This sugya explores a mysterious moment of revelation: what really happened at Mount Sinai? Witness the Rabbis radically reread this mythic moment and rebalance the relationships between G!d, Torah, and ourselves. In this sugya, you’ll encounter two witty kra proofs and a sprinkling of Aramaic. We broke this down into three chevruta sessions, but (as always!) y’all are encouraged to learn at the pace that feels best to you.
Prep the Sugya
Just like in the bet midrash, the SVARA method for DIY Learning starts with prepping the text in chevruta. In this step, you’ll move through a section of the sugya word by word, identifying each word’s root and core meaning, and creating an inside translation. Use the Hint Sheet to help break down any tricky words and the Kra Sheet to get context for any scriptural quotations you encounter. If you don’t have a bound masechet, you can download a digital daf to learn from.
The beginning of this sugya is found about a quarter of the way down the amud on Shabbat 88a. We recommend breaking the sugya down into smaller chunks as you cycle through the four steps of the SVARA method one section at a time. We suggest learning this text in the following chunks:
1) ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר א׳׳ר אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא מלמד שכפה הקב׳׳ה עליהם את ההר כגיגית ואמר להם אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם
2) א׳׳ר אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא
3) אמר רבא אעפ׳׳כ הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש דכתיב קימו וקבלו היהודים קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר
Create an Outside Translation
After you’ve prepped a chunk of text, going word-by-word, in chevruta, it’s time to move from your inside translation to an outside translation. Make your best guess by identifying the verbs, subjects, and objects, inserting punctuation, and getting a feel for the back-and-forth structure of the text. In a SVARA Bet Midrash it would now be time for Shiur—time to unpack the text with a teacher all your bet midrash comrades. For DIY learning, listen to these recordings to compare your translation with a SVARA teacher’s. Coming soon, we’ll post some videos of SVARA staffers unpacking this sugya a little deeper in chevruta!
Below are recordings of a teacher reading and translating each section of text.
1) ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר אמר רב אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא מלמד שכפה הקדוש ברוך הוא עליהם את ההר כגיגית ואמר להם אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם
Reading
Translating
2) אמר רב אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא
Reading
Translating
3) אמר רבא אף על פי כן הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש דכתיב קימו וקבלו היהודים קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר
Reading
Translating
Go Deeper
Can’t get enough of this sugya? Neither can we! Our DIY Chevruta resources now include a range of SVARA commentary on our all-time favorite texts. Check out the articles below by our faculty and fairies in Hot Off the Shtender and the discussion of this sugya by Rosh Yeshiva Benay Lappe and Dan Libenson on The Oral Talmud.
Did this sugya inspire you to make art, music, poetry, pottery, or another type of creative expression? We’d love to display your commentary in whatever form it takes in the SVARA gallery. (You can check out what others have made too.)
Want to dig in even further? Let’s connect in fairy hours!