Most commentators on this week’s Torah portion focus on the revelation at Sinai and the Ten Commandments. It is a momentous occasion in the Jewish story but I want to examine the last five verses on this portion, Ex. 20:19-23. They seem an anti-climactic addition, consisting of a random list of not very important ritual commandments:

        19) Thus, shall you say to the Israelites: You yourselves saw that I spoke to you from the very heavens. 20) With Me, therefore you shall not make any gods of silver, nor shall you make for yourselves any gods of gold. 21) Make for Me an altar of earth and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings…; in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come to you and bless you. 22) And if you make for Me an altar of stones; do not build it of hewn stones; for by wielding your tool upon them you have profaned them. 23) Do not ascend My altar by steps, that your nakedness may not be exposed upon it.

        Rather than being random, I think they suggest what we are to learn from Sinai. 

1) It is the encounter, not the content that is crucial about Sinai. The people of Israel encountered the Holy One. Our ongoing task is to figure out what that encounter means and how it might help us live lives of meaning and caring. We can do that by listening for the Voice of Sinai that calls out to us every day.

2) “With Me”—you will not find God in gold or silver, not even in stones if you hew them. I am God that can not be shaped by you. I do not need to be magnificent like gold nor plain like stones. I will be what I will be.

3) You will find me everywhere. Every makom/place is a gateway to heaven. If you strive to come close, we will meet each other again and again. And you will find blessing just as  Abraham did on his journey.

4) It is worth repeating that when you try to shape God, you are prone to creating idols—false images of Me. To know Me is to rest in unknowing.

5) When you think you have found the path to me, remember your nakedness. You are humans filled with flaws and foibles. That realization will open the way to Me. However, it is not a path of steps. There is no ladder of observance. No moving higher than others. The path is direct. It is to stand with an open heart. And there I will be waiting for you—you, the people, who stood at a distance at Sinai but who have now found your way home to Me.