What is the Covenant of Destiny? In the life of a people (as in the life of an individual), ‎destiny ‎signifies an existence that it has chosen of its own free will and in which it finds the full ‎realization ‎of its historical existence. Instead of a passive, inexorable existence into which a nation ‎is thrust, an ‎Existence of Destiny manifests itself as an active experience full of purposeful, ‎movement, ‎ascension, aspirations, and fulfillment. The nation is enmeshed in its destiny because ‎of its longing ‎for an enhanced state of being, an existence replete with substance and direction. ‎Destiny is the ‎font out of which flow the unique self-elevation of the nation and the unending ‎stream of Divine ‎inspiration that will not run dry so long as the path of the People is demarcated by ‎the laws of God. ‎The life of destiny is a directed life, the result of conscious direction and free will.‎

While the Covenant of Egypt was concluded without the consent of the people of Israel (the ‎Holy ‎One took them unto Him before He consulted with them: “And I will take you unto Me as ‎a ‎people” (Exodus 6:7), the Covenant of Sinai was offered to them before it was promulgated. ‎The ‎Holy One sent Moses to tell them His message, and Moses returned to the Holy One with ‎the ‎people’s answer. The halakhah perceives the Covenant of Sinai as a contract which is valid ‎if ‎written with the consent of the obligated party, in this case, the community of Israel. ‎The ‎proclamation that “We shall do and we shall hear” (Exodus 24:7) is the foundation of the Torah.‎15

What is the content of the Covenant of Sinai? It is a special way of life that directs the individual ‎to ‎the fulfilment of an end beyond the reach of the man of fate — the striving of man to resemble ‎his ‎Creator via selftranscendence. The creative activity that fulfills the Covenant of Destiny flows ‎from ‎a totally different source, from man’s rebellion against an “as is,” factual existence, and from ‎the ‎longing that impels him to more enhanced and sublime forms of existence. Acts of ‎lovingkindness ‎and fraternity, which are integrated into the framework of the Covenant of Sinai, ‎are motivated ‎not by the strange sense of loneliness of the Jew, but by the sense of unity ‎experienced by a ‎nation forever betrothed to the one God. The absolute oneness of God is ‎mirrored in the unity of ‎the nation that is eternally bound to Him. “You are One, and Your name is ‎One, and who is like Your ‎people Israel, One nation”. The essence of Jewish fellowship on this level ‎is a byproduct of the ‎father-son relationship between the members of the nation and God. ‎‎(Maimonides already ‎emphasized this motif in the passage we quoted above.) At Sinai, God ‎elevated the Covenant of ‎Fate, which He had concluded with a collective that was forced to be ‎alone and that practiced ‎loving-kindness to others as a result of its requisite isolation, to a ‎Covenant of Destiny with a ‎collective of people of free will and volition that directs and sanctifies ‎itself to confront the ‎Almighty. He transformed the “people”— an amalgam bereft of direction and ‎purpose — to a ‎‎“nation,” a term that signifies a distinct communal profile, a national physiognomy,16 ‎as it were. The ‎people of loving-kindness was elevated into a holy nation.17 The basis of shared ‎destiny is the ‎sanctity that is formed from a distinctive existence.‎18

When the man of destiny stands before the Almighty, he envisions the God of Israel who ‎reveals ‎Himself only with man’s approval and invitation. The God of Israel is united with the finite ‎creature ‎only after man has sanctified and cleansed himself from all pollution, and longingly and ‎agitatedly ‎awaits this wondrous encounter. The revelation of the God of Israel does not come, in ‎any event, ‎in all conditions and circumstances. It demands a special state of spirit and soul, in the ‎manner of ‎‎“Be ready for the third day” (Exodus 19:11). Without the readiness of man, the God of ‎Israel will ‎not reveal Himself. He does not surprise His creatures. He responds to man’s urgent ‎petition. ‎However, when man does not actively long for God with spiritual intensity, then the God ‎of Israel ‎shows no interest in him. When the God of the Hebrews chases after man against his will, ‎He does ‎not ask him for his opinion or desires. The God of Israel, however, consults with a person ‎before an ‎encounter. Already in Egypt the Holy One revealed Himself to Moses not only as the ‎God of the ‎Hebrews but also as the God of Israel who waits for man and invites him to His service ‎to do His ‎work. “So said the Lord, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they shall make a feast ‎unto Me ‎in the wilderness” (Exodus 5:1).‎