RAV KOOK ON Mishpatim Part 1: Accepting Two Torahs

A careful reading of the Torah's account of Matan Torah indicates that the Jewish people accepted the Torah not once but twice. First it says: "Moses came and told the people all of God's words and all of the laws. The entire people responded with a single voice, 'All the words that God spoke — we will do (Na'aseh).'" (Ex. 24:3) Immediately afterward, we read: "Moses wrote down all of God's words.... He took the book of the covenant and read it to the people. They responded, 'All that God said, we will do and we will understand — Na'aseh VeNishma.'" (Ex. 24:4,7) These two passages cannot refer to the same event. In the first account, Moses communicated God's words orally, while in the second account he read to the people from sefer habrit, the written record of God's word. This corresponds to the teaching of the Sages that not one but two Torahs were given at Mount Sinai — the Oral Law and the Written Law. The Jewish people first accepted upon themselves the Oral Torah, and afterward, the Written Torah. Why Two Torahs?