ואל משה אמר עלה אל ה'. ע"ד הפשט זו קודם מתן תורה ומזה אמר ונגש משה לבדו אל ה' ובאור אל עב הענן והוא הלשון שאמר (שמות כ) ומשה נגש אל הערפל שכן אותה פרשה ג"כ של והעם רואים את הקולות קודם מתן תורה היתה. 'ואל משה אמר עלה אל ה', “and to Moses He had said: “ascend to the Lord, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text this occurred prior to the giving of the Torah. This is why the Torah wrote that Moses was to approach the thick cloud all by himself (verse 2), although the instruction to ascend included Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu, as well as the seventy elders. The meaning of the word אל ה' in verse 2 is אל הערפל, “to or towards the thick cloud” within which the Presence of G’d had wrapped itself (compare 20,21). The whole paragraph relating that the people “saw the thunder” (20,18) also occurred before מתן תורה. [The important word at the beginning of this paragraph is the word אמר instead of ויאמר. The word אמר, meaning “He had said,” as distinct from ויאמר “He said,” indicates that this paragraph speaks of matters which had occurred some time previously. Ed.]
וע"ד הקבלה ואל משה אמר השם המיוחד עלה אל ה' זהו מטטרו"ן ששמו כשם רבו, וכן דרשו רז"ל, ונקרא בשם הזה לפי שבשם הזה נכללים שתי לשונות המורים על ענינו והוא אדון ושליח, אדון מלשון חכמים שקורין אל הגברת בעלת ממשלה מטרונא, שליח מלשון יון שקורים לשליח מנטטור, ועוד יכלול ענין שלישי מלשון שמירה כי תרגום משמרת מטרת, ועל שהוא שומר העולם נקרא שומר ישראל.
A Kabbalistic approach: The words ואל משה אמר refer to Moses having been addressed with this instruction by the attribute of Hashem. The meaning of the words עלה אל ה' (which obviously cannot mean that Moses was to ascend to the region of Hashem) is that he was to ascend to the level of the angel Mattatron, the angel whom we have already described as the שר הפנים, “the Minister of the Interior,” the angel to whom G’d normally entrusts the running of His universe.
This is also what our sages in Sanhedrin 38 meant when they said that the reason this angel is called Mattatron is that this word combines two meanings (in two separate languages). They are אדון and שליח. The reason that this is so is because in the language of our sages (a mixture of Latin and Greek at the time of the Mishnah) a lady who commands great authority is called Matrona. The word also means שליח, “agent, emissary,” as in Greek such a messenger is known as Mentaur. There is still a third meaning which is associated with the word מטטרן which is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew משמרת, “custody, guard.” The name of that angel is Mattatron as it is the custodian of the world on behalf of G’d who is also known as the שומר ישראל, “the guardian of Israel.”
והנה מתוך הוראת שמו השגנו שהוא אדון לכל מה שתחתיו שכל צבא העליונים והתחתונים הלא הם ברשותו ותחת ידו והוא השליח למי שעליו ולמעלה ממנו שהשליטהו על הכל ושמו אדון לביתו ומושל בכל קנינו. Seeing that we have established from the meaning of his very name that he is the master of all that is below him in rank, all the heavenly hosts as well as those on earth are at his command and under his control. He acts as the agent of the One Who is above him, the One who has given him this authority. His name is אדון לביתו ומושל בכל קנינו, “master of His household and governor of all His possessions.”
ויש לך לדעת כי לפי משמעות לשון אדון יהיה הטי"ת בשם כפול וטעם כפל הטי"ת כי שני טתי"ן עולה ח"י וישאר בשם מרון שהוא אדון. או יהיה כפל הטי"ת לפי שהוא הטור העשירי מושך כח מתשעה, והנה הוא נכתב במקומות לבעלי הקבלה בתוספת יו"ד פעם נקרא בשש אותיות כנגד שש קצוות ופעם בשבע. ומן הידוע שהוא נקרא נער ולכך הזכיר הכתוב בכורי ישראל בשם נערים שנאמר (שם כד) וישלח את נערי בני ישראל.
You ought to appreciate that in accordance with the meaning of the word אדון, “master,” the letter ט in the name מטטרון appears twice. The reason for this is that the two letters ט when combined have a numerical value of ח'י an allusion to the חי העולמים an expression of supremacy. Alternatively, the extra letter ט is an allusion to the ninth emanation which derives its potency directly from the highest emanation, the tenth emanation
It is well known (in Kabbalistic circles) that another description of this angel Mattatron is נער. This is the reason the firstborn of the Israelites have been referred to as נערים in verse 5 of our chapter where the Torah writes: וישלח את נערי בני ישראל ויעלו עולות, “He sent the youths of the Children of Israel and they offered burnt-offerings, etc.”
ויש לך לדעת כי העליה הזאת לא הוצרכה עתה בשביל אהרן ובניו ושבעים זקנים, ומה שאמר ונגש משה לבדו אל ה' הכוונה על מטטרון ג"כ והיה הכתוב ראוי לומר ונגשת לבדך כי ה' המיוחד הוא המדבר והדבור הזה למשה לבדו שאמר לו עלה אל ה' אתה ואהרן נדב ואביהוא ושבעים מזקני ישראל והשתחויתם מרחוק. ומה שמדבר בלשון נסתר ונגש משה לבדו אל ה' אולי כי האומר ונגש משה לבדו אל ה' הוא מטטרון שאמר כן על עצמו והוא לשון צוואה שמצוה לאהרן נדב ואביהוא ושבעים מזקני ישראל וסמך לו מיד ויראו את אלהי ישראל, ומשה לבדו נגש יותר שכן נאמר לו עלה אלי ההרה והיה שם והעליה הזאת לתוספת השגה היתה עד שבא בתוך הענן שנאמר ויבא משה בתוך הענן.
It is well to realise that at this time it was not an ascent to G’d which G’d had in mind, as if it had been that there would not have been a point in including Aaron, his sons and the elders in any part of this instruction. When the Torah writes here in verse 2 that Moses was to approach the ערפל all by himself, the meaning is also that he would approach the angel Mattatron who was at that time within the thick cloud described as ערפל. Actually, the Torah should have written: ונגשת לבדך “you are to approach all by yourself,” if the Torah had meant for him at this time to ascend all the way to G’d. At this point G’d’s words were directed only at Moses seeing that what was said about Aaron, his sons, and the elders was in the third person, i.e. quite obviously not intended for their ears at this time. G’d had told Moses that Aaron and the elders were to remain at a distance when they would prostrate themselves.
We need to understand why the direct form of the speech in verse 1, i.e. עלה אל ה' was changed to indirect speech in verse 2 where the Torah writes in indirect speech “and Moses shall approach theערפל .” We must assume that the words in verse 2 for Moses to approach the ערפל all by himself were not spoken by G’d but by the angel Mattatron. In that event he spoke of Moses approaching himself (the angel) within the thick cloud. The entire verse then was primarily a command for Aaron, his sons, and the elders not to approach but to prostrate themselves from a distance. As a consequence of these instructions, the Torah adds immediately that these people who had not approached beheld what is reported in verse 10 i.e. ויראו את אלו-הי ישראל ותחת רגליו כמעשה לבנת הספיר וכעצם השמים לטוהר, “they experienced a vision of the G’d of Israel in the form of a likeness of bricks made of sapphire under His feet, being as pure as the essence of heaven.” In the interval, Moses alone approached more closely to the ערפל, as he had been told in verse 12 עלה אלי ההרה “ascend to Me to the mountain and remain there, etc.” This additional ascent (additional to what was commanded in verse 1 represented an additional spiritual elevation on the part of Moses until he actually entered the cloud. The next step occurred in verse 18 where the Torah reports Moses as entering the cloud, ascending the mountain and remaining there for forty days.
וכבר ידעת כי המלאך הזה הוא שטעה אלישע אחר בענינו ונכשל בו להסתפק בשתי רשויות ויצא לתרבות רעה, וכן כל מי שלא נזהר בענינו הנה הוא חוטא בנפשו ומסבב לו מוקש ואשמה רבה לא יוכל כפרה. ואלי מפני זה נסמכה פרשת ואל משה אמר למלת מוקש כי ענינו למי שאינו נזהר בו מקום טעות בו נוקש ונלכד האב הראשון גם הבנים במדבר גם נדב ואביהוא, והצדיק השלם ר"ע שנזהר בענינו נכנס בשלום ויצא בשלום והוא שדרש בו (דברים לג) ואתה מרבבות קדש, אות הוא ברבבה שלו ה' צבאות שמו אדון הוא בצבא שלו והבן זה. You are already aware that this (angel) is the one who was the cause of Elisha ben Avuyah making a grievous error, resulting in his heresy when he formed the opinion that there are two domains of divinity (compare Chagigah 15). The same is liable to happen to anyone who does not exercise extreme care in contemplating these verses. Perhaps the reason that this paragraph has been written immediately after the previous paragraph concluded with the word מוקש, “a trap,” in 23,33, is to warn that this chapter must be read with more than ordinary care. It is a veiled warning that he who is not extremely careful when studying this chapter is liable to fall into a theological trap. The error committed by the people who served the golden calf, by Nadav and Avihu (compare our author’s comments on Leviticus 10,1), may be traced to misreading what is written in our chapter. Of all the great scholars delving into the matter only Rabbi Akiva escaped with his mind and body completely intact (Chagigah 14). How was it that only Rabbi Akiva succeeded where others had failed? This is what our sages meant when they said that Rabbi Akiva realized that there are other powerful angels of the caliber of Mattatron thus precluding the error that because Mattatron was unique he was a divinity. The sages based this on Deut. 33,2 אתה מרבבות קודש, that when G’d gave the Torah “He had come with some of the myriads of holy beings.” The reason G’d is called ה' צבאות is precisely because He is the Master of all these holy beings.