Comentario sobre Exodo 19:17

לקראת האלהים [AND MOSES BROUGHT FORTH THE PEOPLE …] TO MEET GOD — This (the word לקראת, “to meet”, which is used when two persons are approaching one another) tells us that the Shechina was going forth to meet them, as a bridegroom who goes forth to meet his bride. This is what Scripture means when it says, (Deuteronomy 33:2) “The Lord came from Sinai”, and it is not said, “[The Lord came to Sinai” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:17:1).

לקראת האלוקים, toward the army of angels forming the entourage of the Divine presence, in anticipation of the descent of the Shechinah on the mountain in verse 20.

ויוצא משה את העם, Moses lead out the people, etc. Perhaps this was necessary because the people had become afraid of the Mountain by now. Moses took them to the edge of the Mountain so that they would accept the Torah while standing there.

ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר, “they positioned themselves (beneath), at the base of the Mountain.” This teaches-as our sages have taught us- that G’d had made the Mountain assume a threatening posture, such as an inverted bucket above one’s head. This exerted psychological pressure on the people to declare their willingness to accept the Torah, as they felt that unless they did so the Mountain would crush them. There are sages who feel that in spite of the previously expressed willingness of the people to accept the Torah, this referred only to the written Torah and not to the oral Torah. The threatening posture of the Mountain persuaded the people to also accept the oral Torah. The background to that interpretation is the wording of the people who had said כל אשר דבר ה' נעשה ונשמע, “everything that Hashem has said we will do and learn to do.” They had not said: “everything G’d is going to say we will do, etc.” Rabbi Joseph Kimchi disagrees, claiming that the people’s acceptance had been comprehensive. The posture of the Mountain is to be understood as something after the event, G’d hinting that the people had done well to accept the Torah already, as a refusal might have had dire consequences, to wit the mountain collapsing upon them. G’d hinted that although He could put up with the refusal of the other nations to accept His Torah, He would not have come to terms with the Israelites’ refusal.

ויוצא משה את העם לקראת האלו-הים מן המחנה, “Moses took the people toward G’d out of the camp.“ The “camp” mentioned here was the camp of the 600,000 Israelites. The words לקראת האלו-הים mean toward the “camp of G’d”, i.e. the area where the ministering angels who had descended from heaven had made their camp. According to Tanchuma Tetzaveh 11 the number of ministering angels who had assembled there matched the number of male adult Israelites. When Yaakov (Genesis 32,3) “saw the camp of G’d” this is what he saw already at the time. He named the camp מחנים, “two camps,” as he envisaged a “return trip” by these angels to earth on the occasion of the revelation at Mount Sinai. Alternately, he envisaged the two camps, the Israelites and the angels taking up position, one opposite the other.
In Song of Songs 7,1 Solomon referred to these two camps when he said: כמחולות המחנים, “as a dance by angels.” Solomon mentions the word שובי, “turn back,” four times in that verse in Song of Songs as the Jewish people experienced four periods of exile during each of which they were urged by their host countries to abandon their religion in favour of the local religions. We, nowadays, who are in the fourth of these exiles are the subject of the last of these four שובי, i.e. to us applies the author’s paraphrasing שובי ונחזה בך, “return so that we may make out of you rulers, people in authority.” based on Yitro’s use of the words ואתה תחזה מכל העם, “and you appoint from among all the people, etc.” (Exodus 18,21).
In Shir Hashirim Rabbah our sages interpret the word שולמית [a word occurring in lieu of the name Israel, Ed.] as a composite of אומה אשר שלום העולמים דר בתוכה“a nation in whose midst dwells the One Who represents eternal peace.” That nation is perceived as responding: מה תחזו בשולמית, “what authority can you possibly offer to a nation such as me?” Israel shuns all that the nations of the world have to offer as they cannot match what we have already experienced at Mount Sinai when we were chosen by G’d as His people. This is the meaning of the words כמחולות מחנים, it is impossible to duplicate the joy that pervaded the Jewish people when they saw themselves as paired with 600,000 angels, their equal, at least. Our sages in Taanit 31 have elaborated on this theme when they said that in the future G’d will arrange dances for the righteous in Gan Eden. In view of all this the “Shulamit” spurned all the offers from the Gentile nations to accord them honour and distinction. Our sages in Shemot Rabbah 29,2 have further stated that 22,000 angels participated at that sacred site. They were the angels closest to the Shechinah, closer than the 600,000 angels we mentioned already They are referred to in Psalms 68,18 as רכב אלו-הים רבותם אלפי שנאן, “G’d’s chariots are myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands.” The number of these angels corresponded to the number of 22,000 Levites who had taken up position around the Holy Ark which was within the Tabernacle. Psalms 144,15 proclaims “hail to the people who have experienced this.” At the time the people saw the 4 figures Ezekiel had seen surrounding the throne of G‘d. This is alluded to in the word שנאן which is an acrostic for the creatures supporting the throne of G’d in Ezekiel’s vision i.e. שור, אריה, נשר, plus the letter ן which symbolizes אדם. Five major angels named אוריאל, רפאל, גבריאל, מיכאל, (נוריאל) were seen by the Israelites at that time, the first four representing whole encampments surrounding the Shechinah and presided over by the fifth angel נוריאל who “rode” above the others. This concept has been called ארגמן by Solomon when he wrote in Song of Songs that G’d’s chariot is Argaman (Song of Songs 3,10). The idea described at length in Bamidbar Rabbah 2,2 of the reason for the Jewish camp being provided with flags also goes back to what they experienced a few months earlier when they saw the flags held by the angels. This evoked in them a desire to be given flags also, a request which G’d honored at the time the Tabernacle was erected. According to another Midrash the experience of listening to G’d’s voice at Mount Sinai was of such overwhelming proportions that each time the people heard a word (commandment) their soul escaped their bodies. They were revived immediately, i.e. they experienced multiple resurrections on that day. This is also alluded to in Song of Songs 5,6 when Israel is quoted as recalling: נפשי יצאה בדברו, “my soul departed when He spoke.” A similar Midrash is found in Devarim Rabbah according to which the sun stood still five times for the sake of Moses; they were the day of the Exodus, the day the Israelites had crossed the Sea of Reeds; the day of the battle against Amalek; the day on which the Torah was given, and on the day the Israelites observed the rivers of blood in the river Arnon (Numbers 21,14-15).

This tells that the Shechinah came out. . . Meaning: The word לקראת is used only when two parties approach one another, as in: “Behold, he (Aharon) is setting out to meet you” (4:14).

ויתיצבו, “they stood at attention;” the expression ויתיצבו, as opposed to the normal ויעמדו, for “they stood,” is the reason why our sages said that the mountain had assumed a threatening posture, i.e. they felt that unless they agreed in advance to accept the Torah, they were doomed to die there. (Compare Talmud, tractate Shabbat folio 88). How can we reconcile this with the statement on the same folio that the people by saying: נעשה ונשמע, (Exodus 24,7) “we are ready to accept the laws of the Torah before we have even heard any details” had paid G–d the greatest possible compliment? We need to say that when G–d wanted to give the Torah to Israel, they asked Him how many different Torahs He had at His disposal? He told them that He had both a written and an oral Torah at His disposal. They answered that they were willing to accept the written Torah, but could not promise to accept the oral Torah. As soon as G–d heard this, the mountain began to assume a threatening posture, and they became frightened. (Tanchuma on the portion section 58, paragraph 3) This is what caused the Talmud on folio 88 in Shabbat, to coin the expression that at Mount Sinai the Jewish people accepted the Torah under great moral/psychologial pressure, whereas during the period of Achashverosh, in exile, they accepted it wholeheartedly without any external pressure. (Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah, second section item 389). G–d is supposed to have wrapped a sword inside the Torah, implying that unless they accepted the Torah they would die by the sword. This is also supposed to be the reason why the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 1,19, wrote: אם תאבו ושמעתם טוב הארץ תאכלו ואם תמאנו ומריתם, חרב תאכלו כי פי ה' דבר, “if you agree and give heed, you will eat the good things of the earth; but if you refuse and disobey, you will be devoured by the sword.” What occasion did the prophet have in mind when he wrote these words? None other than when the people stood at attention at Mount Sinai. This is also the meaning of a famous liturgical poem in the prayers recited on Shavuot which begin with the words: ראשית עטיפת הזיין צהלה ורנה, [none of these liturgical poems are found in the machzorim in use in eretz yisrael. Ed.]

.ויוצא משה את העם, “Moses brought forth the people;” some commentators claim that Moses brought them forth because without his urging they were too scared to come forward.

בתחתית ההר AT THE NETHER PART OF THE MOUNTAIN — According to its literal meaning this signifies “at the foot of the mountain”. But a Midrashic explanation is, that the mountain was plucked up from its place and was arched over them as a cask, so that they were standing בתחתית beneath (under) the mountain itself (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:17:2; Shabbat 88a).

And arched over them like a barrel. You might ask: Since they had already said (24:7), “We will do and we will listen,” [why was this necessary]? Tosafos in Shabbos 88a already answered: Because they might otherwise retract when they see the great fire, and their souls depart. A further answer: They said, “We will do and we will listen,” regarding the Written Torah. But the mountain arched over them so they will accept the Oral Torah. It was for their benefit that Hashem forced them, as now the Shechinah will not leave them and He will not cast them off. For it is written regarding a woman forced into relations (Devarim 22:19): “She shall be his wife; he may not cast her away all his days.” (Mahara”i)

ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר, “they took up a position at the base of the Mountain” due to the lightning and thunder. Rashi here writes that G-d threatened to bring down the Mountain upon them. This sounds strange, as they had already expressed their willingness to accept the Torah without examining what is written therein. [Exodus 24,7, that whole chapter describes events prior to the revelation Ed.] We would have to understand this Rashi as referring to the Israelites accepting the oral Torah which they had not yet accepted.