Inner Torah

  In Parshas Yisro, as the Jewish people prepare for the receiving of the Torah, we find a fascinating concept brought out in Exodus 19:15. In addition to the preparations including the washing of clothing and placing a boundary around Har Sinai, we also find that the Torah instructs the Jewish people to stay away from intimate relations for 3 days prior to the Giving of the Torah. Exodus 19:15 וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָעָ֔ם הֱי֥וּ נְכֹנִ֖ים לִשְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים אַֽל־תִּגְּשׁ֖וּ אֶל־אִשָּֽׁה And he said to the nation, “Be ready for the third day: do not go near a woman.” Rashi, quoting the Gemara in Shabbos 86a says that this is specifically referring to refraining from intimate relations. On a simple level, this was due to spiritual purity, that as the Jewish people prepared for the prophetic experience of receiving the Torah, they needed to be in a state of Tahara, hence the separation. Only much later in the Torah, in Devarim 5:27 does the Torah share with us the narrative that after th...