ואפן וארד מן ההר וההר בער באש ושני לוחת הברית על שתי ידי ... (ט-טו)
A perfunctory glance of this posuk shows nothing that appears to be inaccurate. We have all been taught since children that Har Sinai was rimmed with a tremendous fire during Matan Torah. However, a closer look raises the following question. Moshe Rabbeinu said, “When I descended the mountain forty days later 'וההר בוער באש' - in other words, even after the Ma’amad of Har Sinai, the fire was still burning strong. Why wasn’t the fire already out?
There is another famous query. On Shavuos we celebrate Kabolas HaTorah. Why weren’t the luchos destroyed? Many answers are given to reconcile this dilemma. One answer is that although we may have physically lost those luchos, it is still possible to attain a “smidgen” of that level. As we know the shivrei luchos are munachin ba’aron (resting in the Holy Ark) for a reason. Perhaps this thought can help us resolve our original question too. The mountain was still burning showing us that it is still within our reach to strive for the madreiga of those luchos, that lofty revelation.
Another machshava can be as follows. Chazal tell us that every day a bas kol emanates from Har Sinai and says, “Woe to man because of the shame of the Torah.” Who, may we ask, hears this Divine voice, and what is its purpose?
Some meforshim explain that inside each of us, at certain intervals in our lives, we hear that bas kol. It exhorts us: “Nu, why are you doing that? You know it is wrong and you must refrain. Why aren’t you learning or serving Hashem as well as you can?” Our job is to hear that message and internalize it to the best of our ability.
In a similar vein, maybe that is why it says "וההר בוער באש" - the mountain inside of us is still "בוער" (burning, present tense). This should create the burning desire to continue growing and elevating our ruchniyus. כן יהי רצון.
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