Comentario sobre Exodo 20:19

כה תאמר THUS THOU SHALT SAY — in this (the Holy) language (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:19:1).

YE YOURSELVES HAVE SEEN THAT I HAVE TALKED WITH YOU FROM HEAVEN. He commanded that Moses tell them: “Since you yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven and that I am Master in heaven and upon the earth, do not combine gods of silver or gods of gold⁵⁶⁵Verse 20. with Me, for you have no need of another aid with Me.” The purport of the verse is: Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, and ye shall not make unto you gods of gold. In my opinion, the explanation of the verse is as follows: “Do not make gods of silver or gods of gold to be to you for gods with Him; and ye shall not make them altogether.” Thus He warned against believing in them, and again warned against merely making them, similar to the verse, Neither shall ye rear you up a graven image, or a pillar.⁵⁶⁶Leviticus 26:1. There too He first admonished against believing in the idols — Ye shall make you no idols, i.e., to believe in them — and then He warned against the mere making of them. By way of the Truth, [the mystic lore of the Cabala], the meaning of the word iti (with Me) is like the Expression al panai (before My face),⁵⁶⁷Above, Verse 3. and I have already alluded to its explanation.⁵⁶⁷Above, Verse 3.
Rashi wrote: “That I have talked with you from heaven. But another verse states, And the Eternal came down upon Sinai!⁵⁶⁸Ibid., 19:20. There comes a third verse to harmonize them: Out of heaven He made thee to hear His Voice, that He might instruct thee; and upon earth He made thee to see His great fire.⁵⁶⁹Deuteronomy 4:36. His Glory was in heaven, and His might was [manifest] upon the earth.” Thus Rashi’s language. But it is not precise.⁵⁷⁰Ramban’s intent, as is evident from the text which follows, is to this effect: The harmonizing of the verses is correct, for so it is stated in the Mechilta, but that which Rashi added: “His Glory was in heaven, etc.,” is not precise, as will be explained that the Glory was upon Mount Sinai. The harmonizing of the verses is indeed a Midrash of the Sages,⁵⁷¹Mechilta on the verse here. and it is true that G-d was in heaven, and His Glory was upon Mount Sinai,⁵⁷²This is unlike Rashi, who wrote that “His Glory was in heaven.” for G-d was in the fire, and it is written, Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spokest with them from heaven.⁵⁷³Nehemiah 9:13. Thus, it is stated that He was in heaven and His Glory was upon Mount Sinai. All the verses in their various expressions are thus clear to all who know [the mystic teachings of the Cabala]. I have already explained it all above.⁵⁶⁸Ibid., 19:20. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote that he who has a discerning heart will understand the meaning thereof in the section of Ki Thisa.⁵⁷⁴Further, 33:21. In harmonizing the above-mentioned conflicting verses, Ibn Ezra also suggests that His Glory came down upon Mount Sinai and the Voice was heard from heaven. This is identical with Ramban’s explanation, and Ramban praises him for it. The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious.⁵⁷⁵Ecclesiastes 10:12.

אתם ראיתם כי מן השמים דברתי עמכם, we need to understand this in terms of Psalms 113, 5-6 המגביהי לשבת המשפילי לראות, “enthroned on high, sees what is below, in heaven and on earth.” [The psalmist does not perceive of heaven and earth as being two totally separate domains being separated by some sort of impenetrable barrier making it necessary for G’d to come to earth to see what is going on down here. Seeing that the whole universe is full of His glory at all times, this would be impossible. Rather, He perceives of a gradual transition between the two domains, without any visible void or barrier between them. G’d’s raising men or “lowering” Himself, is a figure of speech, describing merely that when He so wants it both domains can merge. At the revelation of Mount Sinai, such a merging of these domains had taken place. Ed.]

אתם ראיתם כי מן השמים דברתי עמכם, “you have seen that I spoke with you from the heaven.” Seeing that all the Israelites had witnessed with their own eyes all the miracles G’d had performed beginning with the ten plagues in Egypt and now culminating in the giving of the Torah, G’d repeated both at the beginning (19,4) of the Decalogue and at its end the words: “you have seen.” At this point G’d wanted to clarify that though His attribute כבוד had been at Mount Sinai, the voice they heard had not emanated from Mount Sinai but from heaven, as I have already explained previously.

In this language. But here, [unlike 19:3,] Rashi does not explain it as, “In this order.” For here, the order does not matter.

VV. 19-—23. Diese fünf enthalten die bedeutsamste und folgenreichste Konsequenz aus der Tatsache der Unmittelbarkeit unserer Beziehung zu Gott, die durch die Offenbarung am Sinai von dem ganzen Volke und jedem einzelnen in ihm durch eigene Wahrnehmung erfahren worden.

אתם ראיתם כי מן השמים דברתי עמכם, “You have seen that I spoke with you from the heavens. G-d points out that although He spoke to them from the heavens they still did not see any image of His glory. Moses makes that same point again in Deuteronomy 4,15, where he relates what transpired at Mount Sinai to the new generation. Seeing that this is so, you are also not to make an image symbolising Me, as you never saw an original that you could have made a copy of. Even if you were to use precious metals such as silver and gold, this would not do justice to Me.

אתם ראיתם YE HAVE SEEN — There is a difference between what a person himself sees and what others relate to him, for what others relate to him sometimes his heart is divided in its opinion so that he does not believe (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:19:1).

Sie haben gesehen, dass Gott unmittelbar mit allen und jedem gesprochen, haben damit gesehen, dass es keines Mittlers und keiner Vermittlung bedarf, auf dass Gott uns nahe trete. Dies soll für immer jeden Versuch bei uns verbannen, irgend etwas, — sei es auch, um uns Gott dadurch zu vergegenwärtigen, — neben Ihm zu gestalten. Wenn Gott uns sich und seine besondere Gegenwart uns sichtbar werde machen wollen, so werde es der Segen sein, in dem wir seine besondere Nähe gewahren sollen; nicht in einem Bilde, in seinen Wirkungen sollen wir Gott erschauen und seiner gewiss werden. —

כי מן השמים דברתי THAT I HAVE SPOKEN [TO YOU] FROM HEAVEN — But another verse states, (Exodus 19:20) “And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai”, and thus the two verses appear to be contradictory! There now comes a third verse and harmonises them: (Deuteronomy 4:36) “Out of heaven He made thee hear His voice that He might instruct thee; and upon the earth He showed thee His great fire” — His glory was in the heavens but His fire and His power were upon the earth. Another explanation: He bent down the heavens and the heavens of heavens, and spread them out upon the mountain; similarly it states, (Psalms 18:10) “He bowed the heavens and came down” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:19:2) .

Wohl wird Symbolisches in unserer Mitte sein, symbolische Darstellungen, symbolische Objekte, symbolische Handlungen, allein — da liegt der schneidende Gegensatz aller jüdischen Symbolik — es soll das nichts sein, dessen der Mensch bedarf, um sich das Göttliche, sondern dessen Gott bedarf, um dem Menschen das von Ihm, Gott, geforderte Menschliche zu vergegenwärtigen.