Chazal tell us that before Yisrael received the Torah, Hashem took it to the nation of Aisav and asked them if they were interested to obtain it. They asked what is in its contents and Hashem replied the prohibition of murder. They responded it is not for us, give it rather to Yisrael. Then Hashem went to the nation of Yishmael and inquired from them if they were interested to acquire the Torah and they too asked what is written inside and Hashem answered the issur of committing adultery. They responded that this was overwhelmingly difficult for them to observe it, rather give it to Yisrael. When Hashem asked Yisrael the same question they responded with the words ונשמע נעשה we will comply and fulfill the demands of the Torah and will listen to what it prescribes. Because of their devoted response Hashem gifted Am Yisrael the Torah accompanied by two crowns, one for נעשה and the other for נשמע which were placed on their heads by the malachim.

There are many questions that arise from this Aggadah. What changed from their initial response of ויענו כל העם יחדו ויאמרו כל אשר דבר ה' נעשה (Shmos 19,8) that on the second occasion (Shmos 24,7) they added ונשמע נעשה ?Furthermore, in their first response it says נעשה יחדו העם כל ויענו in contrast to their second response the word יחדו together, was omitted? Chazal state that in the second response of ונשמע נעשה they preceded the word of נעשה of committing themselves to observe the Torah even prior to their hearing its contents. Because of this supreme madraigah they received two crowns placed on their heads. Why is that any different from their commitment of נעשה alone which intrinsically means that they committed to do whatever Hashem tells them unconditonally?

Let us delve into this Chazal and reveal the deeper meaning of what transpired with the giving of the Torah. Hashem asked the nation of Aisav and Yishmael if they desired the Torah. Who did Hashem address with his inquiry? Did they have prophets of which we are unaware? Did He reveal Himself to them as He did to Am Yisrael? The sefarim tell us that Hashem went to the angel of the nation who represents their essence and posed the question. The angel of Aisav was the סמאל and the angel of Yishmael was רהב.

Now let us examine closely the names of the nations עשו and ישמעאל. The name Aisav symbolizes action and a finished product. That was the reason why he was called the name of עשו for he was born with a mature and developed body, already "made". Yishmael symbolizes the sense of hearing שמע and Avraham's tefillah in the naming his son was ישמע אל Hashem should listen to the cries of tefillah. Each of the two nations possessed their unique maalah and spiritual arsenal that could have enabled them to accept the Torah. They are the power to hear the words of Hashem and to fulfill them. However, these inner strengths were blocked from coming into fruition for they refused the offer. In describing their names Chazal state שמותיהם נאים ומעשיהם מכוערים their names are pleasant however their derogatory deeds are despicable.

Upon Aisav and Yishmael's refusal to accept the Torah even though they possessed these two strengths of ועשייה שמיעה, Am Yisrael received these strengths from them (some meforshim learn that the two malachim gifted it to them for receiving the Torah instead of them). This transfer of kochos ושמיעה עשייה is manifested in Yisrael's own declaration of ונשמע נעשה. Not that without the nations' gifts of ונשמע נעשה they would not have accepted the Torah on their own. They already declared נעשה in the first scenario which includes this supreme commitment of total unconditional subjugation to the Torah. Their נעשה includes their נעשה. ונשמע Rather, these attributes of Aisav and Yishmael were given to Yisrael in order to fortify and supercharge their commitment to fulfilling and perpetuating the Torah.

The crowns that were placed on the heads of Yidden were the crowns, the spiritual attributes that these malachim possessed representing their nations, ושמיעה עשייה.

This transference of power is hinted in (Tehillim 68 18)

עלית למרום שבית שבי לקחת מתנות באדם ואף סוררים לשכן יה אלקים

You ascended the mountain (heavens) and took the Torah out of captivity. You took presents with the title of אדם and even the סוררים, the ones who rebelled at the chait of the Aigel were forgiven, and Yisrael were presented with a Mishkan in which Hashem will dwell within (Rashi).

What presents did Moshe receive from the malachim on Har Sinai? According to the above he received the powers of סמאל the malach of Aisav that of נעשה, and those of רהב the malach of Yishmael the power of נשמע. This transfer of the driving force powers was in order to deepen the רצון of Klal Yisrael to hear and to fulfill the Torah even more than before. This is alluded to in the gematriah of ורהב סמאל which add up to רצון. It was these two malachim who infused Yisrael with a greater "will" to cleave to Hashem. With this we can interpret the word סוררים ואף in the passuk, to refer to the previous words instead of connecting it only to the message that comes after it which is the way Rashi learned. These two malachim of רהב סמאל have the acronym ר"ס. The passuk conveys that even the סוררים, these two leadership angels of the seventy nations gave presents to Moshe on behalf of Klal .נעשה ונשמע Yisrael

Now we can answer why the first time Yisrael just answered with נעשה alone and only further on did they say ונשמע נעשה ?It was in the second time that Am Yisrael introduced the qualities that they received as gifts from these separate malachim to serve as a supercharge to their initial נעשה that they committed on their own.

We can also now understand why when Yisrael first said נעשה it was accompanied with the word יחדו together (Yisro 19,8). This is in contrast to our parsha when Yisrael said נעשה ונשמע omitting the word יחדו. The answer is that when they first said נעשה on their own initiative, the Torah also described the unity component as well just as its says ויחן ישראל נגד ההר and Chazal say כאיש אחד בלב אחד This is all in their initiative. The second statement of ונשמע נעשהwas imported from the ורהב סמאל of Aisav and Yishmael where acdus amongst themselves is non existent. Therefore to let us know the origin of the second statement and not that Yisrael were correcting or adding to their initial statement of נעשה, the Torah omitted the midah of achdus because only Yisrael has the true גוי אחד בארץ.

This is also the very reason why they said נעשה before נשמע. It is not because the first נעשה did not show that they said נעשה without even hearing what they were committing to. The word נעשה even without נשמע sends the same message. Rather the message of the נעשה ונשמע in the second scenario is relating to the gift that was given to them which came in that order. That Hashem first asked Aisav and Aisav said give it to Yisrael for they could use my name sake עשייה. Only after Aisav, Hashem then went to Yishmael and asked him to accept the Torah and with his refusal he gave to Yisrael his name sake שמיעה. As the passuk says Devarim 33,2 ה' מסיני בא וזרח משעיר למו הופיע מהר פארן

One might wonder why did Hashem orchestrate in the first place a transfer from נעשה of Yisrael to the ונשמע נעשה of Aisav and Yishmael? We can answer this with the question of Tosfos why did Hashem pick up Har Sinai over their heads and deliver the ultimatum that if they will not accept the Torah they will perish. Tosfos asks but they already demonstrated their willingness to accept the Torah by saying ונשמע נעשה and there was no purpose to coerce them to do so. Tosfos answers that their acceptance was weak and missing a 100% commitment. In the Medrash (Bamidbar Rabba 7,4) Chazal write that Hashem told Moshe that their commitment was weak for after only 40 days they will have already worshipped the Aigel.

According to this mamar we could answer that for this reason alone Hashem orchestrated that Am Yisrael should receive a super charge in their ונשמע נעשה which was strengthened through the crowns that they were given by these two nations.

This also answers why did Hashem ask these angels if they wanted to accept the Torah when He knew that in essence it was an impossible fit. The answer we can give is that Hashem wanted them to refuse and thereby gift Yisrael with their two attributes of ונשמע נעשה .. This was in order that Yisrael will have more tenacity to uphold and preserve the Torah and Mitzvos.

When we sing zemiros on Shabbos day we say ובאו כולם בברית יחד נעשה ונשמע אמרו כאחד .ופתחו וענו ה' אחד ברוך הנותן ליעף כח What is the connection between נעשה ונשמע אמרו כאחד and the ending ברוך הנותן ליעף כח? The answer is found in our explanation. That the reason why Hashem orchestrated that we should receive the forces of עשו וישמעאל to say נעשה ונשמע is because our initial acceptance was flawed somewhat and we will need a booster of strength to persevere without falling. Hashem's act of transferring those kochos to us was an example of הנותן ליעף כח.