It is said in the name of the Bircas Shmuel that two factors obligate man to act in accordance with them: the Torah and human intellect.
The baalei mussar ask: what is the big deal about saying naaseh venishma? At Sinai, they were about to receive the Torah. What would have been wrong with declaring that they were ready to hear and learn all of the mitzvos of the Torah, and once they knew them, they would do them right away? What would have been wrong with declaring: nishma venaaseh?
It is my prayer that these gems go out from our beis hamidrash to the Torah world at large, and that Klal Yisrael reaps the benefits my students have gained from these works.
“Moshe sent away his father-in-law, who returned to his land” (Shemos 18:27). . . . Why would Moshe sent Yisro away at such a critical time?