a survey

[cellio]

If you are so inclined, I'm curious about your response to the following (replies initially screened; will unscreen and explain Wednesday):

Without looking, summarize what happened at Mount Sinai according to the torah, starting with God beginning to speak and ending with the golden calf. I'm looking for up to a few sentences, not detailed essays. (You can skip the building of the calf.)

If you like, please also say how you identify religiously (or that you don't).

Edit: Comments no longer initially screened. Also, there was one comment that the poster asked me to keep screened, which I thought I had done, but it's gone now. If I screwed that up, I apologize!

Comments

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Well, from memory, and taking in textual order rather than chronological order (since that is somewhat debatable). And trying to exclude midrash (which is always difficult from memory when I have been corrupted by a Jewish Day School education).

1- God manifests in some way before the assembled multitude and gives the ten commandments (Midrash says God only got through one before proceeding to next step).

2- All of the people "saw the thunder and heard the lightning", they come in terror to Moses begging Moses to handle all further communications with God, "lest we die."

3- God commands Moses that iron may not be used for building an altar to the Lord. Further, any alter must not have steps, lest a man accidentally reveal his nakedness (we must assume some folks, at least, did not wear underwear).

4- Insert parshat mishpatim here.

5- Moses and the elders conduct a ritual I still don't understand. Moses sacrifices an animal and gathers the blood. He climbs Mt. Sinai to get above the people and sprinkles them with the blood. He, the elders and Joshua climb further. He and Joshua climb on, leaving Aaron with the elders. The elders and Aaron feast and then have a vision of the purity of God as of a "saphire brick". I am persuadedI am never going to figure this part out.

Joshua stops half way up and waits for Moses. Moses continues to the top where he will remain for 40 days and 40 nights.

6 - insert Trumah, T'saveh, and the first section of Ki Tissa.

7- The people panic at Moses' apparent failure to return. They demand he "arise and build for us a god (alt. mighty one) that will go before us, for this Moses the man who who lead us out of Egypt, we do not know what happend to him."

8-Aaron orders them to gather their gold ornaments, which Aaron throws into a pot. Aaron fashions a pot and declares "a holiday for the Lord will be tomorrow."

9- BEne Yiroel whoop it up, God threatens to destroy the Children of Israel and make Moses into a great nation. Moses declines, urging God not destroy Israel.

This is already too long.