Rabbi Azariah and Rabbi Acha said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: When, at Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the word “Anochi” (“I” — the first word of “The Ten Words”), their souls left them, as it says [Devarim 5:22]: “If we hear the voice of God any more, we will die.” It is also written [Shir HaShirim 5:6]: “My soul departed when He spoke.” Then the Word went back to the Holy One blessed be He and said:”Lord of the Universe, You live eternally and Your Torah lives eternally, but You have sent me to the dead. They are all dead!” Thereupon, the Holy One blessed be He sweetened the Word for them….Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: The Torah that God gave to Israel restored their souls to them, as it says [Tehillim 19:8]: “The Torah of the Lord is perfect, it restores the soul”
And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: With every word which went forth from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, the souls of Israel departed, for it is said, “My soul went forth when He spoke” (Shir HaShirim [Song of Songs] 5:6). But since their souls departed at the first commandment, how could they receive the second? – He brought down the dew with which He will resurrect the dead, and He revived them…
“Said Rabbi Abahu....in the name of Rabbi Yochanan...When the Holy Blessed One gave the Torah, no bird chirped, no fowl fluttered, no ox lowed, the angels did not fly, the Seraphim did not utter the Kedusha, the sea did not roar, the creatures did not speak; the universe was silent and mute. And the voice came forth “Anochi Adonai Elohecha” (I am the Infinite, your God).—Shmot Rabba 29-7
"When the israelites said “we want to see him” the holy and blessed one responded “I also desire to see you” as the male lover responds to his beloved “let me see your face” (Song of Songs).
When Israel stood at Mount Sinai they said to Moses
“Did you see him?”
He answered “Yes”.
They said we want to hear his voice as it says, “let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” (Song of Songs).
Immediately the holy and blessed one revealed himself to them and said “I am your God” as soon as they heard God’s voice they all died-- as it “says my soul went out when he spoke.” (Song of Songs).
11The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still small voice. 13When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Kings 19
Yochanan Muffs from Love and Joy
Any meeting of personalities requires great bravery. One who attempts to communicate with another endangers his own life, for to do this he must reveal what is in his heart. Such an act is potentially dangerous because one does not know ahead of time if he will find a receptive ear. There is always the possibility that the ear of the listener will be impervious. Any real communication, then, is a dangerous leap. But if one never screws up the courage to jump, he will wither away in silent isolation. There are two choices: to love or to die . . .
The Holy One, blessed be He, took a great chance when, at Sinai, He spoke with Israel for the first time. This act of communication was also an act of love. But God did not know ahead of time, so to speak, if His intended bride would be responsive to His voice: “I only hope their hearts will always be as responsive, as willing to obey Me, as they were just now” (Deuteronomy 5:26). How much anxiety is wrapped up in these awful words . . .
[This] dialectical tension in the loving relationship – the painful need to express feeling and the anxiety that the expression might not be properly received – is the inner dialectic of the human personality, as well as of the Divine, and is impossible to avoid. Mankind can only overcome this tension by imitating God Himself, by undertaking an act of bravery, a leap of faith, as God has done – by reaching out to the other, to communicate, to love.
Exposed on the mountains of the heart
Exposed on the mountains of the heart. See, how small there,
see: the last hamlet of words, and higher,
and yet so small, a last
homestead of feeling. Do you recognize it?
Exposed on the mountains of the heart. Rocky earth
under the hands. But something will
flower here; out of the mute abyss
flowers an unknowing herb in song.
But the knowing? Ah, that you who began to understand
and are silent now, exposed on the mountains of the heart.
Yet many an awareness still whole wanders there,
many a self-confident mountain animal
passes through and remains. And that great protected bird
circles about the peaks of pure denial. But
unprotected, here on the mountains of the heart.
—Rainer Maria Rilke
Irschenhausen: September, 1914