Fear as preparation for Matan Torah

בגמ' מ"ד משמים השמעת דין ארץ יראה כו' בתחלה יראה כדר"ל תנאי התנה כו' ולבסוף שקטה.

In the Gemara: what is the meaning of "From heaven You proclaimed judgment; the earth feared and was still" (Tehillim 76:9) — at first "it feared," as Reish Lakish said, that He made a condition, etc., and in the end "it was still."

The Gemara (and Reish Lakish) reads the verse as describing Matan Torah: at first the earth "feared" — Hashem made the world's continued existence conditional on Bnei Yisrael accepting the Torah — and only afterward did the earth become "still" and settled.

וקשה כי אין היראה שייך בקבלת התורה רק מקודם כמ"ש רש"י לבסוף כשקבלוה א"כ למה כתב משמים השמעת דין ארץ יראה.

And it is difficult: for the fear is not relevant at the giving of the Torah but only beforehand, as Rashi wrote that "in the end," when they accepted it, [it was still] — so why does it write, "From heaven You proclaimed judgment; the earth feared"?

The Sefas Emes asks: if the fear belonged only to the period before the Torah was accepted, why does the verse pair the "judgment proclaimed from heaven" (Matan Torah) directly with "the earth feared"?

וביאור הענין כי היראה היתה הכנה לקבלת התורה להתקיים.

And the explanation of the matter: the fear was a preparation for the receiving of the Torah, that it should endure.

The fear was not a problem to be removed but a necessary preparation — it was what allowed the acceptance of the Torah to take hold and last.

ולבסוף שקטה כי רצה הקב"ה לתקן כל הבריאה בעת מתן תורה ולכן הי' צריך מקודם להיות כל הבריאה מתבטלת לבנ"י וזה עצמו טעם הקדמת הנסים במצרים ביטול הטבע ולהפיל אימה ופחד על כולם כמ"ש שמעו עמים ירגזון כו'.

And "in the end it was still," because Hakadosh Baruch Hu wished to rectify all of creation at the time of Matan Torah; therefore all of creation first had to become nullified to Bnei Yisrael — and this itself is the reason for the precedence of the miracles in Mitzrayim, the nullification of nature, and the casting of dread and fear upon all, as it says, "The peoples heard, they trembled…" (Shemos 15:14).

At Matan Torah Hashem sought to rectify all of creation, which required the entire world first to nullify itself before Bnei Yisrael. That is why the miracles of Mitzrayim came first — overriding nature and instilling dread in all the nations — so that the whole world would be subordinated and prepared.

כדי להיות לכולם אחיזה בקבלת התורה כל דבר כפי חלקו ומקומו.

In order that all should have a grasp (achizah) in the receiving of the Torah, each thing according to its portion and place.

The purpose of frightening and subduing all of creation was so that every creature and every nation would have some connection to the Torah, each according to its proper share.

[ומ"ש חז"ל שהחזירה על כל האומות.

[And what Chazal said, that He went around offering it to all the nations —

He now addresses the well-known teaching that Hashem first offered the Torah to all the nations before giving it to Bnei Yisrael.

בודאי אין הפי' ליתן להם התורה כמו שניתן לנו.

certainly the meaning is not to give them the Torah as it was given to us.

The offer to the nations did not mean granting them the Torah in the same full way it was given to Bnei Yisrael.

רק לכל אומה יהי' חלקה בתורה מצד עצמה וכשלא קבלוה ניתן הכל לנו והם מקבלים ע"י בנ"י כנ"ל]:

Rather, that each nation should have its own portion in the Torah from its own side; and when they did not accept it, the whole was given to us, and they receive through Bnei Yisrael, as above.]

Each nation had a potential portion in the Torah suited to it; once they refused, the entire Torah was given to Bnei Yisrael, and now the nations can only receive whatever share is theirs through the channel of Bnei Yisrael.

Summary: The earth's "fear" at Matan Torah was not a flaw but a necessary preparation: to rectify all of creation through the Torah, the entire world first had to nullify itself before Bnei Yisrael. This is why the miracles of Mitzrayim — overriding nature and casting dread on the nations — came first, so that every creature would have some grasp in the Torah according to its portion. The offer of the Torah to the nations gave each a potential share; when they refused, the whole was entrusted to Bnei Yisrael, through whom the nations now receive whatever portion is theirs.