Yitro

I have two students with synesthesia, an u erly fascina ng neurological condi on in

which s mula on of one sense or cogni ve pathway leads to experience with another
sense or cogni ve pathway.1 One tells me that the number 8 is orange. So is my son’s
name. The le er R is blue. And phone numbers are a rainbow of colors. The other tells
me that going to the symphony is like watching the Aurora Borealis. For her synesthe c
friend, that symphony has a metallic taste. Smells have sounds. Words have avors.
Textures have colors. The lives of synesthetes are characterized by an extraordinary
melding of percep ons.

This condi on is rare, but it seems that the en re Jewish people experienced it at least
once in our collec ve history, at Sinai. Parshat Yitro recounts this event and
contemplates its spiritual signi cance.

A er the drama of the Exodus comes the theatrics of Sinai in this week’s por on:

‫ וַיְהִי֩ בַּיֹ֨ום הַּׁשְלִיׁשִ֜י ּבִֽהְיֹ֣ת הַּבֶֹ֗קר וַיְהִי֩ ֹקֹל֨ת ּובְָרִק֜ים וְעָנָ֤ן ּכָבֵד֙ עַל־הָהָ֔ר וְֹק֥ל ׁשֹפָ֖ר חָזָ֣ק מְאֹ֑ד‬
‫ים‬-ִ֖‫֥ד כּל־הָעָ֖ם אֲׁשֶ֥ר ּבַּֽמַחֲנֶֽה׃ וַּיֹוצֵ֨א מֹׁשֶ֧ה אֶת־הָעָ֛ם לְִקַר֥את הָֽאֱֹלה‬ ‫ וַּיֶחֱַר ׇ‬
'‫ מִן־הַּֽמַחֲנֶ֑ה וַּיִֽתְיַּצְבּ֖ו ּבְתַחְּתִ֥ית הָהָֽר׃ וְהַ֤ר סִינַי֙ עָׁשַ֣ן ּכֻּלֹ֔ו מִּ֠פְנֵ֠י אֲׁשֶ֨ר יַָר֥ד עָלָ֛יו ה‬
‫֥ד כּל־הָהָ֖ר מְאֹֽד׃ וַיְהִי֙ קֹ֣ול הַּׁשֹפָ֔ר הֹולְֵ֖ וְחָזֵ֣ק‬ ‫ ּבָאֵׁ֑ש וַּיַ֤עַל עֲׁשָנֹו֙ ּכְעֶׁ֣שֶן הַּכִבְׁשָ֔ן וַּיֶחֱַר ׇ‬
‫ים יַעֲנֶּ֥נּו בְקֹֽול׃ וַּיֵֶ֧רד ה' עַל־הַ֥ר סִינַ֖י אֶל־ֹר֣אׁש הָהָ֑ר וַּיְִקָר֨א‬-ִ֖‫ מְאֹ֑ד מֹׁשֶ֣ה יְַדּבֵ֔ר וְהָאֱֹלה‬
(‫ טז–כ‬:‫ה' לְמֹׁשֶ֛ה אֶל־ֹר֥אׁש הָהָ֖ר וַּיַ֥עַל מֹׁשֶֽה׃ )שמות יט‬

On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder [kolot], and lightning,
and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast [kol] of the horn;
and all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out
of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the
mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for the Lord had come down
upon it in re; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain
trembled violently. The blare [kol] of the horn grew louder and louder. As
Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder [kol]. The Lord came down upon

1 To learn more about synesthesia, check out this TED talk: h

ps://www.ted.com/talks/
richard_e_cytowic_what_color_is_tuesday_exploring_synesthesia?language=en. Or read the speaker’s
book, Wednesday is Indigo Blue, by Richard E. Cytowic.

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 Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top
of the mountain and Moses went up.

The scene is set with an abundance of sights and sounds. Lightning and smoke for the
eyes. Thunder and shofar blasts–both iden ed as kolot, or voices–for the ears. God’s
self-disclosure was to take place amidst an explosion of the senses.

Aseret Hadibrot, the Ten U erances, follow, beginning with the phrase, “I the Lord am bc
your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 20:2). The people are stunned
by this overwhelming, perplexing, awe-inspiring event, so full of powerful images and
intense noises.

‫ ו ְׇכל־הָעָם֩ ֹראִ֨ים אֶת־הַּקֹוֹל֜ת וְאֶת־הַּלַּפִיִד֗ם וְאֵת֙ קֹ֣ול הַּׁשֹפָ֔ר וְאֶת־הָהָ֖ר עָׁשֵ֑ן וַּיְַ֤רא הָעָם֙ וַּיָנֻ֔עּו‬
(‫טו‬:‫וַּיַֽעַמְדּ֖ו מֵָֽרחֹֽק׃ )שמות כ‬

All the people saw the thunder [kolot] and lightning, the blare [kol] of the horn
and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they fell back and
stood at a distance. (Ex. 20:15).

Synesthesia befalls all. The people see thunder. They look upon voices. How could that
be? How could eyes behold that which should be heard? Rashi, quo ng the midrash,
a rms the oddity of this perceptual mixture and a ributes it to the sui generis nature of
the grand revelatory moment.

(‫ שם‬,‫ )רש"י‬:‫ ׁשֶאִי אֶפְׁשָר לְִראֹות ּבְמָקֹום אַחֵר‬,‫ רֹואִין אֶת הַּנִׁשְמָע‬.‫ראים את הקולת‬

[THEY] SAW THE SOUNDS — they saw that which should be heard (Mekhilta
d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:15:1) — something which is impossible to see on any
other occasion. (Rashi, ad loc.)

The Sefat Emet understands this phenomenon di erently, not as a sensual synesthe c
experience but as a totalizing spiritual experience. He suggests that God’s opening
words–”‫”אָֽנֹכִ֖י֙ ה׳ אֱֹלהֶ֑֔–יָ אֲׁשֶ֧ר הֹוצֵאתִ֛יָ מֵאֶֶ֥רץ מִצְַר֖יִם מִּבֵ֣֥ית עֲבִָדֽ֑ים‬, “I the Lord am your
God who brought you out of the land of Egypt”--o er not only doctrinal content, but a
frame for the communica on that follows. The revela on was a deeply personal
experience. God appeared to each person in their own unique way (as “your God”). And
what each individual “saw”--what became crystal clear to each one–was the divine that
resides within.

‫ שראו בנ"י כ"א את שורש‬.‫ פי' כמ"ש אנכי ה' אלקיך‬.'‫בפסוק וכל העם רואים א"ה כו‬
(‫ יתרו תרל"ט‬,‫ )שפת אמת‬...'‫חיותו וראו עין בעין חלק נשמת ה' ממעל שיש לכל א‬

On the verse: “All the people saw the voices [lit. thunder] [and lightning, the
blare of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they

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 fell back and stood at a distance” (Exodus 20:15), the explana on [of the
voices] is that which is wri en, “I the Lord am your God [who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage]” (Ex. 20:2). Every person of Israel
saw the root of their own life-force and they saw with their own eyes the part
of the divine soul above that is within every person… (Sefat Emet, Yitro 1879)

The self-disclosure of God was not about a God “out there.” It was an occasion for every
single person to realize the unique ways that the Divine is present within themselves as
an anima ng life-force. Divine energy pulsates inside of each one of us. This is the
“nekudah,” the point of holiness, that the Sefat Emet references me and again. Sinai
was the occasion when this truth became palpably real. It was also an occasion to
appreciate that God is similarly present in everyone else. The revela on of one’s own
holiness yielded a deep recogni on of the holiness of all others as well. Individual
uniqueness meant radical equality.

What did it mean to “see” this truth? It meant absolute, immediate fealty to it as truth.
Emunah, in Hebrew, is not faith, so much as trust. At Sinai, the people trusted deep in
their hearts and souls in the reality of Presence within and without.

:‫ רק ראו את הקולות שכך הוא כאשר ה' דובר‬.‫ … ולא היו צריכין להאמין את הדיברות‬

… They did not have to [cogni vely] believe the commandments. They only had to see
these voices. This is the way it is when God speaks. (ibid.)

***

One year a er delivering these words, the Rebbe returned to the themes at hand:

…‫ והיינו דכ' רואים‬.‫ רק הדיברות היו חקוקים בלבם‬.‫ שאין דיברות הבורא ית' כדיברות ב"ו‬
.‫ וניתקנו נפשותם שנמשכו אחר הדיברות‬.‫ היינו בלבם ראו שנתקיים מיד‬.‫ את הקולות‬
‫ וזהו ענין תורה שבע"פ שכ' חיי עולם נטע בתוכינו שנבללו דברי תורה בנפשותם… )שפת‬
(‫ תר"מ‬,‫ יתרו‬,‫אמת‬

…The words of God are not like the words of human beings [lit. esh and
blood]. The commandments [or u erances] were engraved in their hearts, as
the verse says, “All the people saw the voices [lit. thunder]” (Ex. 20:15). That is,
in their hearts they saw [the words] ful lled immediately. Their souls, drawn to
the words [of the commandments], were thereby repaired. This is the idea of
Oral Torah, of which we say, “Eternal life He implanted within us” [in the
blessings on the Torah]--the words of Torah were absorbed into their souls…
(Sefat Emet, Yitro, 1880)

To “see a voice” is to internalize it fully, to be imprinted by it, transformed by it. The

words of God, which were the in ma ons of a God within, were “engraved in the

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 hearts” of the people and “absorbed into their souls.” So searing was Sinai. So
immediate was its e ect.

***

The tradi on tells us that all of us were present at the foot of that mountain. All of us, in
some primal way, saw the voices. Etched within all of us is an intui ve awareness of the
“‫”חלק נשמת ה' ממעל‬, the part of the Divine soul above, that rests within.

Alas, according to Deuteronomy 5:19, the kol, the Voice of Sinai, never stopped
sounding. Moses recalls at the end of his life:

‫ אֶֽת־הַּדְבִָר֣ים הָאֵּ֡לֶה ּדִּבֶר֩ ה' אֶל־ּכָל־ְקהַלְכֶ֜ם ּבָהָ֗ר מִּתֹ֤וְ הָאֵׁש֙ הֶֽעָנָ֣ן וְהָֽעֲָרפֶ֔ל קֹ֥ול ּגָדֹ֖ול וְֹל֣א‬
(‫יט‬:‫יָסָ֑ף וַּֽיִכְּתְבֵ֗ם עַל־ׁשְנֵי֙ לֻחֹ֣ת אֲבָנִ֔ים וַּֽיִּתְנֵ֖ם אֵלָֽי׃ )דברים ה‬

The Lord spoke those words to your whole congrega on at the mountain, with
a mighty voice (kol gadol) out of the re and the dense clouds, and they did
not cease (v’lo yasaf).2 He inscribed them on two tablets of stone, which He
gave to me. (Deuteronomy 5:19)

The Revela on con nues. The whispers of self-revela on beckon. Can you see them?

Bifnim/Personal Re ec ons
1. Consider the Sefat Emet’s descrip on of the Sinai revela on: “Every person of
Israel saw the root of their own life-force and they saw with their own eyes the
part of the divine soul above that is within every person.” What, if anything,
helps you to behold the root of your own life-force, the part of the Divine that is
within you? What, if anything, makes that challenging?
2. The Sefat Emet understands the synesthesia described by Rashi as a deep,
immediate experience of truth, something that transcends language or normal
cogni on but is rather experienced in the body. Have you ever had an experience
like this? If so, when? What happened? If not, do you imagine it is possible?
What do you imagine it might be like?
3. When, if ever, have you experienced words as being etched into your heart? In
par cular, do you nd that the words of Torah have that e ect on you? If yes,
what do you sense makes that possible? If not, what do you sense prevents it?

Ba’Avodah/Prac ce
One understanding of the prac ce of reci ng the Shema is that it is a moment of tuning
into the revela on that was present most palpably at Sinai. In the tradi onal morning

2 The phrase “kol gadol v’lo yasaf” can be read in two exactly opposite ways. Either, “with a mighty voice

that never ceased,” as I’ve chosen here, or “with a mighty voice, and [God] added no more.” The
implica ons of transla onal choice here are great. Either there is con nuous revela on or it ceased at
Sinai. Both ideas are retained in rabbinic literature. See, for example, Rashi on this verse and Sanhedrin
17a.

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 liturgy, that moment of Shema-revela on is preceded by a prayer focused on

experiencing Divine love which includes the words, “Unify our hearts in love.” IJS
instructor Cantor Lizzie Shammash has developed a rich prac ce combining embodied
awareness, chant, medita on, and liturgy which she shared as part of the Open My
Heart podcast in 2021. As you listen to or read this prac ce, consider tapping into the
synesthe c elements of Sinai described in this week’s teaching, and if you can become
aware of new registers of the Divine presence within you.

Listen here: h ps://www.jewishspirituality.org/unify-our-hearts-in-love/

Read the transcript here: h ps://www.jewishspirituality.org/wp-content/uploads/
2021/04/Podcast-Transcript_Cantor-Lizzie-Shammash.pdf

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