Hello. My question is how do you know that it was God at Sinai? Is there any way to know that it was God? What was the revelation like?
You ask critically important questions, the kind which only truly reflective people are inspired to raise. It’s my pleasure to offer you the beginning of an answer.
I. What you may be asking is: how do we know that it was G-d, Himself speaking at Sinai, and not some super advanced alien impersonator (or perhaps, “im-God-onator”) showing off his special effects prowess? Is it possible our ancestors were fooled and made a mistake?
To this, Rambam (Maimonides) teaches us a surprising thing. Our ancestors’ knowledge of G-d was not based on any of the amazing miracles they witnessed. Rather, at Sinai, every single Jew experienced prophecy, just like Moshe.
Prophecy is not just about cool visions and inside information transfer. It is the most profound deep connection and awareness of the Divine, which, to one who experiences it, is irrefutable. Irrefutable: because it is qualitatively different than every other human experience. In prophecy, we become equally aware of G-d’s Presence as of our own.
Knowledge gained through prophecy affects one differently than that which is gained through our five senses or even abstract reasoning or scientific research; it’s an internal epiphany beyond any in this world.
We today, who have never experienced prophecy, cannot comprehend what such an experience would be like. But the internal awareness of the Divine that over two million of our ancestors experienced together at Sinai compelled them to accept the Torah, with all its rules regimenting our external lives, and to pass that tradition on, at any cost, to their children and children’s children through an unbroken chain already stretching over three thousand years. (See Mishna Torah, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 8:1-2.)
II. On the other hand, perhaps what you were asking was: how do we today know that G-d spoke to our ancient ancestors and that the revelation at Sinai was not just made up and passed down like so many fantastic legends?
Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi gives an amazing answer to this question, which till this day has shaken off the challenges of even the most stubborn skeptics, try as they may.
It begins in Deuteronomy, Chapter 4 (verses 32-35):
32: For ask now regarding the early days that were before you, since the day that God
created man upon the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other
end of the heavens, whether there was anything like this great thing, or
was the likes of it heard?
33: Did ever a people hear God’s voice speaking
out of the midst of the fire as you have heard, and live? 34 Or has any
god performed miracles to come and take him a nation from the midst of
a[nother] nation, with trials, with signs, and with wonders, and with war
and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great
awesome deeds, as all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before
your eyes?
35: You have been shown, in order to know that the Lord He is
God; there is none else besides Him. (Judaica Press Translation.)
Although thoughtless people group all religions together (usually to say they’re all bad), Judaism is unique in one way even your average infidel would admit: Judaism is the only religion in history to claim as its origin a mass revelation by G-d before an entire nation.
Christianity began with the missionary claim that a man (already dead for sometime) had performed miracles before small audiences (and once [the fish miracle], before an audience of a thousand plus, though none of their descendents could be found to confirm that tradition).
Islam began with the claim of one man, Mohammed, that he met an angel in a cave and received the Koran. Same story with other faiths (I’ve heard that a certain Eastern religion did claim that G-d revealed Himself before their entire nation, but then everyone died except for one man who reported his death defying encounter. Perhaps that’s why the Torah wrote, “Did ever a people hear God’s voice speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard and live“).
One thing that’s special about a mass revelation is that it’s hard to fake; especially when the theme of that mass revelation was the Jews accepting the entire Torah and all its commandments. If someone wanted to create this kind of mythology, what exactly would he do? Try to convince lots and lots of people that they witnessed something they know they never saw, with the consequence that, if they go along with it, they’ll have to keep all the mitzvahs? Or maybe tell them that their ancestors really experienced Sinai, but just never passed it on to their children because they didn’t think it was important or unusual?
Now one could counter, there must be some way such a mass hysteria might have occurred; anything’s possible. Even though there’s never been another case like it in history, could be somehow it happened once. So here comes the kicker: if, as a skeptic might assert, it is possible to invent such an astounding claim, why didn’t any other religion in history ever think to make it? That’s a big WHY.
And interestingly, the Torah pointed out (prophetically?) just that historical problem: “For ask now regarding the early days that were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens, whether there was anything like this great thing, or was the likes of it heard? Did ever a people hear God’s voice speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have
heard, and live?”
By now, perhaps you can answer that question yourself.
(If this second half was not your question, sorry for running on. But it is interesting.)
I said above I would give you the beginning of an answer. What I meant was that what I’ve written is not all the evidence; not even remotely close. It’s only the beginning. If there’s anything Judaism has taught the world, it’s: LEARN! Investigate for yourself, to the furthest extent of your mental abilities. Or, put another way: don’t be a fool. Don’t just follow the crowd.
When it comes to the subject of knowing G-d’s existence, many many works by our greatest sages have examined this central subject, from the beginning of our history till today. If you’re interested, I could suggest more sources for you to investigate. And when you’re done with those, I could suggest many more. Perhaps the rock bottom line is this: muster the courage to search relentlessly for the truth; the biggest reason so many people stray from it is because they refuse to learn more, cowering in fear of what they may find.
Shlomo Shulman