Exodus · Chapter 24

And to Moses He said: Ascend before Hashem — you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel — and bow down from a distance.

ואל משה אמר AND UNTO MOSES HE SAID — This section was spoken before the Ten Commandments were given (i. e. אמר is the pluperfect); it was the fourth of Sivan when “Come up” was said to him (Shabbat 88a).

AND UNTO MOSES HE SAID: ‘COME UP UNTO THE ETERNAL etc.’ “This section was told to Moses before the giving of the Ten Commandments, on the fourth day of Sivan.” This is Rashi’s language. “And the Eternal said unto Moses: ‘Come up to Me into the mountain, and be there’ — this was said to Moses after the Giving of the Torah.” These too are Rashi’s words. But if so, the sections of the Torah are not in chronological order, nor even in their ordinary sense! Moreover, it is written here, And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Eternal, and all the ordinances, which are these ordinances written above, concerning which He said, And these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them. For it is not correct to interpret the expression: and all the ordinances, to mean [as Rashi wrote], the ordinances which “the sons of Noah” were commanded, or the laws which were given to the Israelites in Marah which they had already heard and knew, and besides, the word vayesapeir (and he told) always indicates new things which one tells!But Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has already grasped this subject correctly, in explaining the verses to be in their proper order, when he commented: “Up to here is the Book of the Covenant.” On the basis of this statement it can be seen that all the sections of the Torah are in methodical arrangement. For after the Giving of the Torah immediately on the same day G-d said to Moses, Thus shall you tell the children of Israel: Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven, and He began to warn them again against idolatry, by saying, Ye shall not make with Me etc., and He continued to command him, Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them, and all the commandments following that, and finally He finished with the admonition against the worship of idols which they find in the Land, and against making a covenant with their worshippers. He then said to Moses, “After you have commanded them this, come up unto the Eternal, thou and Aaron.” The section mentions that Moses did according to the command of G-d, and came to the camp and told the people all the words of the Eternal as He had commanded him, Thus shall you tell the children of Israel: Ye yourselves have seen etc.; and all the ordinances, as He had commanded him, Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them. The people received everything with joy and said, All that the Eternal hath spoken will we do, meaning that all these things which G-d has told you we will do, for we believe in your words; just as he narrated in the Book of Deuteronomy [that the people said to him], and thou shalt speak unto us all that the Eternal our G-d may speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it, and then Moses wrote them down. Thus on that day he wrote down in a book all that he had been commanded — the statutes, the ordinances, and the laws — and he rose up early in the morning of the following day to make a covenant with them conc...

"And to Moses He said" — Everything mentioned above up to this point comprises the conditions that he was to relate to Israel. Afterwards He said to Moses: after you have made the covenant with them, you shall ascend to Me — you, and Aaron, and his sons, and the seventy elders of Israel, who are the consecrated firstborn.

ואל משה אמר עלה!, after He had finished telling him כה תאמר אל בני ישראל אתם ראיתם in 20,18. At that time He had explained to the people that they must not try and “reach” Him through intermediaries, but that all that was required was an altar made of earth, coupled with the meticulous observance of His commandments as spelled out in the Ten Commandments. The verse tells us that all of these things were explained to the whole nation. However, ואל משה אמר, to Moses himself G’d had said that he should come up to the mountain just as he had been commanded to do already before the revelation, when G’d had said to him in 19,14 לך רד ועלית אתה ואהרן עמך.

ואל משה אמר, And He had said to Moses (previously), etc. It appears that this paragraph was revealed immediately after the revelation at Mount Sinai but was inserted in the Torah only here. There is no point in citing numerous arguments proving this theory. Ibn Ezra, Nachmanides, and Rashbam are all agreed that the paragraph must have been revealed at the time of the revelation. I have seen an undisputed theory in the Mechilta according to which Moses built an altar on the fifth day of Sivan (a day before the revelation) and that this was the altar mentioned in verse 4, and that he concluded a covenant with the people confirming their adherence to the seven Noachide laws as well as to the statutes he had taught the people at Marah (15,25). Some rabbis hold that the covenant Moses made the people swear to at that time covered all the laws revealed in the Torah till the end of the Book of Leviticus. According to these sages all those laws had to be revealed before the revelation at Mount Sinai. Seeing the people had not been asked to enter into a covenant concernig any of G'd's laws prior to this, we must assume that Moses tested them to see if they were willing to enter into such a covenant of their own free will concerning all of the commandments which had already been revealed even though it had not been G'd Himself who had given them these commandments. Perhaps we find a hint of all this in G'd telling Moses in 19,3:"and tell the children of Israel!" Shabbat 86 understands this directive to mean that Moses was to illustrate the legislation to the people by employing parables and other homiletical material to make these laws appear acceptable in their eyes. As a result of clever presentation of all these laws the people would be prepared to swear an oath obligating themselves to observe all of these commandments. The statement in Shabbat 86 that the Israelites did not say: "we will listen and do," but: "we will do and listen," was the outcome of their each having been "crowned" by 600,000 angels. All these comments prove that our paragraph refers to events prior to the giving of the Torah.

ואל משה אמר, “and He had said to Moses:” this paragraph up to and including verse 4: 'את כל דברי ה, “all the words of the Lord,” were said to him on the fourth day of Sivan, [two days before the revelation, Ed.] as I have explained at the time. (19,15) According to the plain meaning of the text, an angel had said this to Moses at this time; the text is abbreviated, and is one of many such verses in the Torah.

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.] 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.” 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.” 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.” 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 the ערפל .” 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. 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.

ואל משה אמר עלה אל ה' אתה ואהרן נדב ואביהו ושבעים מזקני ישראל, “and He had said to Moses: “ascend, you and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu as well as 70 of the elders of Israel.” I find it puzzling that Eleazar and ittamar, Aaron’s other sons, were not included in this invitation. Surely they were more distinguished than the seventy elders mentioned in our verse. We have a list of the respective rank of Israelite dignitaries at the time in Maimonides ביאת המקדש ה,יג in which he enumerates the following ranks in this order: Aaron, Eleazar, Ittamar, and Pinchas. The above-mentioned all rose to the position of High Priest, and were superior in a variety of ways to the seventy elders. We have a tradition that Nadav and Avihu had already become guilty of death by burning during the episode introduced here (Vayikra Rabbah, 22,10) when they “saw G’d,” i.e. they treated their spiritual high as if it were something ordinary, not even interrupting their eating and drinking during the time they enjoyed this vision. (compare verse 11) Had they not been so highly placed, they might not have been punished in such a salutary manner. At any rate, G’d Who foresees events without necessarily interfering in them, knew that Nadav and Avihu would commit an even greater indiscretion in their enthusiasm to participate in the consecration of the Tabernacle. They were not punished on the occasion described here, as G’d did not want to mar the joy experienced by the people on that day. At the same time, G’d did not want that Aaron would die without a son or grandson who could inherit the office of High Priest. In order not to have all of Aaron’s sons become guilty of the same offence, He did not invite them at the time to accompany Moses part of the way on his ascent to the Mountain. According to Rashi this portion describes events which occurred on the 4th of Sivan, (2 days before the revelation). On the other hand, the instruction to Moses to ascend Mount Sinai (verse 12) occurred after the Ten Commandments had been given. Nachmanides does not agree with this scenario described by Rashi. He supports this by quoting 21,1 claiming that what Moses told the people then were not the 7 Noachide laws, taught to the people at Marah, but laws revealed to him on Mount Sinai. The words ואת כל המשפטים in our verse here (verse 3) as well as the expression ויספר, an expression used only when something new is being revealed, make it plain that this occurred after the giving of the Torah. These were laws mentioned to Moses immediately after the Ten Commandments had been given, laws introduced with the words כה תאמר לבית יעקב, in G’d added there a reference to the people’s visual experience, i.e. אתם ראיתם “you have witnessed, etc.” (at Mount Sinai, i.e. the revelation) Subsequently, G’d commanded the משפטים to the people as described in chapter 21, and the people accepted all of these joyfully, culminating in their declaration כל הדברים אשר דבר ה' נעשה, “we will perform all the instructions G’d has issued.” (24,3) This was a declaration of faith in Moses who had conveyed all these laws to them in the name of Hashem. It was at this point that G’d said to Moses to tell the people to go back to their respective tents. (Deut. 5,27) It is reported there that the people went back to their tents and made a great celebration on that day. They prepared the slaughtering of the animals for the following day as there was not enough time left on the day of the revelation to build a major altar and 12 minor altars known as מצבה. (compare verse 4) Moses had meanwhile written down all that had been revealed on that day orally. It was better to give the people time to prepare properly for the conclusion of the covenant on the following day. On that day the people rose early in readiness for what was to develop. The people stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, the very place where they had stood to receive the Ten Commandments. It was here that Moses built the altar and the 12 pillars representing the 12 tribes of Israel. After the offerings had been presented on the altar, Moses read for the people what he had written down on the previous day. (verse 6) and the people responded with the famous נעשה ונשמע, “we are prepared to carry it out, let’s hear the details.” The words ויעל משה ואהרן concluded the making of the covenant. G’d invited Moses to ascend the Mountain once more and there to receive the Tablets on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments in G’d’s own writing, and to remain on the Mountain for some time, (verse 12) speaks of the day following the giving of the Torah, the 7th day of Sivan, G’d announced to him that at the end of that stay he would receive the Tablets. As to the grammatically strange wording ואל משה אמר עלה, which we would normally translate as “and He had said (previously to all this) to Moses: ‘ascend,’ etc.,” we have to understand this in context. Up until now the commandments Moses had related to the people were applicable to the people, including Moses, of course. Now the Torah refers to a commandment that had been given exclusively to Moses, to be performed only by him. G’d commanded him the details of this commandment after Moses had instructed the people in what they were expected to do, and had concluded the covenant with them. G’d then said to him “ascend to Me,” accompanied by the people enumerated, for a part of the way.

ואל משה אמר, from Exodus 20,18 ומשה נגש אל הערפל including the paragraph which the Torah introduces here, all this was communicated to Moses on the same day the Ten Commandments were spoken by G’d. When the Torah here refers to what G’d “had said to Moses,” this refers to what He said to him alone before Moses descended from the mountain on that same day. 'עלה אל ה, this command was issued on the day following Moses’ most recent return from the mountain. He was now bidden to ascend the mountain again of the following day. אתה ואהרן; immediately after being told this Moses descended. ויספר לעם את כל דברי ה' וגו'. A reference to Exodus 20, 20-21. On the morrow he built an altar, offered sacrifices, and still on the same day he ascended to where the cloud enveloped him for the duration of 6 days (verse 15). ואל משה אמר, an angel told Moses, 'עלה אל ה; seeing the command did not conclude with the word אלי, “to Me,” we must assume that it was issued by an angel speaking in G’d’s name. On the other hand, in verse 12 where G’d Himself invites Moses, He does add the word אלי, “to Me.”

And Moses alone shall draw near before Hashem, but they shall not draw near; and the people shall not ascend with him.

ונגש משה לבדו AND MOSES ALONE SHALL STEP NEAR unto the thick darkness (cf. Exodus 20:18).

AND MOSES ALONE SHALL COME NEAR UNTO THE ETERNAL. In the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra this too is a case where a proper name is used instead of a pronoun, for after the expression, Come up unto the Eternal, it should have said, “and you alone shall come near,” but such is the Scriptural style, as I have mentioned. Similarly: And the Eternal caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Eternal, which means “from Him;” And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, which means “his father-in-law.” Also: And the Eternal sent Jerubaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and similarly: Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes… unto King Solomon. The correct interpretation here appears to me to be that this commandment was addressed also to Aaron, and he too heard the Voice of G-d saying to Moses, Come up unto the Eternal, thou, and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And if so, it was necessary that the name of the one who was to draw near [i.e., Moses] be expressly mentioned, for it was he alone who was to come near [and not Aaron]. And even if [we were to explain that when G-d said, Come up unto the Eternal etc.] He spoke to Moses directly [and Aaron did not hear it], it would still be necessary to explain that “you Moses alone shall come near unto the Eternal,” and the mere pronoun “thou” would not have sufficed. Therefore He said, And Moses alone shall come near; but they shall not come near. This is the reason for the word l’vado (alone), to exclude Aaron who had been included previously with Moses as far as the commandment [to “come up”].

"And Moses alone shall draw near" — Do not be troubled by the fact that it first says "go up to Hashem" and then says "Moses alone shall draw near," nor by the fact that Scripture does not say "and you shall draw near" [addressing Moses directly]. Such is the way of the language. Similarly: "And Hashem rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Hashem, from heaven" (Gen. 19:24) — the meaning is "from Him"; and Samuel said, "And Hashem sent Jerubaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel" (I Sam. 12:11), and did not say "and me" — and there are many such instances.

ונגש משה לבדו, “only Moses, alone, is to approach close to Hashem.” Ibn Ezra comments that actually the Torah should have addressed Moses in direct speech, i.e. ונגשת אתה לבדך, “you are to approach alone.” However, the pattern of the Holy Scriptures is to frequently use indirect speech when we nowadays would use direct speech. G’d even refers to Himself in the third person, as in Genesis 19,24 וה' המטיר על סדום ועמורה גפרית ואש, מאת ה' מן השמים, “The Lord made it rain on Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire, from the Lord from heaven.” The Torah does not quote G’d saying: “מאתי,” emanating from Me. Nachmanides writes that G’d’s comments in this case were also addressed to Aaron, who was to hear that G’d wanted only Moses to ascend the Mountain. On a previous occasion Aaron had also heard G’d say that both Moses and he were “to ascend to Me on the Mountain, but that he and the elders were to prostrate themselves from afar. (verse 1).” Seeing that on one occasion Moses was accompanied by his dignitaries, the Torah had to spell out that at some point only Moses could proceed beyond that threshold. Having eliminated the elders by the words ונגש משה, the word לבדו was needed to make plain that also Aaron was prohibited from advancing toward the Mountain any more closely.

And Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Hashem and all the ordinances; and all the people responded with one voice and said: All the words that Hashem has spoken we will do.

ויבא משה ויספר לעם AND MOSES CAME AND RELATED TO THE PEOPLE — on that same day (the 4th of Sivan). את כל דברי ה׳ ALL THE WORDS OF THE LORD — the commands concerning their keeping apart from women and the setting of bounds at Mount Sinai. ואת כל המשפטים AND ALL THE JUDGMENTS which had been ordained before the Sinaitic legislation: the seven commands given to the “Sons of Noah” (the non-Israelite world), the law of the Sabbath, of filial respect, of the “red heifer” and regarding the administration of justice, all of which had been given to them already in Marah (cf. Sanhedrin 56b).

AND MOSES CAME AND TOLD THE PEOPLE ALL THE WORDS OF THE ETERNAL. At the time that this whole commandment mentioned here was given, Moses was at the place where he drew near unto the thick darkness where G-d was, and now he came to that “far off” place where the people had been at the time of the Revelation, and told them all that he had been commanded [i.e., beginning with Ye yourselves have seen — above 20:19 — up to the end of all the commandments and ordinances, 23:33], and they listened to his voice. Scripture does not say here: “and he came down from the mountain,” for they were all then at the lower part of the mountain, and not at the top where the Glory of G-d was; [the difference] was only that Moses was near the place of the thick darkness, whilst the people stood from afar at the time of the giving of the commandments, as I have explained. When Moses left his place and began coming towards the people, all the heads of their tribes and their elders came up to the place where the priests that come near to the Eternal stood, and said to him, Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us; Go thou near, and hear etc., for they thought that the Revered G-d Himself would tell them all the commandments of the Torah just as He had told them the Ten Commandments. Then Moses came together with the heads of the tribes and the elders to the place where the people were standing and told all of them all the words of G-d, and they said, “We will do all that He has commanded us in the Ten Commandments, and we will hearken to your voice in everything that you have commanded, or will command in His Name, exalted be He.” When Moses went back afterwards to the edge of the mountain with the elders, as G-d had commanded him, then G-d said to him again, Come up to Me into the mountain, and be there. It was at that time that He informed him, I have heard the voice of the words of the people, which they have spoken unto thee; they have well said all that they have spoken, and He commanded him: Go say to them: Return ye to your tents. But as for thee, stand thou here by Me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which thou shalt teach them. It is with reference to this that He said here, And I will give thee the Tablets of stone, and the law and the commandment, meaning, that to you alone I will give the law and the commandments which you will teach them, and they will keep them as they have undertaken to do.

"And Moses came" — Scripture does not mention his descending from the mountain, for there is no need. The meaning of "Moses came" is that he entered the camp of Israel, and related to the people all the words of Hashem — the positive commandments and the prohibitions that are written from "You yourselves have seen that from heaven I spoke with you" (above, 20:19) through the end of "for it will be a snare to you" (above, 23:33). "And all the ordinances" — those that He placed before them, which are enumerated in this section. "And all the people answered" — as though they were a single man.

'ויבא משה ויספר לעם את כל דברי ה, the matters Moses told the people were those reported in the Torah between 20,8 and the beginning of chapter 21.

ויבא משה, “Moses arrived, etc;” in the camp of the Israelites, after descending from the Mountain. He proceeded to tell the people all that G-d had told him, commencing with the words: (19,4) אתם ראיתם up to this verse.” There follows: (24,4) וישכם בבקר until ויאכלו וישתו, “they ate and they drank” (verse 11) something that occurred on the fifth day of Sivan as I have explained on the relevant verse in Parshat Yitro. (19,15)

ויבא משה ויספר לעם את כל דברי ה', “Moses came (back) and told the people all the words of the Lord.” This is a reference to the commandment to separate from their wives in anticipation of G’d’s revelation, as well as the instruction to fence off the mountain. When our verse mentions ואת כל המשפטים the reference is not to all the social legislation which has been in the preceding pages of Parshat Mishpatim. We have already proven that this chapter deals with matters which occurred prior to Matan Torah. The expression המשפטים in our verse refers to the legislation introduced at Marah (i.e. laws about the red heifer, rules about litigation and parts of the Sabbath legislation 15,25).

All that God has spoken, we will do. They did not immediately say we will do and we will hear. It can be explained according to the scholars of Spain who explained that this entire passage occurred after receiving the Ten Commandments. If so, it was proper for them to say we will do first, because they thought that God would not command them more than these Ten Commandments. However, afterward, when they saw that Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and sprinkled half of the blood on the altar, then it occurred to them: Where will the second half go? Surely the intention is that now He has given us only half of the Torah and commandments, and He will add more commandments, and at that time He will sprinkle the second half on the altar. Therefore, they said, All that God has spoken, we will do and we will hear. And Moses understood their thoughts and said, “You are mistaken, because the division of the blood is in order to sprinkle the second half on the people, to say that through receiving the Torah, they will be united in love and affection with the Holy One, blessed be He.” And even according to Rashi, who explained that this passage was before the Ten Commandments, we can say that at the first time they heard the seven Noahide laws, and Sabbath, and civil laws, and honoring father and mother, and the red heifer, as Rashi explained, and in the way that has been explained.

And Moses wrote down all the words of Hashem, and rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

ויכתב משה AND MOSES WROTE [ALL THE WORDS OF THE LORD] — from בראשית up to (but not including) the account of the Giving of the Torah and he wrote down the commandments that were given to them in Marah (cf. Mekhilta on Exodus 19:10). וישכם בבקר AND ROSE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING — on the fifth of Sivan (cf. Rashi on Exodus 19:11) (Shabbat 88a).

"And Moses wrote" — After he had related to them all the words of Hashem — the commandments and the ordinances — he wrote them; and this is the Book of the Covenant. "And he built an altar beneath the mountain" — at the place where Israel stood at the time of the giving of the Torah. The word "and he built" serves on behalf of another verb, as though Scripture had written: "and twelve pillars he built."

ושתים עשרה מצבה, “and 12 stone pillars;” this refers to G-d’s commandment to mark off the area at the bottom of Mount Sinai beyond which none of the people were allowed to approach. (19,12) 3 pillars in the east for the three tribes encamped there, three pillars in the south, the west and the north, as they were encamped also while in the desert. Some commentators say that Moses placed 12 stone pillars on the east on the altar as a symbol that all twelve tribes were completely content with maintaining the covenant with Hashem. We find a parallel to this in what the prophet Elijah did on Mount Carmel: ויקחו שתים עשרה אבנים למספר בני ישראל, “they took twelve stones to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Kings I 18,31.)

ויכתב משה את כל דברי ה', “Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.” This refers to the conditions spelled out in 19,5: “it will be if you listen to My voice, etc.” וישכם בבוקר ויבן מזבח תחת ההר, “he arose early in the morning and erected an altar beneath the mountain.” This occurred on the fifth day of Sivan. כל הדברים אשר דבר ה' נעשה, “all the words the Lord has said we shall do.” Rabbeinu Chananel writes that the word נעשה includes the positive and the negative commandments. The reason for this is simple. Anyone who deliberately refrains from violating a negative commandment thereby performs a positive commandment. There is an explicit verse in Psalms 119,3 making precisely this point. The psalmist says: “they have done no wrong but have followed His ways.”

FOR THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. As a witness, that all of them were satisfied with the establishment of the covenant.

And he sent the firstborn of the children of Israel, and they offered up burnt offerings, and brought near holy offerings before Hashem — oxen.

את נערי THE LADS — the first-born sons (Zevachim 115b; Onkelos).

AND HE SENT ‘NA’AREI’ (THE YOUNG MEN OF) THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. These were the firstborns, as Onkelos rendered it, for it was they who used to offer the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings. But I do not know why Scripture designates the firstborns by the term na’arei (the young men)? Perhaps it is because Scripture mentioned the elders who are the nobles of the children of Israel, therefore it called the firstborns ne’arim (young men), for in relation to the elders they were young. It thus indicates that Moses sent them to offer the sacrifices not because of their status in wisdom, for they were not yet advanced in age, but only an account of the birthright, through which they were set aside to offer sacrifices. In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, the young men of the children of Israel were the youth of Israel who had not tasted of sin, and had never come near a woman, for they were the most select and holy of the people, in a similar manner to that which the Rabbis have said: “The young men of Israel who have not tasted of sin are destined to give forth a fragrance like the Lebanon etc.” OXEN UNTO THE ETERNAL. The reason they brought oxen is that as long as Israel was in the wilderness they feared the attribute of justice, this being indeed the source of their mistake at the incident of the golden calf — as I will mention there. And so they now offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed peace-offerings all of oxen, for a similar reason to that of the bullock brought by the anointed priest [for a sin-offering], and the bullock which the court brings for an erroneous decision [which contradicts in part what the Torah enjoins], and the bullock for idolatry, as well as the Red Heifer.

"And he sent the young men" — these are the chosen ones, sons of the chosen elders, the same who were to ascend with Moses. "And they offered burnt-offerings" — this fulfills "and you shall offer upon it" (above, 20:21). Scripture mentions oxen together with the peace-offerings because the number of those eating was great.

נערי בני ישראל, “young men of the Children of Israel.” They were young lads on the threshold of becoming of age when they would be eligible to observe the commandments. According to a different view, these were all firstborns of their respective families. ויעלו עולות, “they presented burntofferings.” They meant to fulfill what G-d had told Moses at the burning bush that the Israelites would in due course worship him at that Mountain. (Exodus 3,12)

וישלח את נערי בני ישראל, “He sent the youths of the Children of Israel, etc.” These were the firstborn. The reason the Torah refers to them as נערי, “youths of,” is that they were ritually pure, ready to perform sacrificial service. They had never committed a sin, had not had sexual intercourse with a woman. This is what our sages said in Berachot 43 when they described that in the future these בחורי ישראל, “young men of the Jewish people,” who had never committed any sin would exude a fragrance like that of the Lebanon. They based this on Hoseah 14,7: “His beauty shall be like the olive tree’s, his fragrance like that of the Lebanon.” With the bringing of this sacrifice the covenant signifying the giving of the Torah was concluded. There were three separate occasions when the Israelites were committed through conclusion of a covenant. One was circumcision; the second was immersion in a ritual bath; the third is the offering of a communal sacrifice. The circumcision occurred prior to the Exodus from Egypt. All of them had first been circumcised as we know from the fact that they could not eat the Passover unless they had been circumcised. We also have a specific verse in Joshua 5,5 stating that all the Israelite males who had departed from Egypt had been circumcised. Immersion in a ritual bath was part of the process of sanctification commanded by G’d in 19,10. The offering of a communal sacrifice is what is referred to in our verse. When someone wishes to convert to Judaism he must fulfill all these three rituals. This is based on the Torah comparing natural-born Jews to newly converted Jews when it wrote in Numbers 15,15 ככם כגר, “one teaching for you as well as for the proselyte.” The Jewish court is obligated to administer and supervise circumcision and ritual bath of the converts. When the Temple will be rebuilt, each convert will then offer his sacrifice to complete the procedure of his conversion (Maimonides Hilchot Issurey Biah 13,5). Our sages in Yevamot 47 state that prior to circumcision and ritual bath the proselyte receives instruction in some of the laws of the Torah, especially those dealing with the various tithes imposed by the Torah on the Jewish farmer. One also makes such a proselyte familiar with the penalties he incurs for violating laws of the Torah. The reason is that the mixed multitude who joined the Jewish people as converts at the time of the Exodus were the ones who initiated the sin of the golden calf. They were also the cause of the death of 14,000 Israelites on the occasion when the people had demanded meat after expressing their dissatisfaction with the manna diet (Numbers 11,4). The Torah had described the instigators of that affair as האספסוף, ‘the collection of rabble.” The Talmud Yevamot 43 adds that the absorption of proselytes is a very difficult task for Israel, as difficult to stomach as ספחת, psoriasis, as we know from Isaiah 14,1 ונספחו על בית ישראל, “and strangers shall join them and cleave to the House of Yaakov.” The reason that these proselytes are so hard to absorb is that their inexperience with Jewish laws and customs produces the result that Jews learn from their customs instead of vice versa. Another interpretation of why the Talmud says that one informs the prospective converts of some of the penalties which are in store for people who deliberately violate Torah laws is that they should not be able to say at a later point that had they been aware of these penalties they would never have converted. If this were to happen then the conversion would retroactively turn out to have been based on the wrong premise. It is therefore incumbent upon us to ensure that when someone converts he does so wholeheartedly, aware of what obligations he takes upon himself. When the Talmud speaks of the proselytes being קשים לישראל, we must not understand this as a slight aimed at the proselytes, rather it is a rebuke to the Israelites. The fact hat G’d will look at the tremendous challenge that these converts took upon themselves when joining Judaism, leaving their families, their homeland, etc., this is compared to natural born Israelites who did not have to undergo such difficulties and still do not serve the Lord their G’d wholeheartedly. We find this approach confirmed by Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish who is quoted in Tanchuma Lech Lecha 6 as saying that the converts at this time are morally/ethically on a higher plane than the natural born Israelites. The latter had witnessed the revelation at Mount Sinai and all the miracles which this entailed. The converts had not witnessed anything in the nature of miracles and still they had come to place themselves under the protection of G’d Almighty although it involved great initial hardship for them. זבחים שלמים לה' פרים, “as feast peace-offerings for Hashem, bulls.” As long as the Israelites were in the desert they always experienced some fear of the attribute of Justice seeing they found themselves in a part of the earth which was desolate, reflected destruction of nature, etc. This is why they slaughtered bulls as their offerings [the standard sin-offering of High Priests, or the communal sin-offering for the whole people when the occasion demanded it. Ed.].

את נערי בני ישראל, “the youths of the Children of Israel.” What are meant are the firstborn sons of the respective families. Nachmanides writes: “I do not know why the Torah calls these firstborns נערים, “youths?” Perhaps the reason is that in the previous verses the Torah had specifically mentioned the זקנים, the elders, the ones who had also been characterized as the אצילי בני ישראל, “the great men of Israel,” the ones blessed with a measure of holy spirit. The Torah may have hinted that attainment of spiritual maturity was not something reserved for people who were born as firstborns, even though those were the ones to whom the functions of the priesthood were entrusted. Seeing that they were the ones, he distinguished them as separate from the multitude. According to the plain meaning of the text the reference is to the young men who were still free from sin, had not slept with any woman, so that they were considered the elite of the people.

את נערי בני ישראל, the firstborns of each family.

And Moses took half the blood and placed it in basins, and half the blood he dashed against the altar.

ויקח משה חצי הדם AND MOSES TOOK THE HALF OF THE BLOOD — Who divided it into halves? An angel came down and divided it (Leviticus Rabbah 6:5). באגנת IN BASONS — There were two basons, one for holding the half of the blood of the burnt offering and the other for holding the half of the blood of the peace offerings, in order to sprinkle it (both bloods) on the people. From here have our Rabbis inferred (Keritot 9a) that our ancestors entered into the covenant with God by means of circumcision, immersion and sprinkling of blood — and although immersion is not mentioned in this paragraph it must have taken place, for no sprinkling is effective without immersion preceding it (cf. Tosafot Yevamot 46b ד"ה דאין הזאה בלא טבילה).

AND MOSES TOOK HALF OF THE BLOOD AND HE PLACED IT ‘BA’AGANOTH.’ These are vessels made unlike the shape of the regular basins of the altar. Hence Scripture states that half of the blood of the sacrifices which Moses intended to sprinkle on the people, he put into these vessels, and the other half he sprinkled upon the altar from the regular basins in which he had received the blood, as is the customary way with all offerings. But Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that ba’aganoth served for both halves, [and thus the word signifies the regular basins of the altar]. Such is also the opinion of Onkelos, who translated ba’aganoth as b’mizr’kaya [a term referring to the regular basins].

"And Moses took half of the blood" — from the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings. The word "agganot" refers to round vessels, as in "the bowl of the moon" (Song 7); and in Arabic the word is "aggan." Half the blood of the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings he dashed against the altar for Hashem's sake. And "agganot" here serves a double function: it indicates that he placed one half in the basins, and the remaining half likewise in basins [before the dashing].

וחצי הדם זרק על המזבח, he converted the altar into being G’d’s intermediary, messenger; for the concluding of the covenant. Half the blood was sprinkled on the altar, the other half on the people.

וישם באגנות, “he placed it in basins.” Rashi explains that we learn from this verse that it requires three steps to convert to Judaism fully: circumcision, immersion in a ritual bath, and the sprinkling of blood. And when the Talmud in tractate Yevamot folio 46 stated that our forefathers were circumcised but did not immerse themselves in a ritual bath, we must say that this refers to our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov. [How could they have done so since the Torah had not been given in their time as yet? Ed.] זרק על המזבח, “he sprinkled on the altar.” He did so before reading out the declaration for the people to recite after him. After having read out the declaration he sprinkled the other half of the sacrificial blood on the people.

וישם באגנות, “he put it in the basins.” These vessels were made in a manner that did not resemble the ones that were part of the regular Temple service, or the regular appurtenances of the altar. The reason for this was that Moses intended to sprinkle half of the animal’s blood on to the people who would become active participants of the covenant through this. The other half of the blood Moses sprinkled on to the altar According to Ibn Ezra the basins, אגנות, were used by Moses both to sprinkle blood on the people and on the altar.

And he took the Book of the Covenant and read it before the people; and they said: All that Hashem has spoken we will do and we will obey.

ספר הברית THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT — the book which we have said contained the part of the Torah from בראשית till the “Giving of the Torah” including the Commandments that were given to them at Marah (Mekhilta; cf. Rashi on v. 4).

"And he took" — After he read [the Book of the Covenant] in the hearing of the elders and they accepted it upon themselves, he then took the remaining half of the blood and dashed it upon the people — that is, upon the elders — for they represent all Israel, as it is written concerning the bull for the unintentional communal sin: "and the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands" (Lev. 4:15), since they stand in place of all Israel. This dashing is analogous to "and he sprinkled upon Aaron and upon his garments" (Lev. 8:30). And he called it "the blood of the covenant."

ספר הברית. The book in which G’d’s words had been recorded as well as the laws concerning which the covenant was concluded. Reference has to be made to this book in verse four of our chapter. ויקרא באזני העם, Moses read out the contents so that the people would know what they had committed themselves to. Only by knowing the contents would they be prevented from violating the commandments inadvertently. נעשה ונשמע, a reference to action designed to ensure that they could obey G’d’s directives without thought of any reward that might be in store for them by doing this. We find a similar construction in Psalms 103,20 עושי דברו לשמוע בקולו, “who do His bidding, ever obedient to His bidding.”

ויקח ספר הברית, “He took hold of the Book of the Covenant;” It is well known that the Torah was not written in chronological sequential order. The Mechilta of Rabbi Yishmael, on the 19th chapter of the Book of Exodus, has proven this beyond any question. Among other proofs the author has cited is Leviticus 25,2, where the Torah wrote: ושבתה הארץ, that the soil of the land of Israel is to observe a year of lying fallow, (immediately after the Israelites entering that land) and the Torah proceeds to lists the laws pertaining to the sh’mittah cycles followed by the Jubilee cycles, concluding with 26,46: “these are the statutes and social laws that G-d has given as applying to the Jewish people all of which He had revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai.” The Jewish people heard and accepted all the laws including the blessings and curses applying to those who observed them and those who would disobey them, after which Moses took the remainder of the blood and sprinkled it upon them, as the seal of the covenant. He told the people to listen to detailed instructions of these laws starting on the day following. [In other words, the Jews had already bound themselves to be obedient to the Torah’s laws even though they had not yet been written down. There is considerable discussion about the term ספר הברית, here whether what was already written in there at the time Moses read from it was subsequently written in the Torah out of context or not. According to our author’s interpretation of the Mechilta when the Israelites said their famous: נעשה ונשמע generally understood as their giving G-d a blank cheque, this was not so, they simply expressed the wish to learn the details of what Moses had already read out to them. Ed.]

ספר הברית, the book mentioned in verse four where Moses is reported as recording in writing. נעשה ונשמע, “we will carry out what G’d has said already, and we are also prepared to listen (obey) to what He will command from here on in.

And Moses took the blood and dashed it upon the altar to make atonement for the people, and said: Behold, this is the blood of the covenant that Hashem has made with you concerning all these words.

ויזרק means sprinkling — he sprinkled it on the people (not he threw it against the people, as this word might imply; cf. e. g., Exodus 9:8: וזרקו משה השמימה). The Targum, however, renders it by: and he poured it (the blood) upon the altar as atonement for (על) the people, adding the words “upon the altar”, and taking על העם to denote “on behalf of the people”, i. e. he poured it out to atone for the people.

הנה דם הברית, “here is the blood, the symbol of the covenant;”The blood of the covenant is divided into two halves, as always when a covenant is made between two parties. We know this already from the first covenant made between G-d and Avraham in Genesis chapter 15, when Avraham divided all the slaughtered animals except for the bird.[Nowadays when two parties conclude an agreement each receives a copy of the text, and each signs both copies. Ed.] The prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 34,18, refers to העגל אשר כרתו לשנים ויעברו בין בתריו, “the calf which they cut in two so as to pass between the halves.” The reason why in Genesis15,17, G-d is not described as passing between the pieces Avraham had cut, was His way of indicating to Avraham that there would be a price to pay in blood for violating this covenant. This idea has also been referred to again in Leviticus 26,25 in the tochachah, the chapter of dire warnings, where G-d describes His reaction to when the Jewish people become guilty of violating this covenant.

ויקח משה את הדם ויזרוק על העם, “Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people.” He sprinkled the blood on them in order to enable them to enter the covenant with G’d by means of blood. The bloodstain which remained on each of their garments was called עדי, “jewel, ornament,” as this stain was a sign of distinction and honour for them. It served as testimony that they had entered into a covenant with the Lord. This is the reason why after they had sinned at the golden calf, i.e. had violated that covenant, G’d told Moses to tell the people to remove עדיך, “your jewelry.” G’d meant that the people were to take off the garments with that bloodstain which so far had served them as jewelry. When we read in 33,6: “the Children of Israel were stripped of their jewelry,” this means that they divested themselves of the garments they had worn at the time of the revelation. Why did G’d employ blood as the instrument by means of which He made the covenant with the people? it was a hint that as long as the Israelites were to be loyal to the covenant and they would observe the commandments all well and good; if they were to fail to do so G’d would permit their blood to their adversaries. This is the view of Rabbeinu Chananel Rashi writes in a similar vein saying that Moses sprinkled part of the blood on the clothing of the Israelites as a sign of distinction similar to when he had been told to sprinkle blood on Aaron, his garments, and Aaron’s sons and their garments at the time they were being consecrated as priests (Exodus 29,21). Onkelos appears to understand the words על העם, which he translates as על מדבחא לכפרא על עמא, “on the altar as atonement for the people,” as meaning that the word על does not mean “on” but “on behalf of.” There is also a commentator who understands the word על figuratively, i.e. “in the direction of.” The blood fell short of them, did not stain their garments. A similar meaning of the word על would be found in Genesis 1,20: ועוף יעופף על הארץ על פני רקיע השמים, “and fowl that fly over the earth towards the expanse of the heaven.”

ויזרוק על העם, “he sprinkled on the people.” Some commentators understand the word על here to mean בעד, “on behalf of.” We have a parallel to this in Numbers 17,12 ויכפר על העם “Aaron atoned on behalf of the people.”

And Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel ascended.

"And they went up" — Scripture does not mention the mountain, for there is no need.

ויעל משה ואהרן, after he had carried out the tasks entrusted to him by G’d. telling the people what he had been told to in 20,18. Now he carried out the instructions recorded in verse 1 of our chapter.

And they beheld the Glory of the God of Israel; and beneath the throne of His Glory was like the work of a precious stone, and like the appearance of the heavens in their clarity.

ויראו את אלהי ישראל NOW THEY SAW THE GOD OF ISRAEL — They gazed intently and failing in this they peeped in their attempt to catch a glimpse of the Supreme Being, and thereby made themselves liable to death. But it was only because God did not wish to disturb the joy caused by the Giving of the Torah, that He did not punish them instantly, but waited (postponed the punishment) for Nadab and Abihu until the day when the Tabernacle was dedicated, when they were stricken with death, and for the elders until the event of which the text relates, (Numbers 11:16) “And when the people complained …. and the fire of the Lord burned among them and destroyed בקצה המחנה” — those who were the קצינים “nobles” of the camp (Midrash Tanchuma, Beha'alotcha 16). כמעשה לבנת הספיר AS IT WERE THE BRICKWORK OF SAPPHIRE — This had been before Him during the period of Egyptian slavery as a symbol of Israel’s woes — for they were subjected to do brick-work (cf. Jerusalem Talmud Succah 6:3; Leviticus Rabbah 23:8). וכעצם השמים לטהר AND AS IT WERE AS THE BODY OF HEAVEN FOR PURITY — This implies that as soon as they (the Israelites) were delivered there was radiance and rejoicing before Him. וכעצם — Translate it as the Targum does: “as the appearance”. לטהר means FOR BRIGHTNESS AND CLEARNESS.

AND THEY SAW THE G-D OF ISRAEL. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained: “They saw Him in a prophetic vision, this being similar to the verse: I saw the Eternal standing beside the altar. — And there was under His feet the like of a paved work of sapphire stone. This is identical with what the prophet Ezekiel saw: as the appearance of a sapphire stone was the likeness of a throne. — And the like of the very heaven for clearness, means that they saw under the paved work of sapphire stone the likeness of the very heaven for clearness, which is identical with the firmament, like the color of the terrible ice, stretched forth over the heads of the living creatures [that Ezekiel saw]. Now here it is written, And they saw the G-d of Israel, and there it is written, This is the living creature that I saw under the G-d of Israel. [In saying that he saw the living creature under the G-d of Israel, the prophet Ezekiel] used a shortened expression, for the living creature was under the firmament which was under the throne, and all this was under the Glorious Name.” [Thus far is Ibn Ezra’s language.]In line with the simple meaning of Scripture the expression the G-d of Israel is used here to indicate that the merit of their father Israel [Jacob] was with them, and it was through his merit that they beheld this vision. And by the way of the Truth, [the mystic doctrine of the Cabala], it is because Scripture mentioned at the Giving of the Torah, and G-d spoke, this being identical with the verse, Behold, the Eternal our G-d hath shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire, therefore Scripture explained here that they saw the G-d of Israel. It does not say as it does in all other places, the Eternal, the G-d of Israel, but mentioned this [the G-d of Israel] in order to say that the seventy elders perceived in this vision more than the rest of the people who saw upon the earth His great fire, because the people saw through a partition of cloud and thick darkness. Onkelos hinted at this, for he translated here, “and they saw the Glory of the G-d of Israel,” but did not render it, “and the Glory of G-d revealed itself to them,” as is his way of translating in other places.

"And they saw" — in a prophetic vision, as in "I saw Hashem sitting upon His throne" (I Kgs. 22:19; II Chr. 18:18). The Gaon [Saadia] said that "sapphire" here is white — that the vision is the whiteness of the sapphire — but sapphire is in fact only red. His proof is that it is the way of the language to double the meaning in different words: thus it is written, "Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, whiter than milk" (Lam. 4:7) — the meaning is doubled; and then "their appearance was redder than rubies, their form like sapphire" (ibid.) — showing that sapphire here equals rubies [in the doubling scheme]. Furthermore, if "livnat ha-sappir" simply denotes whiteness, what would be the point of saying "like the work of" — one would expect it to say "like the appearance of." The correct interpretation is that "livnat" is derived from the root of "levanah" [brick/moon], just as "chashkat mayim" (Ps. 18:12) is derived from the root "chasheikhah" [darkness] (Gen. 15:12). Thus "livnat ha-sappir" means: like a sapphire stone, such as Ezekiel saw in the prophetic visions, which was the likeness of a throne. And the meaning of "like the very heaven for clarity" [refers to what is] beneath the livnat ha-sappir — namely the firmament, which is like the expanse of ice spread over the heads of the living creatures that Ezekiel saw. And it is written here "and they saw the God of Israel," while there Ezekiel writes "this is the living creature I saw beneath the God of Israel" (Ezek. 10:20), for Scripture takes a shortened path: the living creature is beneath the firmament, the firmament is also beneath the throne, and all are beneath Hashem the glorious Name.

ותחת רגליו, on the earth, the lowest point. We have G’d on record as describing “earth” in such terms in Isaiah 66,1 והארץ הדם רגליו, “the earth is My footstool.” כמעשה לבנת ספיר, an essence, totally transparent, devoid of colours and permanent contours so that it is almost completely abstract, capable of absorbing spiritual input from spiritual domains at will. An allegorical description of the human נפש, “life-force.” וכעצם השמים לטוהר, they perceived that this לבנת הספיר, “essence,” is totally independent of the raw material man is made of; just as what we perceive as the essence of heaven in the sky is totally devoid of tangible matter. It is the essence of what we consider the celestial regions, “heaven,” for lack of a better word. It is not connected to the solid physical planets etc., which form the “inhabitants” of these celestial domains. The fact that the “sky,” “heaven,” has no physical dimensions makes it appear as if it is the spiritual dimension of “Heaven” itself.

ויראו את אלוקי ישראל, “they saw a vision of the Lord, G-d of Israel.” This was a prophetic vision. כמעשה לבנת ספיר, “like a brick make of sapphire.” There are two kinds of sapphire, the white kind and the black kind. The “white, (bright)” kind is similar in colour to azureblue; seeing that the majority of people have never seen a sapphire in their lives, the Torah has to describe it by comparing it to a phenomenon familiar to everyone, i.e. a cloudless sky in which the sun shines brightly. We find such a description also in Job 37,21: ורוח עברה ותטהרם, “until the wind comes and clears the sky from the clouds.”Rabbi Akiva is quoted as referring to when Pharaoh forced the Israelites to deliver twice the normal amount of bricks, by thus interpreting the word תוכן in Exodus 5,18. They had refused to continue to supply the Israelites with the straw that served as reinforcement for mud bricks, so that the Israelites had to forage for them in the fields. They gathered straw full of thorns and thistles and the skins of their feet were pierced by that straw, blood streaming from their wounds, and was mixed with the loam. (The raw material of the bricks.) According to this Midrash, the source of which is not known, a descendant of Metushelach, called Rachel in that Midrash, experienced extreme difficulty and pain while about to give birth, her birthstool, מלבן, a rectangular mouldlike contraption, becoming mired in loam and thistles and she being bloodied all over. When the archangel Michael became aware of this result of the barbaric treatment of the Israelites by the decree of Pharaoh, he took a brick, לבנה, same root in Hebrew, and deposited this brick made of sapphire beneath the throne of G-d to remind Him of how His people were being treated. It remained there until the destruction of the Temple due to the people’s sins when G-d or one of His angels flung it back down to earth, as G-d had no further use for such reminders.[I had debated with myself if to translate and explain the author’s insertion of part of this Midrash, but decided in favour, as it illustrates better than prose how our sages view both the angels, and G-d’s reaction to excessive torture of His people, but also excessive disloyalty by His people to their covenant with G-d. Ed.] (In his commentary on our verse by Rabbi Menachem Kasher of sainted memory, in his Torah shleymah, the interested reader can read up on this under the heading #88. (With the help of this Midrash, the line: ותחת רגליו כמעשה לבנת הספיר וכעצם השמים לטוהר, “and underneath His feet the mould of a brick pure as the finest sapphire, like a cloudless pure sky,” becomes more meaningful.)

ויראו את אלו-הי ישראל, “and they ‘saw’ the G’d of Israel, etc.” The Torah refers to the attribute כבוד which we have discussed at length earlier saying that according to Pessikta Zutrata this is another name for what is popularly known as Shechinah. We know that it is impossible to experience a vision of the attribute of Hashem, as Hashem told Moses specifically that His attribute of Hashem cannot be seen by any living human being (Exodus 33,20). This is why Onkelos translates these words as וחזו ית יקר אלהא דישראל. This is the same attribute כבוד which the prophet Ezekiel experienced in a vision in Ezekiel 1,26 as the appearance of a human being above (the other chayot). First he had seen the חיות הקודש, and the אופנים beneath next to the חיות. When he looked again he saw the sky suspended above the heads of the חיות. Then he saw the throne of the Lord above the sky. Above that he saw a likeness resembling that of a human being, still higher above the throne. ותחת רגליו כמעשה לבנת הספיר, “and beneath his feet the likeness of a brick made of sapphire.” According to the plain meaning of the text the meaning of this entire verse is that Moses, Aaron, his sons, as well as the elders now experienced a vision of G’d, the G’d of Israel, seated on His throne above the sky. This was the same sky which had previously been described as an expanse covering the חיות. The words ותחת רגליו refer to what was beneath the throne, i.e. the sky. This corresponds to the translation by Onkelos who writes: כורסא יקיריה כעובד אבן טבא, “a splendid throne just like the work of a gemstone.” The reason that the elders saw something looking like כמעשה לבנת הספיר is that this is the way Ezekiel describes what he saw (1,26). ספיר is a whitish gem-stone according to the opinion of Rav Saadyah Gaon quoted by Ibn Ezra. This is why the Torah writes the word לבנת, i.e. a derivative of לובן, the translucent whiteness of the white in the egg. The remarkable thing the Torah tells us then is that it was a great compliment for these people to behold something which emits its light behind it. However, the opinion of Ibn Ezra is that ספיר is blue. He does not agree that the word לבנת is a derivative of the word לובן, but that we must understand it as similar to Ezekiel 4,1 ואתה קח לך לבנה, “and now take for yourself a brick.” According to Ibn Ezra the elders and Aaron saw instead of an ordinary brick, a brick-like image made of the finest blue sapphire. Whereas in Ezekiel 1,26 Ezekiel had seen אבן ספיר כמראה, something like a sapphire stone, the elders saw an image of something like that. Proof of the fact that this is the correct interpretation is the fact that Ezekiel compared what he saw to אבן ספיר “a sapphire-coloured stone,” clearly not the white of an egg. Proof for Ibn Ezra is the fact that our verse describes the structure of the object as כמעשה, “like the work of,” a description which would not fit something fluid like לובן. According to Ibn Ezra then the meaning of the whole verse is that these people saw the throne of G’d’s glory as a structure made of sapphire-like brick of the utmost clarity and purity and beneath this sapphire-based structure they saw the pure and clear sky. This was the same as the sky seen by Ezekiel in his famous vision which was above the heads of chayot described there as “awesome ice” (Ezekiel 1,22). The sky mentioned here was also beneath the throne, and the throne beneath the G’d of Israel, just as in the vision of Ezekiel, except that the Torah did not bother to write all these details in our verse. The idea that our verse was shorter and more concise is the opinion of Nachmanides who states that above the chayah is the sky (heaven), and above the heaven the throne, and above the throne is the G’d of Israel. The reason that in our verse instead of רקיע the Torah describes the appearance of that phenomenon as like עצם השמים and the chayot are not mentioned at all, may be that the Torah deliberately wanted to conceal these aspects of the vision of these אצילי ישראל, “nobles of Israel” (verse 11), seeing that these additional words were the ones that led to the sin of Israel and the removal of one of the four supports of the Merkavah supporting the Shechinah as a result of their worshipping the golden calf(compare our author’s comment on Exodus 32,4). A Midrashic approach (based on Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 4,3) to the words: “like the structure of a brick made of sapphire.” This image recalled to them the fact that the Israelites’ heavy slave labour in Egypt consisted of their making mud bricks. Seeing such an image in the heavens proved to the people viewing it that when the Israelites suffer persecution by the Gentile nations in the terrestrial world the Shechinah shares their suffering in the celestial spheres. This reflects the statement by Sifra Parshat Behar 9,4 that whenever the Israelites are being enslaved in our world it is as if the oppressor does the same to the Shechinah in the heavenly regions. This explains Exodus 3,3 where G’d said to Moses כי ידעתי את מכאוביו, “for I am intimately familiar with its (Israel’s) pains.” This is why the Jerusalem Talmud in Sukkah had drawn our attention to the fact that the Torah did not write מעשה לבנת ספיר, but כמעשה לבנת ספיר, i.e. not merely an actual brick made out of sapphire but something additional such as the molds and tools required to make such bricks. Thus far the Jerusalem Talmud in Sukkah. The seventy elders of which the Torah speaks here were the overseers of the Israelites in Egypt who had allowed themselves to absorb beatings by the Egyptians rather than enforce harsher conditions imposed after Pharaoh responded cruelly to Moses’ first interview by making brick making harder for the people (5,16). This is why they were rewarded by having this vision of bricks made of sapphire. A scientific approach to the words כמעשה לבנת ספיר: this is a reference to a vision of the original substantive matter in the universe, which exists immediately beneath the throne of G’d (compare Maimonides Moreh Nevuchim section 1 chapter 28). It looked to them like snow. Our sages in Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer 3 ask the rhetorical question: “whence (from what raw material) was the heaven created?” Answer: “from the light of His (G’d’s) garments.” This is what David meant when he said (Psalms 104,2) “You are wrapped in a robe of light. You spread the heavens like a tent cloth.” The earth was created out of the snow beneath the throne of glory. We have proof of this from Job 37,6: “He would command the snow: ‘become earth!’” Onkelos, who translated the words as ”a splendid throne like the work of a gem stone,” understands the words “under His (its) feet” as a reference to the oceans which form the legs of that throne. The words רגליו means “its causes.” We encounter the words רגל in that sense in Ezekiel 1,7 ורגליהם רגל ישרה, or ועמדו רגליו in Zecharyah 14,4. The meaning in these verses is that the raw material emanates from beside it (G’d’s throne) and its proximity is the reason (cause) that it exists and endures. Applied to our verse here, the word כמעשה, means that just as in the instances mentioned by Ezekiel and Zecharyah, these prophets were granted insights, these אצילי בני ישראל were granted these insights by means of the visions they experienced at this time. The word לבנת is a reference to the white of the egg which was beneath the throne of G’d and formed the original raw material from which earth was constructed. The reason the Torah did not write כלבנת ספיר but כמעשה לבנת ספיר, was to warn us that raw material is something passive, subject to outside influences, but unable to exert its own influences. It may have one colour one day and another colour on a different day depending on external stimuli. A ספיר is not white. If it were white it could not then have become all kinds of colours. Similarly, a raw material does not have a specific shape or form. This is why potentially it can assume any shape or form. This is the opinion of Maimonides in chapter 26 of the second part of his Moreh Nevuchim. I have copied his words. [a perusal of that chapter will reveal that Maimonides understands Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer as distinguishing two basic raw materials, one “beneath the throne,” i.e. materials used to create what is in the terrestrial universe, and the other “materials” used for the creation of the celestial universe. Maimonides came to this conclusion in order for the wording of Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer not to mislead us into thinking that he thought that the raw material preceded G’d the Creator. Ed.] A kabbalistic approach on the words כמעשה לבנת הספיר. It is well known in the circles of the scholars dealing with celestial beings that the throne of G’d is based on three foundations: they are; אש, רוח, מים, “fire, wind, and water.” These three materials are emanated from three attributes of G’d חסד, דין, רחמים. They have three different colours, i.e. white, red, blue. Remember that the word לבנת in our verse refers to the colour “white.” The word ספיר alludes to the colour “red.” The word שמים in the expression כעצם השמים לטוהר refers to the colour “blue.” This is why Onkelos translated as he did. His translation reflects what our sages said in Sotah 17: “the blue of the ציצית is similar to the blue colour of the ocean; the blue colour of the ocean is similar to the blue of the sky. The blue of the sky is similar to the colour of the throne of G’d.” It is important that you understand how Onkelos’ translation reflects the fact that there were actually two thrones, one underneath the other, and that the words תחת רגליו כמעשה לבנת ספיר refer to the lower of the thrones which is described here as “beneath its feet,” i.e. beneath the feet of the higher throne. The lower throne appeared to these nobles of The Children of Israel as מעשה לבנת ספיר. (The concept of the two thrones appears already in Chagigah 14) It is a fact that there are two thrones. This is why our verse wanted to make clear to you that beneath the upper throne there is a lower throne to which the description of the vision seen by the nobles of the Children of Israel became privy as a result of their vision. The three foundations of G’d’s throne which we mentioned earlier are actually six and this is the mystical dimension of the verse in the Book of Kings dealing with details of Solomon’s throne (Kings I, 10,19). We read שש מעלות לכסא, “six steps were leading up to the throne.” The reason for this was that Solomon in his wisdom wanted to include in the construction of his own throne the מעלות, “advantages or virtues” of both the thrones in the celestial regions concerning which it has been written in Psalms 122,5: “for there the throne of judgment stood, thrones of the house of David.” This is the meaning of Chronicles I 29,23: “Solomon sat on the ‘throne of the Lord.’” This description applies to times when Israel enjoyed G’d’s goodwill. On the other hand, in times of Divine anger at Israel, the applicable verse is Daniel 7,9: עד די כרסון רמיו, “I watched until thrones were set in place and the Ancient of Days took His seat.... His throne was tongues of flame, etc.” There are some other commentators who explain the words כמעשה לבנת הספיר as describing the achievement of the nobles who could view the interior of the white sapphire, i.e. behold what is hidden from normal eyes inside it. Normally, this gem reveals only what is on its outside, preserving the mystery of its essence. All that becomes visible is a reflection of its inner essence. Its essence itself is not understood even by the beholder of its reflection. This would be similar to what G’d said to Moses in Exodus 6,3 וארא אל אברהם .....באל שדי, “I appeared to Avraham...as the G’d Shaddai.” He added: “but My name Hashem, i.e. My essence, I did not acquaint them (the patriarchs) with.” This is why our verse actually describes the vision of the nobles in the form of a parable which is designed to make us understand the נמשל, the moral lesson of the fable. Proof that we are speaking about a parable, “fable,” is the letter כ before the word מעשה which describes an approximation of the insight these people achieved at that time. Whenever prophets achieve insights, when the Israelites achieved insights at Mount Sinai, something the Torah described as פנים בפנים, “face to face” in Deut. 5,4, the reference is to “a spiritual force within another spiritual force.” The recipient of that revelation was granted to enter an interior chamber of a hidden mystical domain without penetrating to its core. In order to illustrate this the Torah wrote the word כמעשה to describe a process similar to the viewing of the luster of the sapphire without seeing its true interior.

ויראו את א-לוהי ישראל, “they experienced a vision of the G’d of Israel.” Ibn Ezra explains that the word ויראו here describes a prophetic vision, not perception with their physical eyes. This vision would be similar to that seen by the prophet Ezekiel when he described the appearance of G’d’s throne. (Ezekiel 1,26) He described it as made of אבן ספיר, whereas here the Israelites due to their familiarity with bricks, described it as לבנת ספיר, as a brick made of sapphire. In verse 28 in that chapter in Ezekiel, the prophet spells out that what he saw was not the actual throne but a דמות, an image of such a throne. Nachmanides writes that according to the plain meaning of the text the words א-לוהי ישראל mean that the merit of the patriarch Israel was the catalyst that enabled them to be granted such a vision.

ויראו את אלו-הי ישראל, just as the Torah described “G’d’s “back” becoming visible to Moses in Exodus 33,23 so the meaning of the elders “seeing” means that the manifestations of G’d’s attributes they had experienced made Him as real to them as if they had seen Him with their physical eyes. לבנת, the whiteness of וכעצם, the appearance. The construction is similar to Lamentations 4,7 אדמו עצם מפנינים, “their bodies were like sapphires.” לטהר, as when the sky is clear without clouds.

And upon the nobles of the children of Israel there was no harm; and they beheld the Glory of Hashem, and they rejoiced in their offerings, which had been accepted with favor — as if they were eating and drinking.

ואל אצילי AND UPON THE NOBLES — these were Nadab and Abihu and the elders — לא שלח ידו HE LAID NOT HIS HAND — This implies that they well deserved that God should stretch forth His hand against them (Midrash Tanchuma, Beha'alotcha 16). ויחזו את האלהים AND THEY BEHELD GOD [AND DID EAT AND DRINK] — They gazed at him intimately as though their association with Him were a matter of eating and drinking. Thus does the Midrash Tanchuma, Beha'alotcha 16 explain it. Onkelos, however, does not translate the passage this way (i. e. he does not take it in a depreciative sense that Nadab and Abihu and the elders acted improperly. His translation is: they beheld God’s Glory and rejoiced in their offerings which were accepted as though they were eating and drinking). — אצילי means “the great men”, as, (Isaiah 41:9) “I called thee from the chief men (אציליה) thereof”; (Numbers 11:17) “And he increased (ויאצל) some of the spirit” (cf. Rashi on Numbers 11:17 and Onkelos on 11:25); (Ezekiel 41:8) “six cubits in its size (largeness) (אצילה)”.

AND TO ‘ATZILEI’ (THE NOBLES OF) THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. These are Nadab, and Abihu, and the elders mentioned above. They are called atzilim [of the root atzal, to emanate] because the spirit of G-d emanated upon them. Similarly, I have called thee ‘mei’atzilehah’ — from those upon whom His spirit has emanated, or the great people upon whom honor has descended from royalty. The meaning of the expression He laid not His hand, is that since He had said, But let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Eternal, lest He break forth upon them, therefore He let it be known here that they had been careful to observe that command and that He did not break forth upon them, and that the nobles of the children of Israel were worthy of that which they saw in this vision; thus the meaning of the verse is that they beheld G-d but they did not break through to come up unto the Eternal. And they did eat and drink. This means that they ate there the peace-offerings at the lower part of the mountain before G-d previous to their returning to their tents, for peace-offerings have to be eaten within an enclosure; in Jerusalem they were eaten within the wall of the city, in Shiloh they could be eaten within sight of Shiloh, and here they were eaten before the altar at the lower part of the mountain, and not in the camp. The meaning of the expression and they drank, is that they made it an occasion for rejoicing and festival, for such is one’s duty to rejoice at the receiving of the Torah, just as He commanded when they finished writing all the words of the Torah upon the stones, And thou shalt sacrifice peace-offerings, and shalt eat there; and thou shalt rejoice before the Eternal thy G-d. And with reference to Solomon it is written, Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee etc., and immediately after that, he came to Jerusalem… and made a feast for all his servants. “Said Rabbi Eleazar: From here you learn that we make a feast at the finishing of the Torah.” With reference to David, Solomon’s father, it is likewise said that when the people gave of their free-will towards the building of the Sanctuary, And they offered sacrifices unto the Eternal, and offered burnt-offerings unto the Eternal etc., and they did eat and drink before the Eternal on that day with great gladness. Similarly, here too on the day of the “wedding” of the Torah, they did likewise.

"And upon the nobles" — like "and from its nobles" (Isa. 41:9). Scripture does not say "elders" so as to include Nadab and Abihu among them. "He did not send His hand" — for they beheld the glorious Name and did not die, as I will explain at the verse "for no man can see Me and live" (below, 33:20). "And they ate and drank" — meaning: they descended from the mountain in joy; they ate of the peace-offering sacrifices that their young men had offered; and they drank in rejoicing. R. Yehudah ha-Levi said that the meaning of "and they ate" is that they were required to eat — even though they had derived benefit from the radiance of the Divine Presence — and that Scripture mentions this in light of Moses, who lived forty days and forty nights without eating, as is written in the section that follows.

ואל אצילי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו, G’d, did not extend His helping hand to enable these nobles and elders to grant them the level of prophetic status while they were oblivious to their five senses with which they perceived while merely human beings. We encounter such a concept in Ezekiel 8,1 when the prophet describes an inspiration received with the words: ותפול עלי יד ה', “and the “hand” of G’d “fell” upon me there.” The use of this phraseology describes the separation of the “normal” senses used for perception employed by the prophet, and his transformation into a super terrestrial dimension. [It is probably impossible to really “translate” this line into the vernacular in any language. The main point our author makes, as opposed to other commentators, is that this “hand of G’d” is not perceived by him as one that is retributive in character, but, on the contrary, as one that elevates the human being to a spiritually higher dimension.” In our context the Torah says that the “visions” achieved by these אצילי בני ישראל, were not further helped along by G’d. Ed.] Examples of people who divest themselves of human senses, or human garb, (a simile for their senses?) are King Saul in Samuel I 19,24 “then he too stripped off his clothes and he too spoke in ecstasy before Samuel, and he lay naked all day and night. This is why people say: “Is Saul too among the prophets?” ויחזו את האלוקים, they achieved a vision of their concept of G’d similar to a prophetic vision. ויאכלו וישתו, afterwards they made a festive meal which they consumed without their normal senses having been in any way transformed or temporarily become neutralised. They prepared this festive meal congratulating themselves on a higher spiritual dimension which they felt they had achieved.

ואל אצילי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו, And G'd did not lay a hand on the nobles of the children of Israel; Why did the Torah have to make mention of ואל אצילי בני ישראל? If the Torah had merely written: "He did not lay a hand on them," I would have known already that the subject of the verse are the elders who were mentioned in the previous verse. Perhaps the Torah wanted us to know that the reason why G'd did not lay a hand on these people at that time was that they were "the nobles of the children of Israel." Alternatively, G'd did not want to spoil the prevailing spiritual high and joy of the people by killing so many of their leaders at that time and causing them to be mourned (compare Bamidbar Rabbah 15). לא שלח ידו…ויאכלו, He did not lay a hand;…they ate, etc. Why did the Torah mention once more ויחזו and was not content with the words ויראו? Our sages in Vayikra Rabbah 20,10 claim that these people feasted by means of their vision of G'd, ויחזו. Their very visual experience provided the kind of satisfaction for them that ordinary people under normal circumstances experience as the result of consuming food and drink. This still does not provide an adequate explanation for the fact that the verse reports what G'd did not do as a consequence of an activity by these people which had not even been described. The Torah should have mentioned the eating and drinking before mentioning G'd's reaction or apparent lack of reaction, i.e. His patience in deferring punishment. At any rate, the word ויחזו is quite superfluous even after the explanation of the Midrash. Perhaps we must understand the Torah's intention by referring to Exodus 33,23 where G'd speaks about removing his "palm" in order for Moses to see His "back" instead of His "face." At that point G'd made it clear that even someone on Moses' spiritual level who had experienced G'd's presence revealing Himself as no other mortal before or after him, had to be prevented from beholding G'd's face. G'd inserted a divider between Himself and His face. In our verse the Torah reveals that G'd did not insert such a divider between Himself and the vision of these אצילי בני ישראל, "nobles of the children of Israel," because they were אצילים. He permitted them to feast their eyes on this vision. We have to understand the whole verse as follows: "They saw the G'd of Israel," i.e. they saw a great light symbolising the G'd of Israel, but they only looked at what was beneath His feet. Seeing that G'd had not laid a hand on them for doing so, i.e. He had not taken measures to deny them this vision, they now indulged in ויחזו, an intensified look, something which provided them with the kind of satisfaction ordinary people get through the intake of food and drink. You must not wonder why these people were allowed a vision which was even denied to Moses. When G'd placed His palm before the eyes of Moses this was not to prevent him from having the intellectual/spiritual vision enjoyed by the nobles of Israel. The k...

לא שלח ידו, “He did not raise His hand;” G-d had reason to punish the people who had been granted this vision because they carried on as if this was nothing extraordinary, by eating and drinking. [According to this interpretation, at this time, immediately before the giving of the Torah, G-d did not wish to spoil the joyous mood of the people. An alternate approach to these lines: all the Torah tells us is that in spite of having been granted such visions, and one could have expected that this would have made them temporarily like angels, like Moses who on Mount Sinai went for 40 days and nights without food or drink, these “nobles” of the people had not attained that level of prophecy. They could continue to eat and drink without thereby harming themselves. ויחזו את האלוהים, according to Rabbi Tanchuma, (Vayikra Rabbah 20,10) they had behaved arrogantly craning their necks, etc., acting inappropriately and trying to translate their vision into something terrestrial, such as physically enjoying food and drink. ויאכלו וישתו, “they ate and drank,” just as we know from Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov, that when they made a pact with human beings, they invariably sealed it by having a festive meal with their partner. (Ibn Ezra) This whole verse was inserted in the Torah in honour of Moses who, when experiencing prophetic visions did not need to sustain his body by food and drink, as he had attained the level of disembodied beings who do not depend on such means to renew energy they had spent. ויאכלו, “they ate;” they ate of the peace offerings mentioned in verse 5 of our chapter.

ואל אצילי בני ישראל, “and against the ‘nobles’ of the Children of Israel, etc.” The reason they are referred to as אצילי is that the word is connected to אצילות, “emanation.” Some of the holy spirit had been emanated to them while they were standing at this holy site. The people so referred to were Nadav and Avihu as well as the seventy elders. לא שלח ידו, “He did not stretch out His hand.” This wording proves that they deserved to experience disciplining or worse by G’d. ויחזו את האלו-הים, “they gazed at G’d.” This is a repetition of what had been described earlier with the words ויראו את האלו-הים (24,10). The principal meaning of these verses is that the nobles were content to gaze at G’d from afar and not breach the security fence around the mountain. ויאכלו וישתו, “they ate and they drank, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text they considered the day a festival in view of their having been granted such insights and having survived the experience. This would be comparable to Yaakov who had said after his struggle with the protective guardian of Esau (Genesis 32,31) “for I have seen G’d face to face and my life has been spared.” This is also why the High Priest used to make a feast at the end of Yom Kippur every time after he had come out of the Holy of Holies without having been harmed in body or spirit by the experience (compare Yuma 70). Another way of looking at the meaning of these words is that the Torah wanted to tell us that the spiritual level of these people did not match that of Moses who was able to go without food or drink for 40 days when he communed with G’d (34,28). As soon a these “nobles” had had their vision they returned to being ordinary mortals with the requirements of ordinary people. This is why they had to eat and drink. Rashi reads the words: “they gazed upon G’d and ate and drank” together, meaning that the two experiences occurred simultaneously, that they acted in a very gross fashion. A Midrashic approach to these words (Vayikra Rabbah 20,10): “Did they take cake, i.e. provisions along to Mount Sinai?” Rabbi Yochanan understands the words ויאכלו וישתו in a literal sense, i.e. they ate and drank real food (something superior to physical food). He compares the words to Proverbs 16,15: “in the light of the King’s face there is life.” The vision they had experienced sustained them as if they had been refreshed by physical food and drink. The meaning of Solomon’s words is that the true food which sustains life is “G’d’s favour,” which Solomon describes as “like the rain in the spring” in the latter half of the verse quoted. According to this view the entire vision may be compared to receiving food and drink of a superior category. This was the true nutriment. It may also be compared to what David had in mind in Psalms 63,6 when he said: “I am sated as with a rich feast.” We have to contrast physical food which though it sustains the body and therefore life, is something which reaches us at arm’s length, so to speak. G’d has to employ a number of “transformers” in order for physical food to reach us. Receiving Divine inspiration directly is a much more efficient process, skips the intermediaries, and therefore is likely to achieve more with less. This thought may be reflected in Psalms 36,9-10: “they feast on the rich fare of Your House; You let them drink at Your refreshing stream.” Still another way of explaining the words: “they ate and they drank” -that instead of reading וישתו we could understand this word as וישיתו, “they set.” We have found that after the sin of the golden calf and G’d’s decree not to travel with them but to delegate this task to an angel (33,4) the Jewish people no longer put on their “jewelry.” (Compare what we wrote in connection with 24,8). Interestingly enough this remarkable שכר, reward, this jewelry was never mentioned explicitly as having been received by the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. The Torah became explicit about it only at the time when it was removed from them after the golden calf. This I have heard from Rabbi Dan. Why were we never told specifically that this “jewelry” had been the reward for the נעשה ונשמע, the absolute devotion displayed by the people at the giving of the Torah? I believe that there was no real need to mention this “reward” specifically at all. The people who had come out of the camp and approached the mountain within the allowable parameters and who had heard the sounds of the Shofar and experienced all the mind-shaking phenomena reported in chapters 19-20 were obviously “clothed,” i.e. “bathed” in superior light, etc. When a person goes out in order to anoint himself with oil there is no need to report specifically that he did indeed smear the oil all over himself. Our sages (Shavuot 47) have paraphrased this thought when they said: “if you touch someone who has oil all over him you will find that some sticks to you,” (Rashi on the proverb there). The whole matter may be compared to the Torah’s treatment of life in the hereafter, and indeed any specific promise that there is such a thing. Seeing the entire Torah legislation would not make any sense unless there was such afterlife, the Torah did not have to spell it out expressly. It suffices for the Torah to have written (19,17) “Moses took out the people towards G’d,” to teach us from this generality that the result of all this was that they received this “reward” which they are reported as being deprived of as a result of the sin of the golden calf. When that sin did occur, it became necessary to spell out that the people had lost this distinction (the stains of blood, or whatever other form the jewelry had taken). A Kabbalistic approach to the words: “they gazed at G’d and ate and drank.” Why was this repeated seeing the Torah had already written in verse 10 that these people had “seen the G’d of Israel?” It is possible that these אצילים “saw” G’d i.e. prophesied. In order that you should not think that what these people saw in verse 10 was “seeing” in the accepted sense of the word, the Torah had to use a different verb, i.e. ויחזו when describing the experience of these nobles and their reaction to it. The word ויחזו clearly reflects the word מחזה a mental image, such as Avraham experienced, not seeing something with one’s physical eye when awake. On the one hand, their prophetic achievement was greater than that of the rest of Israel, but at the same time it was inferior to Moses’ prophetic achievement. Moses could see with his physical eyes what these אצילים could see only with their mental eye. Expressed differently; the accomplishment of the people of Israel could be categorized as of the caliber ענן וערפל, “cloud and heavy cloud,” whereas that of the אצילים was in the nature of נבואה שלא במחיצה, a vision without deliberate obstructions; Moses on the other hand, saw the attribute כבוד with his physical eyes. This is what G’d meant when He told him in 33,23 וראית את אחורי, a reference to this attribute כבוד האחרון. As to the words ויאכלו וישתו following immediately afterwards, this teaches that the אצילים related to their exalted experience in a light-hearted, irresponsible manner. This is the reason that they should have been punished by G’d, i.e. שליחות יד by the attribute of Justice. However, G’d was content to wait so as not to disturb the festive atmosphere of the occasion.

And they saw God, and they ate and drank. Rashi explains that they were looking at Him with vulgar hearts amid eating and drinking. But this explanation is difficult, because then the verse should have first stated and they ate and drank and afterward and they saw God. And the Targum [Onkelos] renders it, and they rejoiced in their sacrifices — this too does not align well with the language [of the verse]. It would be more appropriate to explain that there was no actual eating and drinking there; rather, they were like Moses, who stood on the mountain for 40 days without eating and drinking and was sustained by the splendor of the Divine Presence. Similarly, the nobles of the children of Israel, because they saw God, it was as if they ate and drank, because seeing the face of the Divine Presence was their nourishment. However, from the statement and upon the nobles of the children of Israel He did not stretch out His hand, one must try to infer why they were called nobles, and furthermore, this verse needs to be connected with and they ate and drank. And it seems to me that it comes to teach the difference between Moses’s prophecy and their prophecy, for to Moses, God sent the hand of His prophecy without an intermediary, as prophecy is called the hand of God, as it is written The hand of the Lord was upon me (Ezekiel 37:1), and this is through divine inspiration. And because Moses was close to the Divine Presence, therefore he was not permitted to attend to bodily needs at all while he was standing before God. And this is what is meant by and the cloud covered him for six days, and in Tractate Yoma (4b), our Sages of blessed memory said that this covering was in order to purge the food and drink from within his intestines so that he would stand alive before God, clean and devoid of all physical matters. And for this reason, he did not eat for 40 days, in order to distance him from all bodily matters that were created in the six days of creation. And He called to Moses on the seventh day, because the seventh is holy to God, and the Sabbath day proves it. But these elders, Nadab and Abihu and the 70 elders, were from the nobles who had some of the holy spirit that was upon Moses apportioned and placed upon them. Therefore, they were not like Moses in his prophecy, who did not eat or drink when he beheld the face of God, but rather they beheld God, and they ate and drank, meaning they used both aspects — the aspects of intellect and the aspects of matter. For from the aspect of intellect, they beheld God, and from the aspect of matter, they ate and drank. And because they beheld the vision of the Almighty while eating and drinking, they did not see with a clear lens like Moses, for Moses’s face was like the face of the sun, which shines from all sides. So too, Moses shone from both of his aspects, because even his material self became pure and clean like the bright sun, and it did not prevent him from seeing the vision of the Almighty through a clear lens. But the face of Joshua, who was among those who received a portion [of Moses’s spirit], was like the moon, which is dark on one side and bright on the other. So too, he was pure and clean from the aspect of intellect, and yet he did not depart from within the camp, remaining as one of the people of the camp from the aspect of matter that uses bodily needs. And he was like these nobles about whom it says, And they beheld God, and they ate and drank. And for Rashi’s words there is some evidence, from what is written (Leviticus 16:1–2) After the death of Aaron’s two sons […] and he should not come at any time into the holy place, etc. Since the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded him not to enter the holy place except on a day without eating and drinking, namely Yom Kippur, this implies that Aaron’s sons sinned by gazing at the Divine Presence with the coarseness of heart that comes from eating and drinking. However, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not want to disturb the joy of the Torah, so He did not send forth His hand against them now, but rather on the day of their reckoning. This matter will be further explained below in the portion of Acharei Mot, with God’s help, blessed be His name.

ואל אצילי בני ישראל, “and against the nobility of the people of Israel, etc.” This is a reference to Nadav, Avihu, and the elders of Israel. The reason why they are described as אצילים is that they had been granted a prophetic vision, the holy spirit had descended upon them. Compare ומאציליה קראתיך, “and from its spiritual elite I have called you forth.” (Isaiah 41,9) Ibn Ezra says the Torah uses the appellation אצילי so as to make a qualitative distinction between Moses on the one hand, and the elders. The reason this was called for was that Moses, at the age of 80, could also have been perceived as one of the ”elders.” The new term אצילי was thus coined here to describe the stature of Nadav and Avihu. לא שלח ידו, “He did not stretch out His hand (punitively).” Nachmanides writes that seeing that the Torah had warned both the priests and people not to ascend the Mountain as this would constitute a breach of the protective fence around the Mountain, (19,24) the Torah refers to the fact that these people had not committed any breach of the rules and therefore did not deserve punishment. Had they done so, they would not have been found worthy to experience a prophetic vision. The whole line of ויחזו וגו' must be understood as what these people did do or experience, meaning that they did not disregard the prohibition of approaching too closely to the Mountain. Some commentators contrast what did not happen here with what happened when G’d did stretch out His hand to Moses to give him the Tablets. This would mean that the people experiencing these visions at this time did not receive encouragement from G’d. ויאכלו, “they ate, etc.” they consumed the part of the peace-offerings that all Israelites may consume, at the foot of the Mountain, They did not take the meat back to their tents. וישתו, “they drank;” they used the occasion of receiving the Torah for organizing a great feast on that day to express their happiness at having received the Torah. We find that a similar festivity took place when the Torah, at the end of 40 years, was engraved on the stones taken from the river Jordan. (Deut. 27,7) Some commentators understand the Torah’s mentioning that the elders ate and drank as the Torah’s way of drawing attention to the contrast with Moses who, forthwith, ascended the Mountain and remained there for 40 days neither eating nor drinking. Moses most certainly did not have lesser visions than the elders, and yet he did not feel the need to eat for supplying his body with food on such an occasion.

ואל אצילי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו. Even though these people had deliberately lingered over a vision of G’d, feasting their eyes on it, something forbidden as we know from Numbers 4,20, that glimpsing something sacred inside the temple is forbidden on pain of death, at this time G’d did not punish tem. We know of a similar occurrence in Samuel I 6,19 when the subject was the Holy Ark. On the other hand, when afforded a similar opportunity to “see” G’d, Moses was afraid to do so (Exodus 3,6 at the burning bush). Here the nobles and elders were being honoured by G’d with visions, this being due to the covenant being concluded with them at this time. I explained in connection with the covenant of the pieces G’d concluded with Avraham in Genesis 15,17 that Avraham observed G’d as if passing between the pieces of the animals Avraham had cut up. [I could not find this exegesis of our author where it is supposed to be. Ed.] This report of “seeing” a manifestation of G’d resurfaces when the new covenant is made after the sin of the golden calf has been forgiven in Exodus 34,3 where only Moses is allowed to be present, i.e. to look at the mountain before he ascends. Having outlawed visual contact by others, G’d proceeds to announce that He will make a new covenant (Exodus 34,10) replacing the one the Israelites had breached at the golden calf episode. ויאכלו וישתו, the burnt-offerings, עולות, were consumed by the altar, whereas the peace-offerings, שלמים, described as “meat-offerings, זבחים, were eaten by the people mentioned here. (compare verse 5)

He did not lay his hand. He did not stretch out his hand to place it before his face so that they would not see him as with Moses in the cleft of the rock, as it is written (Exodus 33:22) "and I will cover you with My palm" etc. And therefore (Exodus 24:11) "they saw the God."

And Hashem said to Moses: Ascend before Me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the tablets of stone, and the Torah and the commandment that I have written to instruct them.

ויאמר ה’ אל משה AND THE LORD SAID TO MOSES — after the Giving of the Law, עלה אלי ההרה והיה שם COME UP TO ME INTO THE MOUNTAIN AND REMAIN THERE forty days. את לחת האבן והתורה והמצוה אשר כתבתי להורתם [AND I WILL GIVE THEE] THE TABLETS OF STONE, AND THE LAW, AND THE COMMANDMENT WHICH I HAVE WRITTEN TO TEACH THEM — All the six hundred and thirteen commandments are implicitly contained in the Ten Commandments and may therefore be regarded as having been written on the tablets. Rabbi Saadia specified in the אזהרות which he has composed those commandments which may be associated with each of the Ten Commandments.

AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO MOSES: ‘COME UP TO ME INTO THE MOUNTAIN.’ This is the same command which He had said to him on the preceeding day [i.e., on the sixth of Sivan], Come up unto the Eternal; and Moses alone shall come near unto the Eternal, and now on the seventh day of Sivan He said additionally to him, and be there, and I will give thee the Tablets of stone etc., for Moses was to stay on the mountain until He would give him the Tablets of stone, and the law and the commandment. The expression which I have written refers back to the Tablets of stone; that thou mayest teach them relates to the law and the commandment. Thus the meaning of the verse is: “and I will give thee the Tablets of stone which I have written, and the law and the commandment that thou mayest teach them.” This is identical with what He said in the Book of Deuteronomy, And I will speak unto thee all the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which thou shalt teach them. Rashi wrote: “Which I have written in the Tablets of stone. That thou mayest teach them, for all the six hundred and thirteen commandments are implicit in the Ten Commandments.” And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented: “The law, this refers to the first and second commandments; and the commandment refers to the other eight mentioned.” It is a comment of no value, since the verse in Deuteronomy mentioned above, And I will speak unto thee, etc. testifies that He is speaking about all the commandments. In accordance with the opinion of our Rabbis it is possible that the expression which I have written is a hint that the whole Torah was written before Him before the creation of the world, as I have mentioned at the beginning of the Book of Genesis.

"And He said" — and he [Moses] was to remain there until He gave him [the tablets]. A certain sage in Spain said that the first tablets, being the work of God, were fashioned and created precisely to fit the dimensions of the ark. As for the second tablets, they too were the work of God — who is the Creator of all — only Moses shaped them, for the preparation [of the raw stone] is also called "making," as in "and he hastened to prepare it" (Gen. 18:7). And the reason [the sage argued this] is that Scripture writes "tablets of stone" without mentioning "stones" as it does for the second set. However, I showed him [the sage] that Scripture says in Deut. 9:9, "when I went up the mountain to take the two tablets of stone (ha-avanim)," and Scripture uses the phrase "tablets of stone (luchot ha-aven)" three times there — explaining that "tablets of stone" simply specifies they were of stone and not of wood. The Gaon said that "which I have written" is linked to "the tablets of stone," and not to "the Torah and the commandment," for Hashem wrote only the Ten Commandments; and he explained that "the Torah" means the Written Torah and "the commandment" means the Oral Torah, since all the commandments were given to Moses at Sinai during the days he stood on the mountain, as it is written: "But you, stand here with Me" (Deut. 5:28). In my view, however, "the Torah" refers to the first and fifth utterances [of the Decalogue], and "the commandment" refers to the other eight matters.

עלה אלי ההרה, to the top of the mountain. This was after he had already approached more closely than the people with him, as we have read in verse 2, ונגש משה לבדו “only Moses alone is to approach any closer.” Nonetheless, at that point he had not ascended the summit of the mountain. It was on this occasion, while they looked after Moses disappearing into the cloud forming a shroud around the mountain, that the “nobles” and the elders had the vision just described. This is what was meant in verse 17 with the words ומראה כבוד ה' כאש אוכלת בראש ההר, “and the manifestation of the glory of the Lord was similar to a consuming fire at the top of the mountain.” We find this formulation (ראש ההר) again during the giving of the Ten Commandments in 19,20. והיה שם, stay there for an extended period. The root היה appears in this sense in Deuteronomy 10,5 ויהיו שם כאשר צוני, “they have remained there as G’d had commanded me.” והתורה, “and the part which requires profound study,” והמצוה, and the part of the Torah which primarily requires action in order to fulfill it. אשר כתבתי, “which I (the Lord) have written.” If it had not been for the sin of the golden calf, the entire Torah would have been handed to the Jewish people (Moses) as a signed and sealed document just like the Tablets with the Ten Commandments. Moses alluded to this when he described the approach of G’d to Mount Sinai in Deuteronomy 33,2 ואתה מרבבות קודש מימינו אש דת למו , G’d was ready to hand us the whole Torah but the sin of the golden calf prevented this at that that time. Instead, Moses wrote down the Torah at G’d’s command (dictation). Moses is on record as having done this in Deuteronomy 34,27. In fact, Moses only brought the Tablets to within sight of the people in order to smash them before their eyes, so that they would understand what they had forfeited due to their disloyalty to G’d. This demonstration of Moses having smashed the Tablets was designed to shock the people into penitence. להורותם, to teach them. Although everything was available in the form of a written text, as we know from our sages in Taanit 9 “is there then anything which has not either been spelled out or alluded to in the text of the Torah that Moses handed down to us?” And, the Talmud Gittin 60 adds that most is spelled out in the written text and only a relatively small part was reserved for what we call the “oral Torah,” the allusions in the Torah which require profound study and most ordinary Israelites would not understand them unless they had the guidance of scholars. Knowing this, a statement by the sages which appears to conflict with the statement we quoted from Gittin 60, and which states that most of the legislation of the Torah is derived from the “oral Torah,” is not in conflict with that at all. The former statement refers to people studying under the guidance of a competent Torah scholar.

עלה אלי ההרה, “ascend to Me, to the mountain!” This paragraph also speaks of matters prior to the giving of the Torah. The wording proves it as otherwise it would not make sense for G’d to say: “I will give you there the Torah and the commandments.” והיה שם, “and remain there.” Rashi explains that G’d meant “for forty days.” אשר כתבתי, “which I have written, etc.” This means that G’d had written the Torah already prior to creating the universe with black fire on white fire. Alternatively, the words אשר כתבתי refer to the two Tablets which were reported as having been written by the finger of G’d“ in Exodus 31,18. להורותם, “to teach them.” According to the plain meaning of the text this teaches that the Torah and the commandments are the path to enable the soul to return to its roots. The true meaning of this then is: “to teach them the way to eternal life.” This is also what Solomon said in Proverbs 4,4; “He also taught me and said to me: ‘let your heart retain My words; keep My commandments and you will live.’” A Midrashic approach (Pessikta Zutrata): The word להורותם refers to the Talmud. This is also what the Talmud Berachot 5 says. The words את לוחות האבן, “the Tablets made of stone,” refer to the Tablets upon which were engraved the Ten Commandments; the word התורה refers to the written Torah; the word והמצוה refers to the Mishnah (oral Torah); the words אשר כתבתי refer to the other Books of the Bible, the Books of the prophets and the Hagiographa; the word להורותם refers to the Talmud. This teaches that all the laws contained in all these Books have been given to Moses at Mount Sinai. Furthermore, you will note that the first and last letter of the word להורותם between them have a numerical value of 70; this is one of the origins for the well known adage that there are 70 facets to the written Torah, i.e. 70 different ways of interpreting it. A Kabbalistic approach: the word להורותם is spelled defectively here, the Torah merely writing להורתם. This spelling is support for the interpretation that when one observes Torah and the commandments this will result in man walking the correct path in life. The path leads to the realization of the ideals represented by the concept of כנסת ישראל. Having reached that level, the soul is ready to ascend to the celestial regions, eternal life. This reflects the meaning of the words of Psalms 73,24 ואחר כבוד תקחני אתה, “and You guided me towards honor.” The word להורותם may be translated as “towards the bedroom of my parents.”

ויאמר ה' אל משה עלה אלי ההרה, “The Lord said to Moses: “ascend to Me on the Mountain.” According to Nachmanides this is the same commandment he had been given on the previous day when G’d had said to him (verse 2) ונגש משה לבדו, “Moses alone is to come close.” Now, on the seventh day of Sivan, G’d added that Moses was to remain o the Mountain for forty days. ואתנה לך את לוחות האבן והתורה והמצוה אשר כתבתי להורותם, “I shall give you there the stone tablets as well as the Torah and the mitzvah which I have written down in order to teach it to them.” According to Nachmanides the words: “which I have written,” refer to what is inscribed on the Tablets, whereas the word להורותם, “to teach them,” refers to the Torah and the Mitzvah. Moses is to teach the words on the Tablets to the people. Rashi understands the words אשר כתבתי to mean that when closely examined, we would find that the entire Torah is included in the Text of the Ten Commandments. Ibn Ezra understands the word התורה as referring to the written Torah, whereas the word המצוה is supposed to refer to the oral Torah. The correct interpretation is that both words refer only to the Tablets. The proof is in the words אשר כתבתי להורותם, “which I (G’d) have written to teach them.” G’d never wrote the Torah, only Moses did. Some commentators claim that the word התורה refers to the first of the Ten Commandments, whereas the word המצוה refers to the remaining nine Commandments. Still other commentators understand the word התורה as referring to the negative commandments, whereas the word המצוה refers to the positive commandments, as in זכור ושמור that refer to the two aspects of the Sabbath. I believe the message in our verse is that both negative and positive commandments form an integral part of Torah legislation, and it is the purpose of each group of commandments to teach us the right way to conduct our lives. This is why G’d added the words אשר כתבתי להורותם, “which I wrote down in order to teach them.”

אשר כתבתי, the tablets inscribed by G’d at the end of 40 days.

And Moses arose, with Joshua his attendant, and Moses ascended to the mountain upon which the Glory of Hashem had been revealed.

ויקם משה ויהושע משרתו AND MOSES ROSE AND HIS MINISTER JOSHUA — I am not sure in what capacity Joshua appears here, but I think that as a disciple he was accompanying the teacher as far as the place where the bounds of the mountain were marked out, whence onward he was not permitted to proceed. From that point ויעל משה MOSES alone ASCENDED אל הר האלהים THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD, whilst Joshua pitched his tent there and stayed there during the whole forty days which Moses spent on the mountain. For thus we find that when Moses came down from the mountain it states, (Exodus 32:17) “and Joshua heard the voice of the people that they shouted” — from which we may infer that he was not with them in the camp.

AND MOSES ROSE UP, AND JOSHUA HIS MINISTER. “I do not know in what capacity Joshua was serving here. But it appears to me that the disciple was accompanying the master as far as the place where the limits of the mountain were marked out, for beyond them Joshua was not permitted to go, and from there Moses went up alone into the mountain of G-d, while Joshua pitched his tent there for the whole of the forty days. Thus we find that when Moses came down from the mountain it is written, And Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, from which we learn that Joshua was not with them in the camp” [at the time of the making of the golden calf]. Thus far is Rashi’s language. In my opinion, Joshua was one of the seventy elders [who were asked to ascend the mountain], for there was nobody more worthy amongst the seventy elders of Israel to approach G-d than he, and when Moses separated from them [to ascend higher], Joshua accompanied his master up to the border [beyond which he was not permitted to go]. Now do not object to my explanation on this point from what the Rabbis have said concerning the punishment of these elders at Taberah, for they said so concerning all of them except Joshua, for he was indeed worthy to see visions of G-d and to receive prophecy.

"And Moses arose" — It stands to reason that Joshua went from the camp of Israel together with Moses and waited at the foot of the mountain until Moses descended. For this reason he did not know anything of the sin of the calf that was made [during that time]. There is no need to ask what he ate, for the manna around the camp he gathered and ate day by day.

ויהושע משרתו, “whereas his personal valet, Joshua, etc.;” he remained seated at the bottom of the Mountain until his master would return; in the meantime he was fed daily by a portion of manna.

ויקם משה ויהושע משרתו, “Moses and his servant Joshua stood up, etc.” Joshua was one of the seventy elders mentioned previously as having had a vision of G’d. In fact, Joshua was the most senior of these seventy elders. The question arises why he is mentioned specifically in this context. Nachmanides writes that possibly the reason is that the Torah wanted to tell us that during the entire 40 days that Moses spent on the mountain Joshua waited for him at the bottom of the mountain. This is why the Torah saw fit to describe him as Moses’ personal valet, משרתו, at this point. As such it was appropriate for him to accompany his master right up to the fence. ויעל משה אל הר האלוהים, “Moses ascended to the Mountain of G’d.” This teaches that all the time Moses was on the mountain Joshua waited for him at the bottom of the mountain. Proof for this can be found in 32,17 where we read that as soon as Moses descended the Torah reports Joshua as “hearing the sound of the people in shouting.” Had he remained inside the camp, this verse would not make sense.

And to the elders he said: Wait for us here until we return to you; and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you — whoever has a legal matter, let him approach before them.

ואל הזקנים אמר BUT UNTO THE ELDERS HE SAID when he left the camp (אמר in the sequence of verbs which we find here denotes the pluperfect; the translation therefore is: and to the elders he had said). שבו לנו בזה ABIDE YE HERE FOR US and stay ye with all the other people in the camp so as to be ready to decide his dispute for each man. חור [AND] HUR — He was the son of Miriam and his father was Caleb the son of Jephunneh, as it is said, (1 Chr. 2:9) “Caleb took unto him Ephrath, who bare him Hur”; and Ephrath is identical with Miriam, as it is stated in Treatise Sotah 11b. מי בעל דברים HE WHO HAS ANY MATTER TO DO — i. e. he who has any law-suit.

AND UNTO THE ELDERS HE SAID: ‘TARRY YE HERE FOR US.’ The meaning of this is that when Moses parted from them with his minister, he commanded them that they should tarry there. It does not mean that they were to stay there day and night until their return, for he said, and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whosoever hath a cause, let him come near unto them, and it is in the camp that parties to a dispute would be found, since that was where the seat of justice was, and he had already told everybody, Return ye to your tents. But the meaning of tarry ye here is that they should stay at that place, and should not break through to come up to them, even to the place where Joshua was, until he [Moses] would come back to them. In my opinion it is possible that the explanation of the verse is as follows: “Sit in our place and serve as a substitute for us in the camp; Aaron and Hur are with you, and whosoever hath a cause — one of those hard causes that they would bring to me — let him come near unto them in my place.” He said unto them as a special recognition to Aaron and Hur, for they were to come before all the elders and they would all be assembled at one place, just as he said Aaron and Hur are with you. Thus Moses commanded that the elders together with Aaron and Hur should sit as a court, just as he himself did, over the officers of thousands and hundreds, until he returns, since he knew that he would tarry in the mountain. He said: for us [tarry ye here ‘for us’] as a mark of honor to his disciple, just as he said to Joshua, Choose us out men. This is a correct interpretation. But Rashi wrote: “And unto the elders he said — when he left the camp, Tarry ye here for us — stay you with the rest of the people so as to be ready to judge each man’s dispute.” But this is impossible, for they were not at that moment in the camp, and what sense would there be for him to tell them so when they were in the camp and had already been appointed as judges!Terumah.

"And to the elders" — the well-known ones, those who had seen the glorious Name. "And behold, Aaron" — was also a firstborn; and perhaps Hur too was among the seventy. And both of them were to judge under Moses until his return. I have already explained that Jethro came only in the second year.

ואל הזקנים אמר, when he departed from them in order to ascend to the top of the mountain as G’d had commanded him in verse 12.

ואל הזקנים, “and to the elders, the ones who had enjoyed the vision of the Divine,’אמר, “he had already said;” שבו לנו, “remain seated here for us;” the “us” refers to Moses and Joshua. בזה, “inside the camp;” Joshua had been permitted to approach more closely to the bottom of the Mountain than either Aaron, Chur, and the seventy elders. This is why Joshua had been unaware of what had transpired with the golden calf until he returned together with Moses. מי בעל דברים, “anyone who wishes to get back money or chattels from his neighbour;” the reason the singular mode is used here when discussing litigation, is that the party in possession of disputed property will always remain silent.

ואל הזקנים אמר שבו לנו בזה, “and he said to the elders: ‘wait for us here.’” According to Rashi Moses said this when he was about to leave the camp, [not at the foot of the Mountain. Ed.] They were to spend the time he was absent judging the people and filling in the void whenever the need would arise. Nachmanides questions how this was possible, seeing that the previous verse had both the elders and Moses at the bottom of the Mountain, not in the camp. He therefore explains what happened as follows. When Moses and Joshua took their leave of them, they both said to the elders to go back to their respective tents. However, they added that under no circumstances were they to come back to this location or beyond, not even to the place where Joshua remained during all the forty days Moses would be on the Mountain. It is possible to understand the words שבו לנו as meaning “remain in lieu of us and be our deputies.” During our absence, you will be ably assisted by Aaron and Chur. מי בעל דברים, “if someone has a grievance, etc.” Moses meant that if there would arise a problem beyond the ability of the elders to solve they should turn to Aaron or Chur for a definitive ruling. By saying this to the elders, Moses added stature to both Aaron and Chur, seeing that he publicly appointed them as final arbiters during his absence. The turn of phrase שבו לנו, is also to be understood as a compliment to the elders to whom Moses delegated most of his authority during that period. Moses had used the word לנו once before in a complimentary manner when he authorized Joshua to select fighting man to resist the attack by Amalek, at the end of Parshat Beshalach.

And Moses ascended to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

"And he went up. And the cloud covered" — The cloud had already covered [the mountain] on the sixth of the month.

ויכס הענן את ההר, "The cloud covered the Mountain.” It had already been covered on the previous day, the sixth of Sivan.

And the Glory of Hashem rested upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and He called to Moses on the seventh day from within the cloud.

ויכסהו הענן AND THE CLOUD COVERED IT (lit., “him”) [SIX DAYS] — Our Rabbis are of different opinions as to what this passage means. Some of them hold that these were the six days from the first of Sivan (until the Feast of Weeks, the day of the Giving of the Law) — and that the word ויכסהו in the phrase ויכסהו הענן “the cloud covered him” or covered “it” means that it covered the mountain. ויקרא אל משה ביום השביעי AND HE CALLED UNTO MOSES ON THE SEVENTH DAY of Sivan to utter the Ten Commandments. It is true that Moses and all Israel were standing there but the text states, “He called unto Moses” merely to give special honour to Moses calling him by name. Others, however, say that the passage means: AND THE CLOUD COVERED HIM — Moses, FOR SIX DAYS after the Ten Commandments had been given. These were at the beginning of the forty days which Moses spent on Mount Sinai when he went up to receive the Tablets, and Scripture teaches you that whosoever enters the camp of the Divine Majesty (here the mountain and later on the Holy of Holies) requires separation from others (must live in seclusion) for six days (Yoma 4a).

"And the glory rested" — the glory had already rested, for it is written: "And Hashem descended upon Mount Sinai" (above, 19:20), and further: "And Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was" (ibid., 20:18). "And the cloud covered him" — Moses — so that no person could see him. "And He called to Moses on the seventh day" — there is no need for the Gaon's question as to why Moses did not ascend to the top of the mountain at the very start of his ascent — for he could not ascend except by permission.

וישכון כבוד ה, “the glory of the Lord abode;” actually it had already settled on the Mountain, as we know from Exodus 19,20: וירד ה׳ על הר סיני, “the Lord descended onto Mount Sinai;” it had also stated that “Moses had approached the thick cloud which enveloped the higher regions of the Mountain beyond which was G-d’s presence.” (Exodus 20,18).

וישכון כבוד ה' על הר סיני, “the attribute כבוד of Hashem rested on Mount Sinai.” This is in line with what had been mentioned in connection with 20,1: “G’d said all these words.” I have elaborated on this subject there. When the Torah writes here that the cloud covered the mountain this means that during the six days from the first of Sivan until the time of Matan Torah the cloud enveloped the mountain. ויקרא אל משה ביום השביעי, “He called Moses on the seventh day. This was the day after the Ten Commandments had been given at Mount Sinai. Moses then remained on the mountain for forty days and forty nights, as we know from verse 18: “Moses remained on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.” The six days during which the mountain was enveloped in cloud (during which Moses prepared himself mentally for meeting Hashem) were part of the forty days. You might ask that seeing that Moses remained there and did not descend until the seventeenth day of Tammuz, why did the Torah have to give us this statement about G’d calling Moses once more while he was already on the mountain? Our sages have different answers for this question. In the first chapter of Yuma (folio 4), Rabbi Akiva says that the whole verse was written only in order to honour Moses. Rabbi Natan says that these six days were mentioned as during these days Moses’ entrails emptied themselves of any remnants of food consumed while he had been down below. This would make him more equal to the angels in that region who do not consume physical food. Rabbi Matya son of Charash says that the verse is meant to inspire fear. Torah can be given only to someone who relates to it from feelings of awe, sweat and fear. We know this from Psalms 2,11 “Serve Him out of feelings of trembling and fear.” A Midrashic approach (Pessikta Zutrata): consider the remarkable fact that whereas the entire universe was created in a mere six days, it took forty days to give the Torah to Moses. “Hail to the person who sells or gives something which is the product of only six (days labour) and who receives in return something that it took forty days to perfect” (compare Vayikra Rabbah 30,1). This explains why Moses had to remain on the mountain for a whole forty days. I believe that the number 40 is an allusion to the maximum spiritual/intellectual accomplishments which it is given to the human species to achieve. Moses achieved that maximum and that is the reason it took him forty days to do so. This is presumably what the sages had in mind when they said (Pesachim 72) “A certain scholar studied a certain subject forty times until he felt he knew it as well as certain objects he had in his pocket.” I believe furthermore that the merit of studying Torah incessantly for forty days resulted in Moses’ skin emitting the rays of light described by the Torah (Exodus 34,29) for the remainder of the forty years until he died. The great splendor his facial features acquired as a result of his stay on Mount Sinai did not fade for the rest of his life. This is the meaning of Deut. 34,7: “his eye had not dimmed and his vigor had not diminished.” Moses spent a total of three times forty days on Mount Sinai, 120 days corresponding to the number of his years. The first forty days were spent acquiring the first set of Tablets and understanding the meaning of the Torah; the second forty days were spent imploring G’d to forgive the sin of the golden calf; the last forty days he prepared for receiving the second set of Tablets. מתוך הענן, “out of the cloud.” Seeing that during the preceding six days Moses had been covered by the cloud and had not proceeded further, the Torah now has to tell us that on the seventh day G’d called to him out of the cloud and instructed him to come inside it. This is why the Torah continues: “Moses entered the cloud.” Our sages in Yuma 4 said that G’d made a path for Moses inside the cloud. They based this on the same expression בתוך being used when the Israelites entered the Sea of Reeds and G’d made separate paths for each tribe, as the expression בתוך in our verse here.

And the appearance of the Glory of Hashem was like the appearance of consuming fire at the summit of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.

"And the appearance" — Behold, the entire mountain was covered in cloud, and at its summit was the glory where Hashem the glorious Name was — and it appeared like a consuming fire.

ומראה כבוד ה' The words 'ומראה כבוד ה are an expression for the Shechinah. Our sages refer to the phenomenon as שכינה, whereas the Torah calls it 'כבוד ה'. When we read in Psalms 85,10 לשכון כבוד בארצנו, “to make His glory dwell in our land,” the reference is to the Shechinah, which is also another name for the attribute of Justice known as יד, the attribute (tool) used by G’d to create the universe. This is what Isaiah 45,7 had in mind when he said ואת כל אלה ידי עשתה, “My hand has made all these (phenomena).” All the phenomena which between them make up the universe were described by the prophet simply as אלה, “these.” All of these are creations of the attribute of Justice. This is why Isaiah 66,2 refers to them as ויהיו כל אלה “all of these (phenomena) came into existence.” We find similar expressions in connection with the creation of the universe in Genesis. The word אלה appears in Genesis 2,4 אלה תולדות השמים והארץ, “these are the products of the heavens and the earth.” The word אלה in that verse includes all that had been created both in the celestial spheres as well as what had been created in the terrestrial spheres. Even when enumerating these phenomena in detail we find the expression אלה describing them. These are the phenomena in question in detail: “light, darkness, the Torah, Justice, the in-gathering of the exiles, Israel, the earth’s produce, rainfall. There is a verse describing each phenomenon as a product of G’d’s creative activity, Isaiah 45,7 writing: “I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the Lord do all these things." The verse describing G’d as creating the Torah is found in Exodus 20,1 וידבר אלו-הים את כל הדברים האלה, “G’d said all these things.” Justice is referred to in 21,1 ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם “and these are the judgments you are to set before them.” The word אלה appears in conjunction with Israel in Genesis 49,28 כל אלה שבטי ישראל שנים עשר, “all these are the tribes of Israel, twelve in number.” The word אלה occurs in connection with the in-gathering of the exiles in Isaiah 49,12: הנה אלה מרחוק יבואו והנה אלה מצפון ומים ואלה מארץ סינים, “here: ‘Look these are coming from afar, these from the north and the west; all these from the land of Sinim.’” We have another verse on this subject in Zecharyah 8,12: ואמרת בלבבך מי ילד לי את אלה ואני שכולה וגלמודה גולה וסורה ואלה מי גדל הן אני נשארתי לבדי, אלה איפה הם? “And you will say to yourself, ‘who bore these for me when I was bereaved and barren, exiled and disdained; by whom then were these reared? I was left all alone- and where have these been?’” We have a verse in which the word אלה also appears in connection with the earth’s produce, i.e. Zecharyah 8,12: כי זרע השלום הגפן תתן פריה והארץ תתן את יבולה והשמים יתנו טלם והנחלתי את שארית העם הזה את כל אלה, “but what it sows shall prosper; the vine shall produce its fruit, the ground shall produce its yield, and the skies shall provide their dew. I will bestow all these things upon the remnant of this people.” The rain too is mentioned in a verse containing the word אלה in Jeremiah 14,22: היש הבלי הגוים מגשימים ואם השמים יתנו רביבים הלא אתה ה' אלו-הינו ונקוה לך כי אה עשית את כל אלה, “Can any of the false gods of the nations give rain? Can the skies of themselves give showers? Only You can, O Lord our G’d! So we hope in You for only You made all these things.”

And Moses entered into the cloud and ascended the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

בתוך הענן INTO THE MIDST OF THE CLOUD — This cloud was thick like smoke and God made a path for Moses through it (Yoma 4b).

"And Moses entered and went up onto the mountain" — that is, to the summit of the mountain where the glory was. "And Moses was on the mountain" — without descending; and concerning these forty days it is written: "Bread I did not eat and water I did not drink" (Deut. 9:9). This is a great wonder, the like of which had never occurred before him.

ויהי משה בהר, each time Moses ascended the mountain from this point on he remained on it for a period of 40 days and forty nights. This period corresponds to the time it takes for a fertilised egg in a woman’s womb to achieve a critical status that permits us to refer to it as a fetus. Moses’ stay on the mountain for such periods of time effected his spiritual progress in a similar manner, elevating him to higher spiritual dimensions. The evidence lies in the fact that eventually Moses’ face radiated so much spiritual illumination that the people were frightened by this phenomenon and Moses had to veil his head. (Exodus 34,29) Moses had been meant to achieve this stature already at the end of his first 40 days’ stay on the mountain, but the people’s making the golden calf and worshipping it, foiled this plan. G’d Himself told Moses to descend due to his people having become corrupt (Exodus 32,7). According to our tradition, Moses’ second stay of forty days on the mountain was a period when G’d’s anger at the people had not yet abated, so that he could not be rewarded with the distinction G’d had in mind for him. He attained that distinction only during his third stay on the mountain when he was also instructed concerning the construction of the Tabernacle seeing that he was told to place the second set of Tablets in the Holy Ark (Exodus 25,21). This did not refer to an ark within which to place the shattered first set of Tablets. In fact, according to tradition, seeing that the letters written by G’d on the first set of Tablets had “flown” away, the remnants of those Tablets which were eventually placed in another ark are not referred to as “The testimony,” seeing they did not contain any writing anymore at that point. (compare Pesachim 87) Commencing with 25,8 where G’d says to Moses that He will take up permanent residence in the Tabernacle to be built, the first 2500 years of mankind’s history where G’d was equally accessible anywhere has come to an end, and there would be a centralised form of worship as part of the Jewish religion. Instead of G’d permitting the erection of altars anywhere it pleased man, and His coming to meet man at such sites, (Exodus 20,20) now the roles are reversed and He will be in residence in His palace on earth, and anyone who wishes to pray to Him effectively will have to do this at that Temple. There will be groups of people charged with the sacrificial service in the Temple, the priests, and laymen will not be allowed into the inner sanctum of this Temple at all. This, in short, is the message of Exodus 28,1 “and you (Moses) bring close (To Me) your brother Aaron.” Actually, the tribe of Levi had not yet been selected until after the affair of the golden calf. Moses recalls that event in Deuteronomy 10,8 and the events that had led up to it. In light of all this the fact that Moses spent 40 days and nights on the mountain each time he ascended there is very significant. The stage at which Moses‘ face radiated...

ויעל אל ההר, “he ascended towards the Mountain.” He ascended all the way to the top of the Mountain. As soon as he had completed his ascent he was told Parshat B’har, the portion dealing primarily with laws applicable only in the Holy Land. If the people were to hear these laws first, their desire to get to that land would become reinforced. After all, taking possession of that land was the reward for observing the laws of the Torah. ארבעים יום וארבעים לילה, “forty days and forty nights.” These days commenced with the morning of the seventh day of Sivan, and ended with the morning of the seventeenth day of Tammuz.