פירוש על שמות 19:4

אתם ראיתם YE HAVE SEEN — It is not a tradition in your possession, not in written words do I send a message to you, not by means of eye-witnesses do I attest this to you, but you yourselves have seen אשר עשיתי למצרים WHAT I DID UNTO EGYPT — on account of many sins were they liable to Me for punishment before they came into contact which you, but I did not exact punishment from them except on your account (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:4:1).

AND I BROUGHT YOU UNTO MYSELF. I.e., “to the place of My Glory, namely, this mountain where My Presence abides there with you.” Now Onkelos translated: “and I brought you near to My service.” [To avoid a literal translation], Onkelos adapted an expression of respect towards Him Who is on high.

אתם ראיתם אשר עשיתי למצרים "You have seen what I have done to Egypt, etc." Why did G'd stress what He had done to Egypt rather than what He had done for the Israelites, i.e. that He had taken them out of bondage in Egypt? After all, it was the latter which obligated the Israelites to accept the Torah and to accept G'd's words gladly as a gesture of gratitude. If G'd only intended to stress the miracles He had performed this would have been included in a statement such as: "I took Israel out of Egypt."

על כנפי נשרים, for I have brought you across the Sea on dry land just like eagles which cross the seas in their flight. They had also not suffered any harm during this crossing, just as the eagle transports his young on its wings protecting them against harm from below. (Deuteronomy 32,11).

ואביא אתכם אלי, “I have brought you to Me.” To the location where My glory its manifest, this Mountain where My presence is presently in residence.

And [how] I carried you (literally, “bore you up”). Onkelos translates ואשא as though it were [וְאַסִּיעַ [אתכם — viz., ואטלית יתכון “and I made you travel on eagles wings” ; he adapted the expression in a manner that is consonant with the respect due to the Most High (see Rashi). According to my understanding this "carrying" has nothing to do with carrying a burden, but really the elevation spoken of here is spiritual, just as "I will raise my hands to heaven" (Deut. 32:40). And the use of eagle is because it flies higher than any other bird, as it is written "as the eagle flies to heaven" (Prov. 23:5). If you fly high like the eagle then you will reach peaks and heights and raise all things to heaven. And the height here intends of the Highest High, the Blessed One raised B’nei Yisrael up at the time of the Exodus by directing all their affairs in a miraculous manner, splitting the sea and [giving] manna and so on, all miraculous things, out of ordinary from what the natural world behaves. It is fitting to point out that their raising was above the ways of the world, by using the idea of carrying on eagle's wings, as to say I raised you even higher than an eagle could have flown.

You do not receive it as a tradition. . . Here Rashi is answering the question: Why does it say, “You saw”? Furthermore, “seeing” applies only to things that are done, not to the act of doing. Furthermore, it is evident that the verse comes to inform B’nei Yisrael that Hashem loves them, for it concludes: “I carried you on wings of eagles.” But [you might ask:] How is His love of them apparent from what He did to Egypt? Perhaps Hashem so dealt with Egypt because they sinned, and not because He loves B’nei Yisrael. Thus Rashi explains, “There were many sins. . . yet I did not punish them. . .” (Re”m)

V. 4. אתם ראיתם, die Basis eures Gott- und Selbstbewusstseins beruht nicht auf einem immerhin Zweifel zulassenden Glauben, sondern auf eigener, selbstgeschöpfter Sinnesüberzeugung. Ganz in derselben Weise heißt es Kap. 20. 19:כה תאמר וגו׳ אתם ראיתם כי מן השמים דברתי עמכם von der Tatsache der Gesetzoffenbarung. Beide Grundwahrheiten, auf welchen das ganze Judentum beruht, יציאת מצרים und מתן תורה, die ägyptische Erlösung und die Gesetzgebung, stehen ganz auf dem Boden selbsterlebter, empirischer Sinneswahrnehmung, die jede Möglichkeit der Täuschung ausschließt, da sie von so vielen Hunderttausenden gleichzeitig gemacht worden. Beide Grundwahrheiten teilen daher den höchsten Grad der Gewissheit, sind völlig dem Gebiete eines bloßen Meinens und Glaubens entzogen, gehören dem Gebiete des Wissens an und sind somit unumstößliche Tatsachen, welche mit derselben Gewissheit wie die Tatsache unseres eigenen Daseins und des Daseins der äußern sinnlichen Welt all unserm andern Wissen zum Ausgangspunkt dienen müssen. Ihr habt gesehen, was ich gleichzeitig an Mizrajim und euch getan, wie ich die größte menschliche Macht, weil sie gewalttätig sich mir widersetzte, niederwarf, und wie ich euch, die hilflosesten, niedergetretensten Menschen, weil sie mir vertrauten und sich mir hingaben, hoch über den Bereich aller feindlichen Mächte emporhob und in unmittelbare Beziehung zu mir brachte. Ihr habt gesehen, wie Ich der Einzige bin, den die Menschen zu fürchten und zugleich der Einzige, dem die Menschen zu vertrauen haben. (Vergl. oben Kap. 14, 31.) (Die Verwandtschaft von נשר mit נזר und נצר, fernhalten und bewahren, scheint den נשר als den durch seinen hohen Flug dem Machtgebiete des Menschen geschützt Entzogenen zu bezeichnen).

1. I CARRIED YOU ALL ON THE WINGS OF EAGLES: as it is said: I raised you from to the highest heights and to the greatest greatness that I took you out from the work of slaves of slaves and I brought you with me to be servants for me that I may be the King of all Kings. And how high is the greatest that it can be for you all, that it is as if I carried you, that I lifted you all high on the wings of eagles that bloom above all [other birds]. And it might be said "on the wings of eagles" that the eagle carries its chicks upon its wings and they will not see anything, not from the outside or from below and not from flying from above in order that he lifts the bird above the rest of the birds and thus the Holy One made for Israel a pillar of fire before them and a cloud after them and a wall of water to their left and to their right, then they would not see anything because of the narrowness of the Mighty One.

ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים, “I have carried you on eagles’ wings;” Rashi comments on this that this refers to the day on which the people came to Raamses. If you were to counter that in chapter 12,37 this magic carpet referred to the day G-d transported the people from Raamses to Sukkot, we must answer that G-d referred to both these days according to Rashi.

ואשא אתכם AND I BARE YOU [ON EAGLES’ WINGS] — This happened on that day when the Israelites came to Rameses (the place where they all assembled on the night when they left Egypt) (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:4:2), because the Israelites were living dispersed throughout the whole district of Goshen and in one brief moment — when they came there to set out and to leave Egypt — they all gathered together at Rameses. Onkelos translates ואשא as though it were [וְאַסִּיעַ [אתכם — viz., ואטלית יתכון “and I made you travel” (cf. the Targum on וַיַּסַע Exodus 15:22); he adapted the expression in a manner that is consonant with the respect due to the Most High God.

And how I bore you on eagles' wings - a novel way, that no one had gone through before, just like the eagle that takes care of its young in the height of the sky, where there is no other type of bird, and this is to distinguish you from all the other peoples and their pursuits, to be for Me.

(2) I BROUGHT YOU TO ME. For Me to be to you as a God.

They all gathered at Raamses. In 12:37 it states, “B’nei Yisrael traveled from Raamses to Sukkos,” and Rashi there comments: “The distance was 120 mil, but they came there in a moment, as it says: ‘I carried you on wings of eagles’ (19:4).” [If so, why does] Rashi say here that “carried you on wings of eagles” refers to gathering at Raamses? [The answer is:] Both explanations are correct.

According to our explanation that G'd operated on two levels when He informed the Israelites of His commandments, we find that He did so also in our verse. When G'd spoke about what He had done to Egypt, He reminded the people of what would happen to anyone who does not observe His commandments. By reminding the people of how He had carried them on the wings of eagles, G'd reminded the people of the loving kindness they could expect in return for observing the Torah's laws meticulously. G'd hinted that should the Jews refuse to observe the commandments He would consider them as in the same class as the Egyptians who had refused to listen to Him and who had paid the price. The words אשר עשיתי also have an additional connotation, namely that having witnessed the great miracles G'd had performed, surely the people would stand in awe of such a G'd. The plagues G'd brought upon the Egyptians by changing the laws of nature were a simultaneous demonstration of G'd's love for the Israelites for whose sake He had gone to such lengths as to re-enact מעשה בראשית. How could someone who reminded himself of having observed G'd manifest Himself in such a manner not develop a love for G'd? The above considerations were both incorporated in the introduction כה תאמר לבית יעקב ותגיד לבני ישראל.

על כנפי נשרים, over the sea, like a bird that carries its young across a river by means of flying across it.

על כנפי נשרים UPON EAGLES’ WINGS — as an eagle which bears its fledglings upon its wings. Scripture uses this metaphor because all other birds place their young between their feet since they are afraid of another bird that flies above them, but the eagle fears none except man — apprehending that perhaps he may cast an arrow at it — since no bird can fly above it; therefore he places it (its young) upon its wings, saying, “Better that the arrow should pierce me than my young!” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:4:3). — “I, too”, said God, “did thus”: (Exodus 14:19, 20) “And the angel of God … journeyed etc…. And he came between the camp of Egypt etc.” … and the Egyptians were casting arrows and stone missiles and the cloud caught these (cf. Rashi on these verses).

A kingdom of kohanim. By accepting the Torah they would become kings even over the kohanim, because a Torah scholar is considered superior to a kohein. Thus the Sages rule that the life of a mamzer who is a scholar takes precedence over that of a kohein gadol who is an ignoramus (Horayos 13a).

As an eagle which carries. . . The Re”m’s version of Rashi says: “An alternate explanation: As an eagle. . .” And so it is in the Mechilta. For there are two different explanations here. In the first, [“wings of eagles”] refers to swiftness of an eagle, and the second refers to the manner by which an eagle “carries its fledglings on its wings.”

ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים, "I carried you on eagles' wings." G'd went on at length about the feats of love He had performed for the Jewish people. He wanted to show how great was the reward when one performs His commandments because of a feeling of love for G'd. Of course, it requires a great deal of emotional fortitude to always relate to G'd from feelings of love. G'd wanted to encourage such feelings in the Jewish people by reminding them that He had already demonstrated that He treated them as a father treats his son. The "wings of eagles" are a reference to the ענני הכבוד, the clouds of G'd's glory, which were spread beneath the feet of the people so that they did not have to step on obstacles. Moses reminded the people of that in Deut. 8,4: "your feet never swelled during these forty years." Whereas a mere hint such as אשר עשיתי is sufficient to awaken fear of retribution, more words of endearment are required in order to induce love in people. Hence G'd had to be more eloquent about the acts of love He had performed.

ואבא אתכם אלי AND I BROUGHT YOU UNTO MYSELF — Explain this as the Targum does: “and I have brought you near to My service”.

ואבא אתכם אלי, "and I brought you close to Me." In this verse G'd reminded the Jewish people that He had taken the first step to bring them close to Him. This was very remarkable since we have explained repeatedly that the normal procedure of making progress of a spiritual nature is for man to take the first step. In taking the first step to elevate Israel to a higher spiritual level G'd had demonstrated His love for the people in an extraordinary manner. In our mundane life we also always observe that the lower classes make attempts to establish some contact with the higher classes, not vice versa.

G'd also wanted to remind the people that even after He had taken them out of Egypt they had not shown Him the obedience due but had rebelled, such as at the Sea of Reeds, before they received the manna and the quail, etc. Nonetheless G'd had made every effort to bring them close to Him.

G'd also hinted at what is spelled out in greater detail by the author of the Haggadah shel Pessach who says: "if G'd had not taken our forefathers out of Egypt when He did, both we and our forefathers would have remained there enslaved to Pharaoh, etc." The reason that G'd brought us out at the time was in order not to let us sink still deeper into the moral morass that was Egypt, a depth that we could not have rehabilitated ourselves from, ever. G'd therefore rescued us and brought us to a holy place. We have to understand the word אלי as the contrast to the deep moral abyss that was Egypt.

G'd also wanted to answer the argument that seeing He had offered the Torah first to the Ishmaelites, to the Edomites, etc., and these people had declined to accept it (compare Yalkut Reuveni on Numbers 23,4), how did G'd demonstrate any special love for Israel by offering us the Torah? The answer is that G'd had merely sent messengers to these other nations asking them if per chance they wanted to accept His laws. In Israel's case, He had made it so much easier for this nation to accept the Torah by raising us first to be closer to His spiritual level. When G'd had offered the Torah to the other nations He did so in order to be able at some stage in the future to deny them certain privileges as a penalty for having spurned the Torah. Not so in the case of Israel. G'd had done everything possible to pave the way for acceptance of Torah by the Jewish people. There was no comparsion between the way G'd related to both Ishmael and Esau and the way He related to Israel.