Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

The Torah gives a vivid description of the giving of the Ten Commandments. “….. There was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn. And all the people in the camp trembled ……… Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for the Lord had come down upon it in fire ….. and the whole mountain trembled violently. The blare of the horn grew louder and louder. As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder ……. And when the people saw it, they fell back and stood at a distance. ‘You speak to us and we will obey, but let not God speak directly to us, lest we die” (Exodus 19:16-19; 20:15-16).

This description of the theophany at Sinai inspired me to write a song for my Hebrew school kids to the tune of Carol King’s “I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet.” Frankly, I don’t think they “got” it. The song was very popular when I was in college but meant little to fifth graders in 2018. Then again, “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift or “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X mean little to me.

But you, dear readers, I assume, are of a more mature generation and some of you may have been alive when Carol King’s “Tapestry” album came out in 1971. What a sensation that was. The songs on that album are burned into my memory, and therefore, struck a familiar chord when I taught my Hebrew School kids about the Ten Commandments.

Here, then, are my lyrics about the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai from the perspective of the Israelites, put to the melody of Carol King’s “I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet”.

We feel the Earth move under our feet
We feel the sky tumbling down, a-tumblin down
We feel our hearts start trembling
Whenever You're around

Ooh, Dear God, when we hear Your voice
Thunderin' from the sky
You know that we can't stand it
We're afraid that we are going to die.

Hey, we feel the Earth move under our feet
We feel the sky tumbling down
We feel our hearts start to trembling
Whenever You're around

Oh Moses, why don't you go
And see what God has to say
We're fearful, when we hear His voice
So hurry up don't delay
We need the mitzvahs!

We feel the Earth move under our feet
We feel the sky tumbling down, a-tumbling down
We feel the Earth move under our feet
We feel the sky tumbling down, a-tumbling down
We just a-lose control
Down to our very souls
When the shofar blows
It get louder and louder and louder and louder

We feel the Earth move under our feet
We feel the sky tumbling down, a-tumbling down
We feel the Earth move under our feet
We feel the sky tumbling down, a-tumbling down

A-tumbling down, a-tumbling down
A-tumbling down, tumbling down