I am the L-rd your G-d who took you out of the Land of Egypt

The Alef Kabbala Group (10 February 09) explored a discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the words "I am the L-rd your G-d who took you out of the Land of Egypt", the first of the Ten Commandments, which feature in Sedra Yitro. This discourse was taught on the eve of Shavuot in 1989, when the account of the Giving of the Torah and the Ten Commandments are read in the synagogue. An intriguing theme in the discourse is the continuous nature of the Giving of the Torah: hence in the blessing on the Torah one praises G-d "Who gives the Torah" in the present tense. This theme is amplified in a section of a talk given by the Rebbe published in Sefer HaSichot 5752, p.507 (Siyum on Berachot and Moed Katan), which considers the idea that whatever a seasoned student might say as a new idea in his study of Torah, was actually communicated to Moses at Sinai. However, it is revealed by the student or scholar, many generations later.