proposal is that the utterances of God during the first two commandments were so powerful that the letters associated with the sound hovered in the air as they were spoken. As such, the people could actually “see” what was being “said.” He proves this hypothesis by quoting the verse in Psalms (33:6):
בִּדְבַ֣ר יְ֭הֹוָה שָׁמַ֣יִם נַעֲשׂ֑וּ
By word of the Lord, the heavens were made
Each utterance of the Divine creates something new in the cosmos. Each utterance had presence and substance. We, as standers, must always remember the responsibility and privilege we are given to stand before the Divine and pray.
Our prayers need to be l’shem shamayim/for the sake of Heaven. We need to stay true to our mission, that is to align our goals in life with God’s goals for us. That is, as the prophet Micah 6:8 teaches:
הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טֹּ֑וב וּמָֽה־יְהוָ֞ה דֹּורֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשֹׂ֤ות מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃
“You have been told, O mortal, what is good, And what GOD requires of you: Only to do justice And to love goodness, And to walk modestly with your God;
That walking is accomplished when we are erect and standing, one with each other and one with our God.
