With a Single Voice

All the people answered as one and said, “All that God has spoken, we will do.”          Exodus 19:8 The people all answered with a single voice, “We will keep every word that God has spoken.”                           Ibid. 24:3

Be’er Moshe (Ḥassidic Master Rabbi Yeḥiel Moshe Epstein [1899 – 1971]) writes that Israel’s declaration “We will keep every word that God has spoken” is the root and foundation of the nation’s essence and national unity is the necessary condition for realizing the ability to keep God’s words. This is the reason for the Torah’s repetition of “the people answered with a single voice,” as Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer [41] comments: “the nation answered unanimously.”

            National unity is an essential aspect of Israel, as is Torah, and it was through unity that Israel was able to receive Torah. In fact, there is a reciprocal relation between unity and receiving Torah: on one hand, it was Israel’s unity which allowed it to receive Torah and on the other, it is Torah which helps unite Israel.

            Meshech Ḥochma notes that national unity is necessary for receiving Torah because no single Jew is obligated in all 613 mitzvot, since some apply only to Kohanim, others to Levites or the king, etc. Therefore the nation responded in unanimity “All that God has spoken, we will do,” for only the nation as a unified entity is qualified to make that declaration.