A series of six text studies for Shavuot – ‘Revelation, Identity and Covenant’. Study them now or keep them until the evening of Shavuot for a ‘tikkun leyl Shavuot’.
Revelation, Identity and Covenant
Texts 1 and 2 introduce midrashim which describe aspects of the revelation at Mount Sinai and have strong connections (either in motif or in the use of verses) to Text 3. Text 3 contains the famous Talmudic account of Mount Sinai being held over the Israelites’ head accompanied by God’s threat of ‘accept or die’. Text 4 explores a midrash which utilises the same verse from the Book of Esther as found in Text 3 but to a slightly different effect. Finally, Texts 5 and 6 contain later commentaries on Text 3 by Ramban and Maharal respectively.
If you’re thinking about a Text 7 – perhaps you could read Levinas’ ‘The Temptation of Temptation‘. Alternatively, there are suggestions about where you could take the conversation included in the introduction.
