The Parasha of Yitra records the revolutionary moment when God, creator of heaven and earth,

entered into a mutually binding agreement with the nation, the children of Israel, the agreement we call a Brit, a covenant.

Now this wasn't the first covenant in the Torah. God had already made one with Noah and through him all humanity,

and a second one with Avraham, whose sign was circumcision. But those covenants were not

fully reciprocal. God didn't ask for Noah's agreement. He didn't wait for Abraham's assent.

But Sinai was a different matter. For the first time, he wanted the

covenant to be fully mutual, to be freely accepted. So we find that both before and after the revelation

at Sinai, God commands Moses to make sure the people do actually agree. The point is fundamental.

God wants to rule by right, not by might.

The God who brought an enslaved people to liberty

seeks the free worship of free human beings.

Ena Kaddosh Barab, Tyrunia, imbrioav.

God doesn't act towards his creatures like a tyrant.

So at Sinai was born the principle that was millennia later, described by Thomas Jefferson

in the American Declaration of Independence, that governors and governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

God wanted the consent of the governed.

That's why the Sinai covenant was conditional on the people's agreement.

Now, admittedly, the Talmud actually questions how free the Israelites really were. He uses an

astonishing image. It said, God suspended the mountain above their heads and said, if you agree,

well and good, if not, this will be your burial. Well, that's another subject for another time.

Suffice it to say that there's no indication of this in the text itself.

What's interesting is the exact wording in which the Israelites give their consent.

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