Kommentar zu Schemot 19:3

ומשה עלה AND MOSES WENT UP on the second day of the month (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:3); for all his ascents to the mountain were made early in the morning, as it is stated (Exodus 34:4) “And Moses rose up early in the morning [and went up unto mount Sinai]” (Shabbat 86b).

AND MOSES WENT UP UNTO G-D. From the day they arrived at Mount Sinai, the cloud covered the mountain and the Glory of G-d was there. It is with reference to this that Scripture says, And the Glory of the Eternal abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days,¹⁴⁹Further, 24:16. i.e., before the Giving of the Torah. It is for this reason that Scripture says here, And Moses went up unto G-d, meaning that he went up to the edge of the mountain to be ready for Him, but he did not penetrate the thick darkness where G-d was.¹⁵⁰Ibid., 20:18. And the Eternal called unto him from the top of the mountain, saying: Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob.
And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote that the expression, and He called unto him, is an antecedent, meaning that He had called him [to come up to the mountain] and he went up to Him. But this does not appear to me to be correct, for the calling [mentioned in Scripture after Moses ascended the mountain] was: Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob. Now Ibn Ezra explains the verse to mean as follows: “And the Eternal called unto him to say¹⁵¹Thus Ibn Ezra here interprets the word leimor, which is generally taken to mean “saying,” as meaning “to say.” The sense of the verse is thus: And Moses went up to G-d, for He had called him out of the mountain to tell him, “Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, etc.” to him, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob.” But this is not correct.
The meaning of the expression, he went up unto G-d, and the Eternal called unto him, is that Moses went up towards the Glory of G-d, which was abiding on the mountain to declare the Ten Commandments to Israel, and with His Great Name [the Tetragrammaton] He would speak with Moses, as is the meaning of the verse, If there be a prophet among you, etc.¹⁵²Numbers 12:6. If there be a prophet among you, I the Eternal do make Myself known unto him in a vision… My servant Moses is not so… with him do I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches (Verses 6-8). See also Ramban in this chapter, further, Verse 20.

ומשה עלה אל האלוקים, "and Moses went up unto G'd." Why did Moses go up before G'd had asked him to come up? Where to exactly did Moses go up? If he ascended the Mountain, why did the Torah not say so? Shemot Rabbah 28, bases itself on Psalms 68,19: עלית למרום, "you went up to celestial regions." If we accept this Midrash at face value, why did G'd afterwards have to call upon Moses from the Mountain if he was already in the celestial regions? Besides, why does the Torah describe Moses as going up to האלוקים instead of to השם seeing that when G'd called to him from the Mountain G'd is described as השם?

ומשה עלה אל האלוקים, “and Moses had ascended to G’d,” this means he had proceeded to the edge of the Mountain. Clearly, there had been evidence that G’d’s presence was resting above the top of that Mountain ever since the day that the Israelites had arrived at that location. Moses’ purpose was to keep in readiness to enter the ערפל, the thick cloud, behind which a manifestation of G’d could be found. (compare 20,18)

כה תאמר לבית יעקב, “So you shall say to the House of Yaakov.” Moses was to address the women. The word כה means he was to speak to them in Hebrew. The word תאמר means he was to speak to them kindly. The reason G’d told Moses to address the women first was to teach them ethics and general rules of behavior. Furthermore, in order to make the women receptive for further Torah legislation, Moses gave them an overview of the headings and subject matters that the Torah contains. They needed special preparation for all this as their minds function differently from the minds of men, seeing that their daily tasks did not allow them so much free time to think about their spiritual needs as did the minds of the men.
Moreover, a good woman is the main reason Torah has a future. The mother encourages her young son to attend a Torah-academy; seeing she is at home throughout the day she is the one who responds to the various needs, both real and imagined, of her children. She protects them against all kinds of dangers. She does all this so that he will cleave to the path of Torah also when he becomes old (Proverbs 22,6). This is why it is incumbent upon a woman to pray to G’d at the time she lights the Sabbath candles, a commandment which is especially addressed to her, that He may grant her children who will learn Torah and observe its precepts. Any prayer is more likely to evoke a positive response when it is offered at a time when one performs a commandment.
The merit acquired by lighting the Sabbath candles which provide physical light helps her children to become Torah scholars. This is alluded to by Solomon in Proverbs 6,23 כי נר מצוה ותורה אור, that by lighting a candle to provide physical light when one is performing a מצוה, the result will be the spiritual light dispensed by her children who have studied Torah.

On the second day. . . [Rashi knows this] because the intent of the verse is not to conceal, but to explain. And since we find elsewhere that when Moshe ascended the mountain it was early in the morning, we cannot say that here Moshe ascended on the day they came [at some unspecified time]. Also, we cannot say that Moshe ascended [early in the morning] on the third of the month, for it is written (v. 8), “Moshe brought the words of the people.” This was on the day following [Moshe’s ascent], i.e., the third of the month, [as Rashi explains there]. And it is written (v. 9), “Moshe told the words of the people. . .” which was on the fourth of the month, as Rashi explains there. Therefore, if Moshe first ascended on the third of the month, [everything would be pushed one day later and] the giving of Torah would not be on the sixth of the month.

(Exodus 19:3) "And Moses went up to G d": This was on the second day. "and the L rd called to him": We are hereby apprised that the calling preceded the speaking. "Thus shall you say": "thus" — in the holy tongue. "Thus" — in this order. "Thus" — on this matter. "Thus" — that you do not detract and that you not add. "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob" — the women, "and speak to the children of Israel" — the men. "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob" — "gently"; "say" — Give the women the basic ideas. "and speak to the children of Israel": "speak" in detail to the men.

V. 3. Während das Volk sich dem Berge gegenüber lagerte, war Mosche als ihr Abgesandter zu Gott hinangegangen, damit eben das Bereitsein des Volkes zur Erfüllung der Bestimmung: תעברון את האלקי׳ בהר הזה zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Indem er aber hinanging, rief Gott ihm von der Höhe hinab zu: כה תאמר וגו׳. Es enthält dies den Grundgedanken dessen, was Gott unter עבודת אלקי׳ verstehe. Dem בית יעקב, der Familie, und insbesondere den Trägern des Familienlebens, den Frauen soll dieser Grundgedanke in das Gemüt hinein gesprochen und erläutert werden; den Söhnen Israels, in dieser Gegenüberstellung speziell den Männern, תגיד, soll er vollständig vergegenwärtigt und, um ihn nie aus den Augen zu verlieren, gegenüber gestellt werden.

ומשה עלה, “and Moses had ascended;” he ascended the Mountain on the second day of the month, i.e. on a Tuesday. He had not done so spontaneously but in response to an invitation by G-d, Who had called to him from the Mountain to address the whole nation, i.e. כה תאמר לבית יעקב וגו', “thus you shall say to the house of Yaakov, etc.”Some commentators believe that Moses did ascend the Mountain without having asked for permission in order to enquire how precisely to serve G-d there. He did so as G-d had told him in Exodus 3,12 in response to his enquiry why the Jews were going to be redeemed long before the 400 years of which G-d had spoken to Avraham in Genesis chapter 15 had been concluded. At that time G-d had told him that the people would accept the Torah at this mountain, and that in anticipation of that they were being redeemed ahead of time, “on credit,” so to speak. Actually, we find that the Israelites offered sacrifices near the Mountain prior to the revelation as reported in chapter 24,46.

כה תאמר THUS SHALT THOU SAY — Thus, i. e. in this (the Hebrew) language (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:3) and in this form of words.

ויקרא אליו ה' מן ההר לאמור, “Hashem called out to him from the Mountain, saying:” According to Ibn Ezra G’d had called to Moses already before he ascended, but had not given him any specific instructions. Nachmanides writes that Moses did not receive any call until after he had ascended, at which time G’d told him:כה תאמר לבית יעקב,”you shall say to the house of Yaakov, using precisely these words, etc.”

ותגיד לבני ישראל, “and tell the Children of Israel.” He commanded them to both instruct and warn them to observe the commandments as well as to acquaint them with the penalties in store if they would fail to observe G’d’s laws. This is implied in the word תגיד, i.e. the word is derived from גידין, “wormwood,” an extremely bitter vegetable. The word is spelled with the letter י in the middle to remind us of the connection with גידין. There is no other occasion in the whole Bible where the word הגדה, telling, informing, is spelled with the letter י such as here. Compare Joshua 7,19 and Isaiah 58,1 where the word הגד refers to revealing one’s sins. Even in those instances we do not find the letter י. This explains why our sages (Shabbat 87) have seen fit to interpret the word here as they did.

And in this order. I.e., first to the women, and then to the men.

We have to understand what transpired in conjunction with G'd having told Moses already at the burning bush (3,12) that when the Israelites would arrive at this Mountain they would serve the Lord there. The term used there was את האלוקים. Moses, ever the faithful servant of the Lord, did not wait until he would be commanded to ascend the mountain but did so on his own initiative. There was no need to identify where Moses ascended to since the Torah had last spoken about the Mountain. The reason the Torah mentions Moses' destination as being אל האלוקים is precisely because it was the reason for his ascent. Moses felt that if he waited until he would be asked to ascend this would demonstrate both lethargy on his part, perhaps even unwillingness. This clears up all the apparent peculiarities in this verse. We do not believe that our approach contradicts the explanation offered by the Midrash as we view G'd's presence on the Mountain as including the Mountain in the celestial regions.

ותגיד לבני ישראל, “and explain in detail to the Children of Israel!” According to Rashi, the reason for the apparent repetition, the first part of the verse is addressed to the women who will be told in a brief outline, whereas the second part is addressed to the men in far greater detail emphasizing reward and punishment for observance or non observance of the Torah commandments. He derives the word ותגיד which is uncharacteristically spelled with the letter י in the middle as derived from the word גיד, meaning “a tough sinew,” as a hint that some of the commandments will be found to present a real challenge for those willing to observe them. According to the plain meaning of the text, however, the words: ותגד לבני ישראל, refer to verse 4 where G-d tells Moses: אתם ראיתם, ”you have seen, etc.” The reason why this is the preferable version is that homiletic explanations never speak in terms of the future, but always in terms of the past. Here G-d instructs Moses concerning what he is to do in the future when he addresses the people.

לבית יעקב TO THE HOUSE OF JACOB — This denotes the women — to them you shall speak in gentle language (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:3).

לבית יעקב, “to the house of Yaakov.” This was a reference to the Jewish women.

Say it to them in a gentle voice. See Re”m on this. It seems to me that [Rashi knows this] because we find that דיבור is speaking in a harsh manner, as in: “The man in charge of all the land spoke ( דבר ) to us harshly” (Bereishis 42:30). Thus we may deduce that אמירה is speaking in a gentle manner. Furthermore, it is written: “And Yoseif said ( ויאמר ) to his brothers, ‘I am Yoseif’” (ibid. 45:3). And it is written: “Yoseif said ( ויאמר ) to his brothers, ‘Please approach’” (ibid. v. 4). And it is written: “Yoseif said ( ויאמר ) to them, ‘Do not fear’” (ibid. 50:19). From all these we see that ויאמר is gentle speech.

ויקרא אליו השם. G'd called out to him. As soon as G'd noticed that Moses was ascending, G'd called out to him. You have to remember that it is in the nature of קדושה, sanctity, not to make the first move towards a person until that person has made active preparations to welcome such sanctity. The Zohar third volume page 92 phrases it is as "invitations from the terrestrial regions being followed by invitations from the celestial regions." This is the mystical dimension of Genesis 2,6: "and a vapour rose from the earth and it irrigated (from above) the whole surface of the earth." When the Torah uses the term ויקרא for G'd calling to Moses it alludes to יקר, precious, (which is part of the word ויקרא.

ותגיד לבני ישראל AND TELL THE CHILDREN (lit., the sons) OF ISRAEL — explain to the men the punishments and the details of the commandments in words that are as hard (distasteful) as wormwood (גידין) (cf. Shabbat 87a; Midrash לקח טוב‎).

ולבני ישראל, “and to the Children of Israel.” This was a reference to the men. The reason why the women, in this case, have been mentioned first, is that at the dawn of history, Chavah, the first woman, who had not personally been warned by G’d not to eat from the tree of knowledge, not only ate from it but also gave her husband to eat from it. By telling Moses now to address the legislation to the women first, G’d wanted to ensure that the communication failure in Gan Eden would not be repeated. Seeing that the women had been honored to receive their share of the information before their husbands, this would make them more fiercely loyal to observe the commandments in every detail. The fact that this psychology worked was demonstrated about 43 days later when the women refused to hand over their gold jewelry to help in making the golden calf. Another possible way of explaining the difference in meaning between the expression בית יעקב and בני ישראל is that the former refers to the people presently at Mount Sinai, whereas the latter refers to as yet unborn generations of Jews.

מן ההר לאמור, from the Mountain, saying: Seeing that the word of G'd originates in the upper regions of the Heavens, for G'd had not yet descended on the Mountain, the Torah had to tell us that G'd commanded His voice to travel via the Mountain. Moses would hear G'd's instructions from there. The voice would travel in a straight line, in a very narrow channel and Moses would not hear it until he arrived on the Mountain. The two statements 1) ויקרא אליו השם, followed by מן ההר לאמור are to tell us that the word of G'd became audible only once it had "arrived" on the Mountain. Had the Torah not added the word לאמור, I would have thought that G'd's presence had already descended on the Mountain, something which was not the case.

כה תאמר לבית יעקב..אתם ראיתם, Thus you shalll say to the house of Jacob:…"you have seen, etc." Why did the Torah repeat itself by first saying תאמר and right afterwards תגיד? Our sages in Shemot Rabbah 28,2 explain that the term בית יעקב refers to the women who have to be addressed by אמירה, the soft-spoken approach, whereas to the בני ישראל Moses was to speak in words that were קשים כגידים, tough as sinews. The difficulty with this comment is that we have no evidence that Moses adopted a different mode of speech when he spoke to the men. He spoke to the men and women simultaneously; he either adopted the soft-spoken method or the hard line, but at any rate he is on record as only making one single address. The Mechilta understands the directive in verse 6 commencing with אלה as a warning not to either add or subtract a single word from what G'd instructed Moses to say. Even if we were to point to verse six where G'd said "these are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel" as a directive to speak sternly to the men only, where is there any mention that Moses addressed the women separately? It is also difficult to detect any harshness in the words Moses directed at the Israelites!

I believe I know how we have to understand what G'd had in mind. Let us first remind ourselves that it is an accepted principle of the Torah that the Lord G'd of Israel is always concerned with bestowing good on His creatures, more so even than the creatures themselves are anxious to become the recipients of such good. This principle applies in an even greater degree to G'd's chosen people. G'd employs His wisdom in order to give us a chance to acquire merits so that He has reason to increase the reward He wants to give us for מצוה performance. G'd has revealed, for instance, that the reward in store for someone who keeps the commandments out of fear that he will be punished if he fails to keep them is only half of the reward in store for people who observe such commandments out of a feeling of love for G'd. We know this from two verses dealing with the reward in store for keeping the commandments. In Deuteronomy 7,9 the Torah mentions G'd as keeping a reward in store for those who love Him for a thousand generations, whereas in Exodus 20,7 G'd is on record as doing the same for two thousand generations. [In the celestial regions G'd has administrators known as שר. Some of these administrators are in charge of rewards extending for one thousand generations, others are in charge of rewards extending for two thousand generations, compare Pardes Rimonim, Ed.] The reward in store for people who observe the commandments because of fear is entrusted to a שר האלף, a celestial administrator of a lower order, whereas the reward in store for people who observe the commandments out of a feeling of love for G'd is administered by a שר in charge of a higher order, i.e. שר האלפים.

While performance of the מצות out of a feeling of love for G'd is something very noble, it is also accompanied by a potentially dangerous phenomenon inasmuch as the very love one feels for G'd may make one careless. As a result, one may occasionally trespass and violate a commandment, and even assume that due to one's overall love for G'd and His Torah He would overlook such minor infractions. The reason one feels that way is because this is the way one treats one's friends and wants to be treated by them. In order to understand Moses' behaviour we must keep such considerations in mind. Moses was on such intimate terms with G'd that on occasion he permitted himself unbecoming remarks such as in Exodus 4,13 when he told G'd "send whom You are in the habit of sending." Another occasion when Moses permitted himself an unbecoming comment was in Exodus 5,22 when he asked G'd: "why did You make things worse for the people instead of saving them?" The only reason Moses could make such a slip was because he felt so close to G'd that he lost his sense of awe when facing G'd, something that would never have happened to a person less intimate with G'd. The fact is that G'd does not indulge people with whom He is intimate, He does not apply less stringent yardsticks when judging those who are close to Him. We have G'd on record in Deut. 10,17 as "not regarding persons i.e. not showing preference to those who are close to him, nor accepting a bribe." On the contrary, the closer a person has come to G'd the more exacting the yardstick by which G'd measures him. When a person who is close to G'd commits a minor infraction he is disciplined as we know from Psalms 50,3 וסביביו נסערה מאד, "those who are around Him (close to Him) are greatly agitated." Baba Kama 50 explains this to mean that G'd is so exacting with the pious people even if they deviate only by a hair's breadth.

When G'd was about to give the Torah to the people He intended to make that event one which would bestow the maximum merit on them. He had two options. 1) To address them with words of love and fondness. The result of such an address would be to implant in the people so much love that they would accept the Torah and qualify for the maximum amount of reward. The disadvantage accompanying such a method of giving the Torah would be the risk that the people would begin to feel so familiar with G'd that they would lose their sense of awe; this could become counter- productive; we have already described possible results of such feelings of familiarity with G'd. In other words, our relationship with G'd may either be based on the master-servant relationship or on the father-son relationship. If it is the former the feeling of awe before G'd will be present at all times, whereas if it is the latter there is always the danger that the "son" may take the love of the "father" for granted and abuse it on occasion. G'd's second alternative was to address the children of Israel in His capacity as a Master speaking to His servants. The advantage of such an approach was that the Israelites would not dare take any of the commandments lightly. On the other hand, such an approach would make it impossible for them to merit the greatest reward possible.

Keeping all this in mind, G'd opted for a method which would combine both approaches. When He told Moses כה תאמר, He meant that Moses should use the following approach: תאמר לבית יעקב ותגיד, "on the one hand speak to the people in a friendly soft-spoken approach, but תגיד employ also words tough as sinews." G'd meant for the אמירה to be used in Moses' address to some of the people, i.e. בית יעקב, whereas the תגיד was to be used when he addressed the בני ישראל, the remainder of the people. The בית יעקב is a reference to the spiritually less mature part of the people, whereas the term בני ישראל referred to the spiritual elite. Inasmuch as the elite was capable of accepting the Torah and observing it out of a feeling of love for G'd, they had to be reminded of the master-servant relationship which exists between G'd and us; the spiritually less mature section of the people, the בית יעקב on the other hand, had to be won over by stressing the father-son relationship which is part of our relationship with G'd. Every Jew needs to be aware of this dual relationship at all times if he wants to achieve the maximum reward that one can qualify for, and if he wants to avoid the pitfalls of feeling an undue familiarity with G'd. When the sages in the Midrash said that the בית יעקב refers to the women this is homiletics.