The long awaited moment of the giving of the Torah arrives in this week’s parsha as Bnei Yisrael reach Har Sinai and camp there in preparation for receiving the Torah. Hashem instructs Moshe to convey several statements to Bnei Yisrael which seem to reinforce the impact of this special moment. Among them is the famous description of Bnei Yisrael as a mamlechet kohanim and a goy kadosh – a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Hashem’s instructions to Moshe conclude with the words eileh hadevarim – these are the words that you are to speak to Bnei Yisrael. Rashi, quoting the mechilta (the halachik midrash on Sefer Shemot), says that the words eileh hadevarim are to be understood as lo pachot v’lo yotair – nothing less and nothing more. On a simple level we might understand that to mean that Moshe should convey exactly what Hashem told him to convey, and not add to or detract from it.
Rav Moshe Shternbuch (b. 1928 in London and head of the eida hachareidis in Jerusalem) discounts that simple explanations. Can it be, he asks, that Moshe would be suspected by Hashem of not transmitting His word accurately? Is it possible that Moshe would add or detract from what Hashem told him? He therefore suggests an alternate explanation.
In the instructions to Bnei Yisrael to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, the implied message to Bnei Yisrael in these words is nothing less and nothing more. Nothing less than our potential and nothing more than our capabilities. The obligation to exist as a holy nation is defined by each Jew’s capability and potential. We are obligated to live up to that potential but not to reach beyond our capabilities. Not living up to our potential allows us to fall short of Hashem’s mission for us and to become complacent with whatever we achieve. Reaching too far beyond our capabilities can bring failure and disillusionment.
In support of this understanding Rav Shternbuch quotes the gemorah in Chullin (105a) where Mar Ukvah compares himself unfavorably with his father. Whereas his father would wait an entire day before eating dairy if he had eaten meat, Mar Ukvah laments that he only waits from one meal to the next. If he understood that what his father was doing was preferable, then why didn’t he also wait until the next day. Rav Shternbuch answers that Mar Ukvah understood that his capabilities and the capabilities of his father were different. His job was to live up to his capabilities.