Shavuot and the Power of Silence

Was there a lot of commotion at Har Sinai (Mt. Sinai) when the Torah was given?  We know there was thunder and lightening, and the sound of a shofar, but what about when the wisdom of the Torah was actually transmitted from God to b’nai Yisrael?  What exactly did we hear? 

As we might imagine, it was so quiet a pin could probably have dropped and been heard.  When people are prepared to hear something important, each and every one stops talking to listen.  At matan Torah (the giving of the Torah), it was not only the people who stopped talking, but God also made sure the animals were quiet and that there were no nature sounds either.  As we learn in Midrash Rabbah:

Said R. Abbahu in the name of R. Johanan: “When God gave the Torah no bird twittered, no fowl flew, no ox lowed, none of the Ophanim stirred a wing, the Seraphim did not say “Holy, Holy,” the sea did not roar, the creatures did not speak, the whole world was hushed into breathless silence and the voice went forth: “I am the Lord Your God.”   Midrash Rabbah - Exodus XXIX:9

To me, it is beautiful to imagine the complete silence that must have encompassed the mountain.  In the description of silence given, I imagine a spiritual serenity joining us as we received the laws in a calm manner.  The midrash goes on to give another reason for why God made the world quiet, comparing the revelation at Har Sinai to the moment when Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet) was proving to idolaters that Baal was a false god.

So it says, “These words the Lord spoke unto all your assembly... with a great voice, and it went on no more.” (Deut. V, I9). R. Simeon b. Lakish said: What is the meaning of “And it went on no more?”- When man calls his friend, there is an echo to his voice, but there was no echo to the voice that proceeded from God. Should you wonder at this, then remember that when Elijah came on Carmel, he gathered all the heathen priests and said to them: “Cry aloud, for he is a god.” (I Kings XVIII, 27). So what did God do? He silenced the whole world, both those in heaven and those on earth, and the whole world became waste and void, as if no creature was in the world, as it says, But there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.” (ib. 29). Had He spoken, they would have said: “Baal has answered us.” How much more natural was it then that when God spoke on Mount Sinai, the whole world became silent, so that all creatures might know that there is none beside Him. Then He said: “I am the Lord Your God.”. Midrash Rabbah - Exodus XXIX:9 

This Midrash explains that when the worshippers of Baal were calling upon their false god to answer them, God made the whole world silent so that there would not be even the appearance of Baal answering them through any sign or any noise.  This story is juxtaposed with the story of the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai. At Har Sinai, the whole world was quiet so that we would be able to hear the Torah but also so that we would know that there is no other source of wisdom or power in the world.  The silence was a silence both to create an atmosphere of holiness, but also to prove a point.  Sometimes, by being silent, we communicate most clearly.

In our own lives we often struggle with the best way to listen and the best way to communicate.  These two stories from the Tanach—The Bible-- (both the story of matan Torah and the story of Eliyahu) show us how to listen and how to make our points and our arguments.   We can only truly listen when we are fully quiet and receptive.  And sometimes, the best way to make our point heard in an argument is simply to let our opponent’s words speak for themselves.