A Thought on Parshas Ekev

"...va'eshev ba'har..." "...and I sat on the mountain..." (9:9) As Moshe Rabbeinu recounts the saga of receiving the luchos with the Torah's commandments, he recalls how he lingered on Mt. Sinai. He references that experience as his having "sat" on the mountain. Later on (10:10), however, he declares "v'anochi omad'ti ba'har" - "and I stood on the mountain." Is there a contradiction between those two expressions? Rabbeinu Avigdor begins at the pshat level, clarifying that "sitting" can mean "staying", as it says (Devarim 1:41) -'va'teshvu b'Kadesh yamim rabbim' - you stayed on in Kadesh for many days. Thus, our verse means "I stayed" on the mountain and the next verse states that he stood there as he stayed there. Rabbeinu Avigdor then moves to a midrashic level of interpretation. "Va'eshev ba'har" has a gematria - a numerical equivalent - of 516. This is the exact equal of the gematria of "le'Talmudo" - for its Oral Torah (the Talmud). In contrast, the words "v'anochi omad'ti" - and I stood - have a gematria of 611. This is the exact equivalent of the gematria of "Torah" - (the Written Torah). This would hint to us that the Torah sh'b'ksav - the Scriptures or Written Torah - was given while Moshe stood. The Torah sh'b'al peh - the Oral Torah, is referenced as having been given with a term which can imply sitting. From this drasha, Rabbeinu Avigdor explains that this is why we stand to hear the reading of the Torah. When people study the Talmud, however, they sit and dwell over it. This may be why we refer to a center of Talmud study as a "yeshiva" - a place of sitting. The differing ways in which we learn the Written and Oral Torah are, therefore, not coincidental. It is alluded to in the Torah itself. It stands to reason, if you sit and think about it. Good Shabbos. D Fox