(NOTE: Hebrew terms are translated at the end of the text.)
To answer the question "How do we know that Moshiach will reveal
additional Torah insights?" we must first consider two preceding issues.
We need
to understand what happened to Moshe on Har Sinai. We also need to understand the
difference between the first set of luchot that Moshe destroyed when he
witnessed the Chet haEgel and the second set.
What happened to Moshe on Har Sinai?
According to the Bible and Jewish
tradition, Moshe ascended and descended from meeting with Hashem on Har Sinai multiple
times. In Shemot 19, there are multiple ascents mentioned.
For our purposes, we will focus on the three 40-day periods connected to receiving
the luchot:
1) Moshe’s first 40-day period to receive the first set of luchot
And the Lord said to Moshe, "Come
up to Me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone
tablets and the Torah and the commandment, which I have written to instruct
them." (Shemot 24:12)
Moshe came within the cloud and went
up to the mountain, and Moshe was upon the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Shemot 24:18)
2) Moshe’s second 40-day period to pray for the Nation of Israel
It came to pass on the next day that Moshe
said to the people, "You have committed a grave sin. And now I will ascend
to the Lord; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin." (Shemot 32:20)
So Moshe returned to the Lord and
said, "Please! This people has committed a grave sin. They have made
themselves a god of gold. (Shemot 32:31)
3) Moshe’s third 40-day period to receive the second set of luchot
So he [Moshe] hewed two stone tablets
like the first ones, and Moshe arose early in the morning and ascended Mount
Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took the two stone tablets in his
hand.( Shemot 34:4)
And he was there with the Lord for
forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water, and He
inscribed on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. (Shemot 34:28)
What were the differences between the first set of luchot that were
destroyed and the second set?
The first set of tablets were carved by God, written by God and given before
the rupture of the Chet haEgel.
Now the tablets were God's work, and the inscription was God's
inscription, engraved on the tablets. (Shemot 32:16)
The second set of luchot, after the sin, was carved by Moshe, not by God.
And the Lord said to Moshe: "Hew for yourself two stone tablets like the
first ones. And I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the
first tablets, which you broke. (Shemot 34:1)
Producing the second set was a joint effort between Hashem and Moshe. Moshe carved the stone himself, though Hashem wrote on them.
The first set were completely Divine. The second set represented a partnership
between Divine and human effort.
There is a Talmudic teaching that if the first set of luchot had not been
broken, the Nation of Israel would never have forgotten a word of Torah.
(Eruvin 54a)
The clear implication is that the first set of luchot contained a higher level
of Divine revelation. The first set of luchot represented spiritual perfection
given as a gift from Hashem. The second set required human struggle and repentance in
order to achieve holiness.
The first set of luchot was superior because they were entirely Divine, given
before the sin and associated with perfect spiritual clarity.
The second luchot came after human
failure and required human participation in the process of understanding God’s Word.
How Do We Know Moshiach Will Reveal Additional Torah Teachings?
Having demonstrated that the second set of
luchot was fundamentally different in nature, less complete and on a lower spiritual
level, now we return to our original question.
Some of what was revealed in the first set of luchot has been obscured throughout
human history, since the giving of the Torah. That knowledge will only be
revealed at the End of Days, through the teaching of Moshiach.
We are not speaking here of a new Torah that will replace the existing one. We
are speaking of teachings that will reveal hidden dimensions and deeper
understandings of the Torah we already have, as well as secrets embedded in the
Torah that will become readily accessible to all who study it.
The prophet Yeshayahu speaks of the Messianic
era as a time when:
...the land shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as
water covers the seabed. (Yeshayahu 11:9)
The implication is that Divine wisdom and Torah knowledge will expand
dramatically.
Another source, this one from the midrash:
“The Torah that a person learns in this world is vanity compared to the
Torah of Moshiach.” (Kohelet Rabbah 11:8)
The implication is that, once Moshiach is with us and teaches us his Torah
insights, our understanding of Torah will be unimaginably greater than what we
have now.
In his Mishneh Torah, the Rambam explains that, in the Messianic era, all
of Israel will have deeper knowledge of the secrets of Torah and a profound
understanding of God.
“In that time… all of Israel will be great
sages and know hidden matters, and they will attain knowledge of their Creator
according to human capacity.” (Mishneh Torah 12:5)
The Arizal taught that the mystical insights we learn today through kabbalah
and Chassidut are preparation for the fuller revelation of Torah that will come
to us through the teachings of Moshiach.
In conclusion, the Torah itself is eternal, but humanity’s understanding of it
is not complete. Moshiach will reveal the fullness, depth, inner meaning and
divine wisdom already contained within Torah from Sinai that has been hidden
from us since Moshe smashed the first set of luchot.
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