Talmud Class: Saying Yes When We Don't Have the Foggiest Idea of What We Are Saying Yes To

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life

Have you ever said yes to a commitment without knowing what that yes would mean to your life?

If you have taken a new job, moved to a new city, gotten married, had children, or nurtured a loved one through a rough patch, you have said this type of yes.

The address for saying yes without knowing what yes means is the famous phrase “na’aseh v’nishmah” in Ex. 24:7 in our reading this week. That is what the Israelites say after receiving the Torah at Sinai and then the supplemental civil and cultic laws and statutes in this week’s portion. This phrase is translated in different ways. “We will do and we will obey.” “We will faithfully do.” And “We will do and we will understand.”

What often gets lost in the story is four verses earlier the Israelites, having been given a full report on all of God’s commands and rules, proclaimed: “All the things that the Lord has commanded we will do.” Na’aseh without any nishmah. Ex. 24:3

What is the difference between “na’aseh” in verse 3 and “na’aseh v’nishmah” in verse 7? It sounds potentially nerdy, like who cares. But this technical Torah question may go to the very heart of what we love, care about, and work for the most: our marriage, our children and grandchildren, and the ideas and ideals and causes closest to our heart, like Israel’s security and America’s democracy.