parsha bit: Vaetchanan

[cellio]

(I learned the following midrash from Dr. Jonah Steinberg.)

In this week's parsha Moshe retells the giving of the torah. The midrash says that when God spoke each utterance, it (the utterance itself, personified) would go to each and every Israelite and ask "do you accept me upon you?", describing the restrictions and rewards that came with it. When the Israelite said "yes" the utterance would kiss him and teach him torah. This is what is meant by the verse "lest you forget the things that your eyes saw" -- it refers to seeing the utterance speak. (Song of Songs Rabbah 1:2, which itself takes off from "let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth".)

(Aside: this same midrash records a minority view, that each utterance was carried by an angel to each Israelite and it was the angels who did the asking, based on a different proof-text. In that version, the angel also asks the Israelite to accept God's divinity. Neither version addresses what would have happened in response to a "no".)