| Dear Yeshiva Family:
First of all, I would like to publicly thank Hashem for all that He has given my family as we are privileged to celebrate another Bar Mitzvah. It is an incredible zechus to be able to raise a Jewish child, and we are ever so thankful to Hashem for entrusting us with this precious and sacred mission. I would also like to thank the Yeshiva and all those who are celebrating with us, making this milestone so meaningful and special.
What does the speaking of Moshe refer to?
In this week's parsha, Parshas Yisro, we arrive at the most foundational moment in Jewish history, that of the giving of the Torah. Much of the parsha is devoted to the preparation for this monumental event. Right before the Torah is given, the pasuk states (19:19) "Moshe would speak, and Hashem would answer him with a kol," with a voice. Many meforshim spend a great deal of time trying to understand what is actually being described. What was Moshe saying at that moment? And what does it mean that Hashem "answered him with a voice"? This took place before any formal announcements or commandments were given at Har Sinai, and it appears to be describing the very method through which the Torah would be transmitted. If so, we need to understand why this particular structure was so integral to the giving of the Torah.
In order to answer this question, we need to introduce an important principle. The Gemara in Shabbos (88b) describes how, when Moshe Rabbeinu ascended to Shamayim to receive the Torah, a fierce debate broke out with the malachim (angels). The angels argued that the Torah should remain in Heaven and not be given to human beings. Hashem instructed Moshe Rabbeinu to respond, and Moshe pointed out that the Torah speaks to a human reality. It contains mitzvos such as not serving idols, honoring parents, and avoiding jealousy and theft—commands that simply do not apply to angels. With that argument, Moshe Rabbeinu prevailed, and the malachim ultimately agreed that the Torah should be given to Klal Yisrael.
The Definition of the Truth of Torah is Determined by How it is Understood by Humans
Both R' Elya Lopian[1] and the Bais HaLevi ask what exactly were the angels thinking in the first place? Surely, they understood that much of the Torah is directed toward human life. They explain that the debate was not about the Torah itself, but about the nature of its ownership. The Torah was given to this world as a gift, and with that gift came an extraordinary power: that Torah is determined through human understanding. When a person works honestly and diligently to understand a sugya (Torah topic), and reaches a conclusion through proper Torah thinking, that conclusion becomes part of Torah itself. The Torah is designed that it is produced as it is filtered through the human mind!
The angels never doubted that the written Torah, the Sefer Torah itself, was destined to be given to Moshe Rabbeinu. What they struggled with was this added dimension: that human beings would be entrusted not only to receive the Torah, but to own it, interpret it, and in a real sense, produce Torah through their effort and understanding. That remarkable gift, that Torah would follow human comprehension and halachic process, was the true point of contention in Shamayim.
Applying this to Other Famous Gemaros
This idea is already articulated by the Rishonim. The Ran, in Drush HaRan (Drush Gimel), explains a remarkable Gemara in Bava Metzia (86a). The Gemara describes a dispute in Shamayim regarding a specific case of tzaraas, whether a certain appearance is tamei or tahor. Hashem declared it to be tahor, while the "Mesivta of the Heavens" (The Yeshiva in Shomayim) ruled that it was tamei. The question then arose: who should decide the matter? And the answer given was Rabbah bar Nachmeni, someone who was still alive, because of his exceptional expertise in this sugya.
At first glance, this Gemara is very difficult to understand. How can there be an argument with Hashem Himself? If Hashem says it is tahor, what does it mean that human beings, or even a heavenly academy, could rule otherwise? The Ran explains that this is precisely the point. Once the Torah was given to this world, it was given to be understood, interpreted, and applied through the human mind. Torah truth is no longer determined by abstract heavenly knowledge, but by the way the sugya is correctly analyzed and understood within the human halachic process. Therefore, even if, at a purely Divine level, the reality might have been tahor, if the conclusion based on human analysis of the Torah is tamei, then tamei becomes the halachic truth.
The Ran points out that this idea appears elsewhere as well. The Gemara (B.M. 59b) famously records the dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and the Chachamim, where Rabbi Eliezer brought miraculous proofs and even a bas kol declared that he was correct. Yet the Chachamim ruled otherwise, and the halacha followed the majority. Despite the Heavenly voice, the Torah itself declares that halachic authority rests with human decision-making, following the proper rules of interpretation[2].
Eilu V'Eilu Divrei Elokim Chayim
This idea is expressed even more explicitly by the Ritva. The Ritva (Eruvin 13b) addresses the well-known principle of "Eilu v'eilu divrei Elokim chayim," that opposing opinions in the Gemara can both be considered the words of the living God. The Ritva asks a very sharp question: how is this possible? How can one opinion say something is prohibited while another says it is permitted, and yet both be true Torah? Logic would seem to demand that one must be right and the other wrong.
The Ritva explains that the answer lies in the very nature of how the Torah was given. When Moshe Rabbeinu ascended to Shamayim, Hashem showed him that within the Torah itself there are multiple valid ways to understand reality. A matter can legitimately be seen as permitted, and it can legitimately be seen as prohibited. Torah truth emerges when the sugya is filtered through a human mind that is deeply shaped by Torah, discipline, and honesty. When that process is followed correctly, the conclusion reached is true Torah. Therefore, it is possible for a ruling of heter to be true, and for a ruling of issur to also be true, so long as each emerges from an authentic Torah process.
How Can Two Rabbis Argue
This idea helps explain something very practical in our own lives. Each person is guided by his Rav. We ask questions, we seek direction, and sometimes we notice that one Torah giant rules one way while another Torah giant rules differently in what appears to be a similar situation. Are we then left confused? The answer is no. Since the guidance is being filtered through a mind of Torah, through Daas Torah, that guidance becomes the correct course of action for that individual. Another Gadol may very well give different guidance to a different person, even in a similar case, and that too can be correct for that person.
There is something deeply comforting in this idea. When a person sincerely seeks guidance from a Gadol Yisrael and follows the advice given, he can be confident that he is following Torah. Even if someone else might have been told to act differently, his path was shaped through a true Torah lens, and that is precisely what Hashem wants.
The Concept of Bittul Torah
There is a striking insight along these lines that I heard several times from Rabbi Shimshon Pinkus. He asked a simple but penetrating question. Why is wasting time when one could be learning called bitul Torah? The phrase itself is curious. It sounds as though the Torah itself is being wasted or destroyed. Would it not be more accurate to say that a person wasted 'time from learning Torah', or missed an opportunity? When someone does not sit in the sukkah, we do not say he was mevatel a sukkah. When someone does not put on tefillin, we do not say he damaged the tefillin themselves. So why, when a person does not learn, do we call it bitul Torah?
Rabbi Pinkus explained that this, too, flows from the same fundamental principle. Torah does not fully come into existence until it is filtered through the mind of a human being. The Torah that exists in potential becomes actual only when a person engages it, struggles with it, understands it, and internalizes it. Before that happens, that particular expression of Torah has not yet entered the world.
When a person wastes time that could have been used for learning, he has not merely missed an opportunity. He has prevented Torah from coming into being. The insight he could have uncovered, the understanding he could have clarified, the piece of Torah that could have existed through him is now lost forever. In that sense, it truly is bitul Torah. Not because the parchment or the words were damaged, but because Torah that could have lived in this world never came into existence at all.
Moshe Yedaber
With all of this in mind, we can now return to our pasuk and perhaps understand it in a deeper way. The pasuk says, "Moshe yedaber" — Moshe would speak — and only then, "HaKadosh Baruch Hu yaneinu b'kol," Hashem would answer him with a voice. Hashem was about to give the Torah to Klal Yisrael as the greatest gift imaginable. But if Hashem alone were to speak, if the Torah were delivered only from Above, it would not yet become Torah in the fullest sense. Torah becomes Torah only when it is filtered through the human being, when it is spoken by a human mouth, taught by a rebbe to a talmid, understood and transmitted within this world.
If Hashem had simply handed Moshe Rabbeinu the luchos, or even a complete Torah scroll, without this process, that alone would not have created Torah as it is meant to exist among human beings. Torah is brought into reality through human speech and human understanding. Perhaps this is why, when the Torah is about to embark on the giving over of the Torah does the Torah explain that even for the Aseres HaDibros Moshe had to speak first. Only when Moshe articulated the Torah did it become "our" Torah, Torah that belongs to Klal Yisrael.
At that point, Hashem could then answer "with a kol," involving Himself within that process. From that moment onward, Torah would live in this world through the voices, minds, and hearts of human beings. This was not a technical detail in the giving of the Torah; it was the very definition of it. Torah would exist not only as a Divine text, but as a living body of wisdom, continually produced and renewed through those who engage it. Perhaps this is the deeper meaning of the pasuk, and the reason the Torah emphasizes that Moshe had to speak first.
AI and Torah
One final thought, which feels especially relevant today. In recent times there has been much discussion about artificial intelligence and the ways it is beginning to influence human thinking, creativity, and even emotion. Another area where there is discussion about AI is how AI can work with Torah learning. People can now type a request into a program and ask it to produce a vort, a thought on the parsha, or even a full piece of Torah writing. Sometimes what comes back sounds coherent and even insightful. Is there an issue with this?
Based on everything we have said, there is a fundamental problem[3]. This is not Torah. Torah is not defined only by correct information or well-structured ideas. Torah is created only when it is filtered through a human mind, shaped by effort, struggle, yiras Shamayim, and responsibility, and then expressed through a human voice. Something generated without that process, even if it sounds correct, does not possess kedushah. It does not have the status of Torah at all. It is, at best, an interesting piece of literature.
If such material were written down, it would not require genizah. If someone were to "learn" it, he would not truly be learning Torah, nor would he necessarily gain Torah understanding or true sevara. The inner life of Torah, its holiness and transformative power, comes only from human engagement with the Divine word.
This is an important caution for our times. Tools can assist with organization, language, or presentation, but Torah itself cannot be outsourced. When people begin relying on artificially generated answers as substitutes for genuine learning, they risk wasting time without creating any kedushah at all. Torah lives only where human beings think, speak, struggle, and connect. That truth has never been more important to remember.
May we continue to learn Torah, and create new Torah with the powers of our human intellect.
Have an amazing Shabbos!
Rabbi Moshe Revah Mrevah2@touro.edu
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[1] See the Sefer Lev Eliyahu where he has a beautiful piece explaining many Gemaros with this idea. It is too long to reproduce here. See also the Bais Halevi in our Parshah who also discusses many other Gemaros with this principal. This theme is also clear from the Ketzos Hachoshen in his Hakdama, he Brisker Rav in Parshas Ve'Eschanan, the Tiferes Yaakov (R' Yaakov Gezundeheit), The Makbim (Devorim 17:11) amongst many others. [2] The Ran returns to this theme again in Drush Yud Aleph, emphasizing that this was not a concession, but the very design of Torah. Once given, the Torah lives in this world, and its truth is determined through the honest, disciplined effort of human beings striving to understand it correctly.
[3] I heard this thought from R' Elya Brudny. | 
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