Doing and Hearing.

One of the most famous phrases in the Terah makes its appearance in this week's parasha.

It's often been used to characterize Jewish faith as a whole.

It consists of two words, Nassir, Venishma, literally, we will do and we will hear.

What does this mean and why does it matter? There are two famous interpretations,

one ancient, the other modern. The first appears in the Babylonian Talmud, where it's taken to

describe the enthusiasm and whole-heartedness, with which the Israelites accepted the covenant with God

at Mount Sinai. When they said to Moses, all the Lord has spoken, we will do and we will

hear, they were saying in effect, whatever God asks of us, we will do, saying this before they had

heard any of the commandments. The words, we will hear, imply that they hadn't yet heard, not the

ten commandments, or indeed the detailed laws that followed as set out in

our parasha. So keen were they to signal their assent to God that they agreed to his demands

before knowing what they were. This reading adopted also by Rashi and his commentary to the

Torah is difficult because it depends on reading the narrative out of chronological sequence,

using the principle of Eyn Mukdam Ume O'uqaba Torah.

There's no before and after in the Torah.

The Torah chapters and verses aren't in strict chronological sequence.

The events of chapter 24 on this interpretation happened before Chapter 20,

the account of the Revelation at Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments. Ibn Ezra, Rushbam,

and Ramban all disagree and read the chapters in chronological sequence. For them the words

Nasev and Ishma mean not we will do and we will hear, but simply we will do

and we will obey. The second interpretation, not the plain sense of the text, but important

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