Rashi asks: Why does the Torah emphasize that Shmittah and its laws were given at Sinai, were not all the laws given at Mount Sinai? He answers: It comes to teach us that just as the Shmittah laws with all their rules and details were given at Sinai, so too were all the laws of the Torah with all their rules and details, revealed at Sinai.
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein Zt”l explains that before the Torah was given on Har Sinai, people were taught to observe mitzvos because of social, moral or psychological reasons. Such a method, while it relates to the masses, still has its share of shortcomings, which may cause people to base the mitzvos on their own reasoning, using their own attitudes and definitions to decide what is right and wrong. However, when the Torah was given, the Jews were taught to observe all mitzvos because it was Hashem’s Will. Therefore, even those mitzvos which were given to the Bnei Yisroel prior to Har Sinai were now to be observed simply because they were given at Sinai. This approach to fulfilling mitzvos because they are Hashem’s mandate is what delineates us and maintains our survival as a religion.
Throughout the generations there have been those who have sought to modernize Torah laws via deletion and subtraction. Attempts have been made to emphasize the great truths of Judaism while at the same time discarding the minutiae of Halachah which encompass every facet of life. When we attempt to fuse Torah concepts and disciplines with those of other ethical systems, the result gives rise to nothing more than sterile observance. Torah laws with all their details were given at Har Sinai in their entirety, and they speak the language of eternity. Man’s logic should have no bearing on the and proper fulfillment of mitzvos, but should serve only as a vehicle for understanding their significance and value. Our Torah as given on Har Sinai, is complete and through the performance of all of its mitzvos as given by Hashem will we survive.
