18 Misphatim: Day 7 (Saturday)

Today's reading is Exodus 23:26 to 24:18.

This is the link to Daily Chumash with Rashi at Chabad.

The Daily Wisdom from the Lubavitcher Rebbe is titled "Unconditional Commitment."

On 14 February 2026 at 6:53 AM EST, Jonathan writes: 

 

Rashi and the Lubavitcher Rebbe agree that the Noahide Laws were ratified in Exodus 24:7-8. The complete 613 commandments of the Torah were provided later.

He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and we will learn everything that God has spoken.” Moses took the blood and dashed it on the people. He said, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has made with you regarding all these words.”

Exodus 24:7-8 (Chabad Translation)

In this sense, perhaps Israel's acceptance of the Torah was not entirely unconditional. Israel could see that the Noahide Laws were a good foundation. Nothing in the 613 mitzvot contradicts the Noahide Laws.

On the other hand, the Rebbe's profound explanation of the phrase "we will do and we will learn" fittingly describes the perennial response of the human beginner's mind to the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, "a term coined by theologian Rudolf Otto in his 1917 work The Idea of the Holy" (Gemini). 

Believers in Yeshua understand Exodus 24:7-8 through the lens of 1 Peter 1:2.  

For additional insights on the application of Otto's thesis to this discussion, please see:

https://share.google/aimode/a0nKLRVX5R3w1CXsy 

https://share.google/aimode/snJk62panvrAiVxEP

https://share.google/aimode/ptYYbtoUZCFQYuVIi   

This may also be of interest:

https://share.google/aimode/MUk1ZY8H5wT4osIAq

Shalom.