פירוש על דברים 33:2

ויאמר ה' מסיני בא AND HE SAID, THE LORD CAME FROM SINAI — First he began with praise of the Omnipresent, and only afterwards did he begin with what concerned Israel; but in the praise of God with which he began there is also mention of Israel’s merit. All this was by way of intercession, as though to say, “These are worthy that blessing should rest upon them” (Sifrei Devarim 343:1).

THE ETERNAL CAME FROM SINAI. Moses states that the Eternal came to Israel from Sinai, for it was from there that He caused His Divine Glory to dwell among them and never departed from them again. The purport thereof is as follows: The Glory came down upon Mount Sinai, as it is said, And the Eternal came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mount; and the Eternal called Moses etc.,¹⁴Exodus 19:20. and there it [the Glory] remained all the days that Moses ascended and descended the mountain, as it is said, And the appearance of the Glory of the Eternal was like devouring fire on the top of the mount etc.¹⁵Ibid., 24:17. And when the last [i.e., the second] Tablets were given to him [Moses], the Glory rested in the tent of meeting [Moses’ own tent], as it is stated, And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the door of the tent, and He spoke with Moses,¹⁶Ibid., 33:9. and it is further written, And the Eternal spoke unto Moses face to face etc.¹⁷Ibid., Verse 11. This continued from the Day of Atonement until the first day of Nisan when the Tabernacle was permanently set up. See Vol. II, pp. 574-576. When the Tabernacle was set up, the Glory rested therein, as it is said, Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the Eternal filled the Tabernacle,¹⁸Exodus 40:34. and all communications to Moses came from there during all the years in the wilderness.

ויאמר , before he commenced with his blessing in verse 25 with the words ברזל ונחושת מנעלך, he pronounced a list of prayers addressed not to the people but to G’d, in order to prepare the ground for his blessings when he intoned it to become effective. Words of blessing are invariably addressed to the recipient of the blessing directly. When G’d instructed the priests to bless the Jewish people, part of that instruction was: אמור להם, “say to them!” (Numbers 6,23) All Moses’ words from verse 25 on are couched in this traditional mode of phrasing a blessing.

ויאמר, ה׳ מסיני בא, He said: "Hashem came from Sinai, etc." Our sages in the Sifri understand this to mean that G'd came towards the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, וזרח משעיר למו, and that on the way towards the Jewish people He first offered the Torah to the descendants of Esau (who lived in Se-ir). The words הופיע מהר פארן would mean that G'd also offered the Torah to the Ishmaelites whose abode was in the desert of Paran. The difficulty with this exegesis is why would the Torah mention the Ishmaelites last when, geographically speaking, G'd would have first encountered the Ishmaelites, seeing He is described as coming from Sinai? Furthermore, we need to know why the Torah employs three different verbs for describing G'd's arrival, i.e. בא, זרח, הופיע? Why did the Torah not simply lump all this together by writing: "He came from Sinai, Se-ir and Paran?" Besides, why did the Torah first mention the place when referring to Sinai, whereas it describes G'd's "shining" or "appearing" before mentioning where this took place, i.e. Se-ir or Paran respectively?

ה' מסיני בא, and there He manifested Himself to the Children of Israel and gave them His Torah.

ה' מסיני בא, “Hashem came from Sinai, etc. “ Nachmanides writes that this is in accordance with how our sages portrayed G’d as having offered the Torah to the various nations of the earth, and the nations refusing to accept it, each for reasons of their own. Moses refers specifically to the descendants of Avraham including the descendants of Esau, who had two of the patriarchs in common with the Jewish people. Seeing that they were not willing to accept the Torah, His glory descended onto Mount Sinai to offer it to the Jewish people. It is possible to explain the words מסיני בא, “He came from Sinai,” as simply meaning that this was not the last stop on G’d’s journey inviting other nations to accept the Torah, but His first stop-on earth, so to speak, -the first time that G’d allowed His Presence to reside on earth again permanently since Adam had sinned in the garden of Eden. G’d’s Presence remained in that region during all the time that Moses spent on the Mountain, on and off. Once Moses had received the second set of Tablets, this Presence of Hashem, the שכינה, resided temporarily over Moses’ own tent until the inauguration of the Tabernacle. Ever since that occasion, G’d’s communications with Moses all emanated from the Tabernacle, i.e. from the lid of the Holy Ark between the cherubs.

He began with the praise of Hashem, etc. Rashi is answering the question: What relationship is there between the praise of Hashem and the blessings of the tribes? Thus he explains, He began, etc.

V. 2. מסיני בא .ויאמר וגו׳, nicht לסיני בא, sondern מסיני: vom Sinai trat Gott in Israels Mitte ein (הופיע ,זרח ,בא .(מכילתא פ׳׳תרו, oder vielmehr הופיע, בא ,זרח sind fortschreitende Stufen einer Lichterscheinung. הופיע ist das erste Heraustreten aus dem Dunkel, eine das kommende Licht ankündigende Helle. יפע (verwandt mit יפח hauchen) entspricht dem Anbrechen des Tages. זרח ist der Strahlenwurf (verwandt mit זרע, ausstreuen), die Morgenröte; das Licht ist noch fern, seine Strahlen dringen jedoch bereits zu uns. Mit בא steht das Licht in unserem Zenith. קומי אורי בי בא אורך וגו׳ (Jes.60, 1 — 3). Das ganze Bild sagt dort, wenn über Israel die Sonne Gottes leuchtet, ist dies Morgenröte für die übrigen Völker.) שעיר ist עשו, ישמעאל :פארן (Bereschit 21, 21). Es dürfte hier gesagt sein: die abrahamitische Verheißung hätte sich auch an Ismael und Esaw erfüllen können; allein schon als sich von Ismael Paran und noch mehr als später sich von Esaw Seir gestaltete, wies deren Charakteristik darauf hin, dass die Verwirklichung der Gottesverheißung noch auf ein anderes, späteres Geschlecht zu warten hätte, das sich nun endlich in Israel dem Einzuge der Gottesherrlichkeit auf Erden mit Empfang der תורה darbot. Das למו ist auch auf הופיע zu beziehen. Mit Ismael kündigte sich für Israel der Tag an, mit Esaw leuchtete nach ihm hin das Morgenrot, mit מתן תורה am Sinai trat das Gotteslicht in Israels Mittagslinie ein. Ähnlich ספרי z. St. הלך אצל בני עשו ואמר להם מקבלים אתם את התורה usw. (siehe daselbst). —ואתה מרבבות וגו׳. Eine Einsicht in die verschiedenen Stellen, in welchen אתה vorkommt, scheint zu ergeben, dass dasselbe vorzugsweise nicht sowohl ein örtliches Hinkommen, das Hinkommen zu einem Orte, sondern das Hinkommen zu einer Person und zwar insbesondere ein erwartetes Hinkommen ausdrückt. רבבות קדש sind die Myriaden im Dienste Gottes stehender Geister, zu deren Charakter קדש, die unwandelbare Bereitschaft für das im Dienste Gottes zu betätigende Gute gehört, deren Natur die Möglichkeit zu fehlen versagt ist, die, wie es Ezechiel 1, 9 heißt, לא יסבו בלכתן, nie abweichen in ihrem Wandel, für die somit ebenfalls ein Gesetz nicht berechnet ist, das geistig-leiblichen, zum freien Gottesgehorsam berufenen, und daher mit der Abirrungsfähigkeit begabten Wesen das Regime ihres Lebens bringen soll. Nicht שעיר und פארן und auch nicht רבבות קדש waren für dies Gesetz geeignet.

ה' מסיני בא, “The Lord had come from Sinai;” some commentators understand this phrase as meaning: “the Lord, Whose glorious presence, shechinah, emanates fro Sinai, etc;” we find an example of such a construction in Psalms 134,3: יברכך ה׳ מסיני, “may the Lord Whose glorious presence emanates from Sinai, bless you;”

מסיני בא [THE LORD] CAME FROM SINAI — He went forth towards them when they were about to take their stand at the foot of the Mount, — as a bridegroom goes forth to welcome his bride, as it is said, (Exodus 19:17) “And Moses brought the people forth to meet God”: this teaches us that He (God) was Himself going forth facing them (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:17:1 and Rashi on the verse quoted).

'ה, this is an exclamation mode.

וזרח, its light shone

וזרח משעיר למו, “after having shone forth from Seir in its direction.” After the people had started journeying from Mount Sinai in the direction of the land of Canaan, the cloud symbolizing His Presence hovered over the desert of Paran from where Moses dispatched the spies. After that debacle, the Presence of Hashem went into voluntary exile until in the fortieth year when the people had reached the borders with Edom it re-appeared as is indicated by Deut. 2,7 כי ה' אלוקיך ברכך בכל מעשה ידך וגו', “for the Lord your G’d has blessed you in all your undertakings, etc.” From that point on the Shechinah did not again depart from the encampment of the Jewish people. When G’d had appeared to them coming from Se-ir, He was as a shining light for them and the period of mourning that had commenced after the episode of the spies had come to an end. This being the case, the time had come when they could hope to defeat Sichon and Og in battle, though they were warned not to attack or harass the Moabites and Edomites.

[He] also mentions the merit of the Israelites, etc. Otherwise, why not begin with the praise that He created the world or other praises of Hashem?

We may best understand this when considering why the Torah had not been given to Jacob who, after all, had raised twelve sons all of whom were loyal to the Abrahamitic tradition. Midrash Hagadol on Genesis 32,2 says that the Shechinah does not come to rest on an assembly of fewer than 600,000 (Jews or angels). Giving the Torah to the Jewish people required the presence of 600,000 as the Torah reports that G'd descended on Mount Sinai for the occasion (Exodus 19,20).

AND HE SHONE FORTH FROM SEIR UNTO THEM. For after they journeyed from Sinai the cloud abode in the wilderness of Paran,¹⁹Numbers 10:12. and from there Moses sent the spies, as it is said, And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran.²⁰Ibid., 13:3. As a result of the spies’ report, the people were banished,²¹Yerushalmi Taanith III, 4. The term “banished” suggests a form of censure and excommunication, when the Divine utterance was not communicated to Moses. and there was no Divine communication to Moses until they came to Seir,²²Deuteronomy 2:1-2. at the border of the children of Esau, at the end of the forty years, as it is said there, For the Eternal thy G-d hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; He hath known thy walking through this great wilderness; these forty years the Eternal thy G-d hath been with thee.²³Ibid., Verse 7. Now, at the time, when they arrived at Seir, the Eternal was again to them an everlasting light and the days of their mourning were ended,²⁴Isaiah 60:20. and He commanded them to be heedful of Ammon and Moab [not to take their lands]. At that time He said that they should begin to possess their land²⁵Above, 2:31. the land of Sihon and Og, the two great Amorite kings.

אש דת ,מימינו אשדת למן, diese beiden als ein Wort geschriebenen Worte bilden einen Begriff. דת kommt nur hier als Begriffsbezeichnung der תורה vor. Es ist gleichsam der kosmische Begriff der תורה, Bezeichnung dessen, was die תורה im Welthaushalte Gottes bedeutet. אש ist die in allen physischen Wesen Bewegung, Veränderung und Leben gestaltende Kraft, das אש שחורה, das dunkle, unsichtbare Feuer, wie es die Weisen (דברים רבה עקב) nennen, durch welches sich die ewigen, von Gott gegebenen Weltgesetze in allen seinen Geschöpfen vollziehen. Dieses in allen Geschöpfen, ihnen unbewusst, von ihrem Willen unabhängig, durch das höchste Bewusstsein und den höchsten Willen, durch Gott gesetzte und gewollte, und durch die Allmacht seines Willens sich vollziehende Gesetz, sollte für das zur sittlichen Freiheit berufene Geschöpf, sollte für den Menschen nicht in ihm, ohne sein bewusstes Wollen sich vollziehen, sollte an ihn zur freien Aufnahme in Geist und Willen herantreten, und das ist die תורה. Sie ist nichts, als das an den Menschen ausgesprochene, in allen übrigen Geschöpfen sich aussprechende Gottesgesetz; durch seine Erfüllung nimmt erst der Mensch bewusstvoll und frei die Stelle ein, welche alle übrigen Wesen bewusstlos und unfrei erfüllen, es ist das "Gesetz gewordene Feuer". Und מימינו, es ist Gottes helfende und stützende Heilesrechte (siehe Schmot 1, 5 u. 6), die ihnen dieses Gesetz reichte. Ratlos, halt- und hilflos ist der Mensch ohne dies sein innerstes Wesen und seine Bestimmung ihm deutende, und damit ihn des Beistandes seines und seiner Welt Schöpfers und Meisters versichernde Gesetz. Es kommt seinem innersten Bedürfnis entgegen (Ps. 19, 8).

וזרח משעיר למו, “and He shone forth from Seir, to them;” the sunrise is witnessed each morning from the East of the land of Israel, the sun breaking forth from behind the mountains of Seir. It appears as if lightning suddenly illuminated the earth. [According to our author, these mountains are situated to the east of Mount Sinai. On our maps this is not quite so, as these mountains are more northern than easterly from Mount Sinai. Ed. ] הופיע מהר פארן, “He manifested Himself from the mountain of Paran. [This mountain is also assumed to be situated to the east of Mount Sinai. Ed.] The concept of G-d making His appearance from an easterly direction of the universe is seen as a tribute to the people of Israel, meaning that the Lord came forward toward them. According to Rashi on Numbers 34,3, on the words: ממדבר צין, where he elaborates in an unusually lengthy manner on the geography of that region, this is to be understood as a sign of His fondness of the people.

וזרח משעיר למו AND HE SHONE FORTH FROM SEIR UNTO THEM (the Israelites), because He first addressed Himself to the sons of Esau (the inhabitants of Seir) that they should accept the Law, but they refused,

מסיני בא וזרח וגו' אש דת למו. Moses recalls the Israelites’ merit in order that his prayer on their behalf be accepted. He therefore tells G’d, that at the time when He came from Sinai and became manifest in a number of locations to Israel, the word קדש in the expression מרבבות קודש does not refer only to the myriads of angels but to the totality of Torah, and that the experience of holiness by Israel at the time emanated from the “right” side of this emanation, i.e. the people experienced what is known in kabbalistic parlance as אספקלריאה מאירה, “a clear undistorted vision.”

from Se-ir and Paran. How was that possible? שאתה מרבבות קודש, from all the four sides (exposures) of Mount Sinai the light accompanied the angels on the way from Se-ir and Paran until it arrived at Sinai. From the right side of Mount Sinai G’d gave the Torah to the Jewish people out of the fire, for He had been speaking to the people out of the fire. We have been told this explicitly in Deut. 4,33 השמע עם קול אלוקים מדבר מתוך האש כאשר שמעת אתה ויחי?, “for has any nation ever heard the sound of G’d’s voice speak to it out of the fire as you heard it and has survived such an experience? We also find this confirmed in Psalms 68,18 רכב אלוקים רבותים אלפי שנאן ה' בם סיני בקודש, “G’d’s chariots are myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them as in Sinai in holiness.” The same thought is repeated in his own words by Chabakuk 3,3 when he said: אלו-ה מתימן יבוא וקדוש מהר פארן סלה כסה שמים הודו ותהלתו מלאה הארץ, “G’d is coming from Teyman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His majesty covers the skies, His splendour fills the earth, is a brilliant light.” In the victory song of Devorah (Judges 5,4) we also find a reference to this great happening; she wrote: ה' בצאתך משעיר בצעדך משדה אדום, ”O Lord when You came forth from Se-ir, advanced from the country of Edom; etc.”

הופיע מהר פארן, “He had appeared from Mount Paran.” This was where G’d became the people’s guiding light once they entered the great and forbidding desert; G’d looked out for all their needs. The expression הופיע is analogous to Job 10,3 על עצת רשעים הופעת, “that You should shine on the counsel of the wicked?”

He went out to meet them, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Why it written from Sinai? It should have said to Sinai. Therefore, he explains, He went out to meet them, etc. The explanation being that He was already at Sinai, and when Yisroel came, He went out from Sinai to meet them as it says, And Moshe brought the people toward (לקראת) [the Divine Presence of] Hashem, [leading them] out of the camp.” And the expression לקראתם (to meet them) is appropriate only when one is coming to meet the other.

How do we reconcile this statement with the opinion offered in Avot 3 that even if two people discuss words of Torah the Shechinah is present? Knowledgeable scholars explain that the first statement refers to the total presence of the Shechinah, whereas the statements we find in Avot regarding the presence of G'd when 10 or even fewer Jews engage in Torah is a reference to a portion of the Shechinah. This "portion" of the Shechinah suffices to inspire the people studying Torah to gain greater insights. The degree of insights afforded such people studying Torah varies with the number of people involved in such study. The fewer the number, the smaller the input due to the Shechinah.

HE BEAMED FROM MOUNT PARAN — He regarded them and placed their needs in the light of His countenance emanating from Mount Paran. The sense thereof is as follows: The beginning of their entry into the great wilderness was from Paran, as it is said, And the children of Israel set forward by their stages out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud abode in the wilderness of Paran.¹⁹Numbers 10:12. Then G-d shone forth upon them to see what they needed in the great and dreadful wilderness.²⁶Ibid., 8:15. This expression is similar to, and Thou didst shine forth upon the counsel of the wicked,²⁷Job 10:3. meaning that You have observed and seen with Your great light all their secret thoughts.

דות die Wurzel von דת, kommt nur noch rabbinisch in der Bedeutung דות, einer nicht in der Erde gegrabenen, sondern oberirdisch gebauten Zisterne vor. Dieser Begriff einer oberirdisch, somit in der Ebene, im Bereich der Menschenhantierungen veranstalteten Sammlung des ihm vom Himmel gespendeten, für sein physisches Leben notwendigsten Elementes spricht sich, wie uns scheint, von selbst in zutreffendstem Maße zugleich als Bezeichnung der Sammlung der von Gott für die Fassung des Menschen gegebenen Weisungen für sein sittliches Leben aus. Übertragen finden wir dann später דת im Buche Esther auch als Bezeichnung einer von menschlicher Herrschaft erlassenen Weisung.

מימינו אש דת למו, “at His right hand was a fiery law unto them.” That the right side is one which symbolises fondness we know from Song of Songs 2,6: וימינו תחבקני, “and His right hand embraces me.”

הופיע מהר פארן HE APPEARED FROM MOUNT PARAN, because He went there and addressed Himself to the sons of Ishmael (who dwelt in Paran, see Genesis 21:21) that they should accept it and they also refused (Sifrei Devarim 343:6; Avodah Zarah 2b),

הופיע מהר פארן, He shone forth from Mount Paran.

ואתה מרבבות קודש מימינו אש דת למו, “He approached with some of His myriads of holy (angels) flanked on His right by His fiery Torah.” Although He was preceded when approaching them by tens of thousands of angels, when it came to presenting the Torah, He did so personally, with His right hand.

To them. Rashi is explaining why the verse does not say to whom He appeared. Therefore he explains to them, i.e., to Yisroel. But regarding [He] radiated forth from Se’ir, he does not have to explain because there it is written to them (למו),” referring to Yisroel mentioned above.

When the Torah mentions here that G'd came from Sinai, this is a reference to the totality of the Shechinah. It arrived to welcome the people of Israel. On the other hand, when G'd approached the tribe of Esau and Ishmael respectively, He employed only a small portion of the Shechinah. One such portion appeared to Se-ir, the other to the Ishmaelites in Paran. What the Torah describes here is the return of these two "portions" of the Shechinah which had "offered" the Torah to the nations mentioned. This is why mentioning Sinai first is perfectly in order as the bulk of the Shechinah had never departed from the encampment of the Jewish people at Sinai. The very words זרח and הופיע are only descriptions of the insignificant parts of the Shechinah which appeared to these nations. We find a similar expression in Makkot 23 where the Talmud describes the appearance of Holy Spirit in the hall of the academy with the words הופיע רוח הקודש בבית דינו של שמואל. The Edomites (descendants of Esau) enjoyed a relatively greater portion of the Shechinah on that occasion than the Ishmaelites as their biological relationship to the Jewish people is closer than that of the Ishmaelites.

AND HE CAME ‘MEIRIVEVOTH KODESH’ (FROM THE HOLY MYRIADS), AT HIS RIGHT HAND WAS A FIERY LAW UNTO THEM. He is stating that the Glory came to Israel from the countless holy ones of the Most High who descended upon the mountain with Him, similar to what is stated, The chariots of G-d are myriads, even thousands upon thousands; the Eternal is among them, as in Sinai, in holiness.²⁸Psalms 68:18. At His right hand was a fiery law unto them, meaning: the fiery law came to them from His glorious right hand²⁹Isaiah 63:12: He caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses. not from the hand of the aforementioned angels, but from the right hand of G-d, Himself and His Glory. And it is possible that meirivevoth kodesh means “from the abundance of His holiness,” for holy, holy, holy is the Eternal of hosts³⁰Isaiah 6:3. with all terms of holiness.

Lautverwandt ist דות mit דוד, der Bezeichnung einer zum väterlichen Beistand berufenen Verwandtschaft, dem Vaterbruder (siehe Wajikra 25, 49) und begegnen wir auch hier der parallelen Bedeutung דוד: Behälter. Vielleicht ist damit auch die Wurzel דדד in דד, die Mutterbrust, verwandt.

אשדת, spelled in the text as a single word, but read as if it had been written: אש דת.

ואתה AND HE CAME therefore to Israel,

אש דת למו, “the fiery Torah toward them.” Hashem displayed for the people heavenly fire and let them hear heavenly voices, similar to when Moses had described this spectacle in Deut. 4,36 ועל הארץ הראך את אשו הגדולה, “and, while you remained on earth, He showed you His great Fire.”

To the Israelites. Rashi is answering why it does not say to whom He came? Thus he needs to explain, To the Israelites.

We have now explained all the nuances in our verse including the fact that Sinai is mentioned at the outset as the source from which the Shechinah travelled to these other nations. The purpose of the whole verse is to demonstrate the spirituallly high level of the Jewish people at the time which made it possible for Moses to bestow such far-ranging blessings upon them both collectively and according to their respective tribes. Moses acted no differently from Isaac when he prepared himself to bless Jacob and asked him to approach his father so that he could kiss him (Genesis 27,26). Extolling Israel's superiority put them in a suitable frame of mind to receive the blessing just as being kissed by his father put Jacob in the right frame of mind to receive the blessing.

And the meaning of ‘eish dath lamo’ (a fiery law unto them) is like dath eish (a law given with fire), just as he said, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire.³¹Above, 5:21. Or its meaning may be like “fire ‘and’ the law to them,” the verse mentioning that He showed them the fire from on high and He made them hear the law. This is similar to what is stated, and upon earth He made thee to see His great fire; and thou didst hear His words out of the midst of the fire.³²Ibid., 4:36. And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the verse also states that the fire, which is the law, is at His right hand, because the attribute of justice is comprised also of mercy.
And in the opinion of our Rabbis³³Abodah Zarah 2b. the sense of the verse is that from Sinai He came to give the Torah to Israel, for it was from there that He appeared to them. And He shone forth from Seir to them, that is, to Israel, for He had appeared to the children of Esau to give them the Torah, and, when the children of Esau refused to accept it, He shone His countenance upon Israel and He gave it to them with His right hand and His arm, and the light of His countenance, because He was favorable unto them.³⁴Psalms 44:4. And He beamed and showed them His radiance and the beauty of His Presence from Mount Paran when the children of Ishmael refused the Torah. Thus Moses mentions that the merit of Israel was great when the rest of the nations did not wish to accept the Torah. Now he mentioned all the seed of Abraham — that not one of them desired the Torah except for Israel, but He also appeared to all nations to give it to them and they did not desire it, according to what has been transmitted [to us] in the tradition of our Rabbis.³³Abodah Zarah 2b.

מרבבת קדש — i.e. and with Him were a part of the myriads of the holy angels, and not all of them and not even the majority of them: not as is the way of a human being who displays all the splendour of his riches and magnificence on his marriage day (Sifrei Devarim 343:11).

Part of the myriads of sacred angels, etc. Rashi is explaining that the מם of מרבבות means part of and not from. His proof is that we do not find anywhere a place called רבבות. Perforce the מם here means part of, and this is easy to understand. Re”m explains that if the מם here means from, it would mean that Hashem left the myriads of sacred angels and came by Himself. If Rashi had not added the words with Him, the verse would be saying that part of the myriads sacred angels came, and this is not understandable [because why did they not all come], unless one adds the words with him. Rashi adds the words מלאכי (angels) before the word קודש (sacred), because the word sacred is [an adjective] that applies to something [a noun], such as in the verse (Shemos 22:30), אנשי קודש (men of holiness). And here [the noun is] the angels. Until here are his words.

You will do well to read what I have written on Genesis 48,8 where Jacob asked Joseph who the two lads were whom he had brought to be blessed. Moses' display of love for the Jewish people is part of his many outstanding characteristics.

אשדת (lit., “fire, Law”, or “fire of Law”) — i.e. the Law which had been written before Him from olden times in black fire upon white fire (Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 1). The meaning of the verse is: He gave to them (למו) upon the Tablets the writing of His right hand (cf. Talmud Yerushalmi Shekalim 9:1). Another explanation of אש דת: Understand this as the Targum has it: a law which was given them from the midst of the fire (cf. Exodus 19:18).

In black flame on white flame. As people commonly write with ink on paper. The verse has to rearranged according to this explanation as if it is written, from His right [hand] to them—the flaming Torah law. And the explanation of the verse is as follows, From the writing of His right hand He gave them a law, which is the Torah that is written in black fire on white fire. (Re”m)

ואתה מרבבות קדש, and arrived with the myriads of holy ones. According to Rashi who quotes Sifri, the letter מ preceding the word רבבות means that G'd was accompanied only by some of the myriads of holy beings, or at least the Torah describes it in this fashion to demonstrate the "humility" of G'd. According to this view the word ואתה means "He brought." This is certainly not the plain meaning of this word. On the other hand, if we understand the word ואתה to mean "He came," there is no proof that G'd was accompanied by even some of His holy hosts. Perhaps those commentators thought that there was no need to mention that G'd was accompanied by merely some of His myriads of holy hosts and that therefore He was accompanied by all of them. What the Torah does tell us then is that though G'd was accompanied by all these myriads of holy hosts He did not leave them in a terrestrial domain.

Another interpretation, — אש דת as rendered by Targum [Onkelos], etc. [Rashi gives two interpretations] because according to the first interpretation one has to rearrange the [words in the] verse; therefore he gives another interpretation, etc. But according to the other interpretation one can ask that it should have said מאש דת, meaning from the fire, i.e., from white fire [as according to this interpretation there is no need to have both black and white fire]. Therefore he also needs the first interpretation.

If we ignore the conventional explanations we may view what is written here as a reflection of the spiritual level of the Jewish people. The Torah tells us that G'd left behind Him in the Celestial Regions the myriads of holy hosts and instead came to take up residence amongst the Jewish people here on earth. The word ואתה means that G'd arrived for a permanent visit with the Jewish people, making them His people and His inheritance. The Zohar on Terumah item 140 describes the anguish experienced by these heavenly hosts when they became aware that G'd had moved His abode to the "lower" terrestrial regions.

מימינו אש דת למו, from His right hand He presented the fiery Torah to them. This is the reason why G'd chose to take up residence on earth and departed from the myriads of holy beings in the Celestial Regions. We find something analogous in Shemot Rabbah 33,1 explaining Exodus 25,2 as a parable describing a king who had an only daughter who stipulated to his son-in-law to be that there must always be room in his house for him. G'd considered the Torah His only daughter and when He gave it to Israel He stipulated that there be a place for Him also amongst the Israelites. The Torah explains that the reason G'd left His abode in the Celestial Regions was that He had given His "right hand," i.e. the Torah, to the Jewish people and He could not bear being separated from the Torah.

The reason the Torah describes the Torah as אש דת instead of as דת אש is in order for the word אש, "fire" or "fiery" to appear next to the word מימינו, "on His right." The Torah emphasises that when G'd gave the Torah to the Jewish people He did so with His right hand as well as with His left hand. The word אש symbolises G'd's left hand, as it stands for the emanation גבורה. This is the mystical dimension of the statement in Devarim Rabbah 3,12 that the Torah (parchment) was white fire inscribed with black fire. It is also the deeper meaning of Avot 6,1 that studying the Torah provides תושיה, wisdom, through the emanation of גבורה and עז וממשלה, strength and authority derived from the emanation חסד.