Torah: The Big Reveal Shabbat B'Midbar, 5781 (Copy)

(17) Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain. (18) Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke, for the Eternal God had come down upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. (19) The blare of the horn grew louder and louder. As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder. (20) The Eternal God came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Eternal called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up.

The Torah says, “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lowermost part of the mount” (Exodus 19:17).

Rabbi Avdimi bar Ḥama bar Ḥasa said: the Jewish people actually stood beneath the mountain, and the verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be God, overturned the mountain above like a tub, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, excellent, and if not, here will be your burial.

Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: From here there is a substantial caveat to the obligation to fulfill the Torah. The Jewish people can claim that they were coerced into accepting the Torah, and it is therefore not binding.

Rava said: Even so, they again accepted it willingly in the time of Ahasuerus, as it is written: “The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their descendants, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them” (Esther 9:27), and he taught: The Jews ordained what they had already taken upon themselves through coercion at Sinai.

(1) וירד ה׳ על הר סיני AND THE LORD CAME DOWN UPON MOUNT SINAI — One might think, then, that God actually came down upon it! Therefore it states, (Exodus 20:19) “Ye have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven”.

These two texts together teach us that He bent down the upper and lower heavens and spread them out over the top of the mountain like a bed-spread over a bed and the throne of Glory descended upon it (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:20).

(15) All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blare of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they fell back and stood at a distance. (16) “You speak to us,” they said to Moses, “and we will obey; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” (17) Moses answered the people, “Be not afraid; for God has come only in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may be ever with you, so that you do not go astray.”

(18) So the people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.

(2) ראים את הקולת [THEY] SAW THE SOUNDS — they saw that which should be heard (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:15:1) — something which is impossible to see on any other occasion.

(4) וינעו THEY MOVED — The root נוע denotes trembling (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:15:3).

(5) ויעמדו מרחק AND THEY STOOD AFAR OFF — they moved back startled twelve miles, a distance equal to the length of their camp, and ministering angels came and assisted them — to bring them back, as it is said, (Psalms 68:13) “The angels of the God of Hosts made them move on, move on” (Shabbat 88b).

(16) Assuredly, I will speak coaxingly to her And lead her through the wilderness And speak to her tenderly. (17) I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a plowland of hope. There she shall respond as in the days of her youth, When she came up from the land of Egypt. (18) And in that day —declares the LORD— You will call [Me] Ishi, And no more will you call Me Baali. (19) For I will remove the names of the Baalim from her mouth, And they shall nevermore be mentioned by name. (20) In that day, I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; I will also banish bow, sword, and war from the land. Thus I will let them lie down in safety. (21) And I will espouse you forever: I will espouse you with righteousness and justice, And with goodness and mercy, (22) And I will espouse you with faithfulness; Then you shall be devoted to the LORD.

(4) Face to face the Eternal God spoke to you on the mountain out of the fire—

(29) So Moses came down from Mount Sinai. And as Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant, since he had spoken with Him. (30) Aaron and all the Israelites saw that the skin of Moses’ face was radiant; and they shrank from coming near him. (31) But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the chieftains in the assembly returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. (32) Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he instructed them concerning all that the LORD had imparted to him on Mount Sinai. (33) And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. (34) Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would leave the veil off until he came out; and when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, (35) the Israelites would see how radiant the skin of Moses’ face was. Moses would then put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with God.

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When Moses ascended on High to receive the Torah, the ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be God: Master of the Universe, what is one born of a woman doing here among us? The Holy One, Blessed be God, said to them: He came to receive the Torah.

The angels said before God: The Torah is a hidden treasure that was concealed by You 974 generations before the creation of the world, and you seek to give it to flesh and blood? As it is stated: “The word which God commanded to a thousand generations” (Psalms 105:8). Since the Torah, the word of God, was given to the twenty-sixth generation after Adam, the first man, the remaining 974 generations must have preceded the creation of the world. “What is a human being that You are mindful of him and the child of Adam that You think of him?” (Psalms 8:5).

Rather, “God our Eternal, how glorious is Your name in all the earth that Your majesty is placed above the heavens” (Psalms 8:2). The rightful place of God’s majesty, the Torah, is in the heavens.

The Holy One, Blessed be God, said to Moses: Provide them with an answer as to why the Torah should be given to the people. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, I am afraid, lest they burn me with the breath of their mouths.

God said to him: Grasp My throne of glory for strength and protection, and provide them with an answer. And from where is this derived? As it is stated: “God causes him to grasp the front of the throne, and spreads His cloud over it” (Job 26:9), and Rabbi Naḥum said: This verse teaches that God spread the radiance of His presence and His cloud over Moses.

Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, the Torah that You are giving me, what is written in it? God said to him: “I am YHVH your God who brought you out of Egypt from the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2).

Moses said to the angels: Did you descend to Egypt? Were you enslaved to Pharaoh? Why should the Torah be yours?

Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? God said to him: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). Moses said to the angels: Do you dwell among the nations who worship

idols that you require this special warning?

Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? The Holy One, Blessed be God, said to him: “Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it” (Exodus 20:8). Moses asked the angels: Do you perform labor that you require rest from it?

Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? “Do not take the name of the Eternal your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7), meaning that it is prohibited to swear falsely. Moses asked the angels: Do you conduct business with one another that may lead you to swear falsely?

Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? The Holy One, Blessed be God, said to him: “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). Moses asked the angels: Do you have a father or a mother that would render the commandment to honor them relevant to you?

Again Moses asked: What else is written in it? God said to him: “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal” (Exodus 20:13) Moses asked the angels: Is there jealousy among you, or is there an evil inclination within you that would render these commandments relevant?

Immediately they agreed with the Holy One, Blessed be God, for making the right decision to give the Torah to the people, and as it is stated: “God our Eternal, how glorious is Your name in all the earth” (Psalms 8:10), while “that Your majesty is placed above the heavens” is not written because the angels agreed with God that it is appropriate to give the Torah to the people on earth.

Immediately, each and every one of the angels became an admirer of Moses and passed something to him, as it is stated: “You ascended on high, you took a captive, you took gifts on account of humankind, and even among the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell there” (Psalms 68:19).

(12) And the Eternal God said to Moses: (13) Speak to the Israelite people and say: Nevertheless, you must keep My sabbaths, for this is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages, that you may know that I the Eternal have sancitfied you.

(14) You shall keep the sabbath, for it is holy for you. He who profanes it shall be put to death: whoever does work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his kin. (15) Six days may work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. (16) The Israelite people shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: (17) it shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Israel. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and was refreshed.

(18) When God finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the two tablets of the Pact, stone tablets inscribed with the finger of God.

(1) The Eternal said to Moses: “Carve two tablets of stone like the first, and I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered.

(2) Be ready by morning, and in the morning come up to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to Me, on the top of the mountain. (3) No one else shall come up with you, and no one else shall be seen anywhere on the mountain; neither shall the flocks and the herds graze at the foot of this mountain.”

(4) So Moses carved two tablets of stone, like the first, and early in the morning he went up on Mount Sinai, as the Eternal had commanded him, taking the two stone tablets with him.

(27) And the Eternal said to Moses:

Write down these commandments, for in accordance with these commandments I make a covenant with you and with Israel. (28) And he was there with the Eternal forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water; and he wrote down on the tablets the terms of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.