פירוש על שמות 33:5

רגע אחד אעלה בקרבך וכליתיך WERE I TO GO UP AMONG THEE ONE MOMENT, I SHOULD CONSUME THEE — If I were to go up amongst you and you rebelled against Me in your stiff-neckedness I would be angry with you but one moment — for this is the duration of His wrath (Berakhot 7a), as it is said, (Isaiah 26:20) “Hide thyself for a short moment, until the indignation be passed” — and I would consume you; therefore it is better for you that I should send an angel.

רגע אחד אעלה בקרבך וכליתיך, whereas at this time you are mourning about My not being personally in your midst, (verse 3) you fail to understand that this is intended for your benefit, and may save you from instant extinction. You are, after all, such a stiff-necked people unwilling to respond to admonition, even though at the revelation of Mount Sinai you had become equipped to attain spiritual perfection.

אמור לבני ישראל, “say to the Children of Israel, etc.;” G’d now explains that the absence of His essence in their midst would be to their advantage, not as they had thought that it would be a sign of estrangement. Nonetheless, they had done well in considering themselves as in mourning and not wearing any decorative jewelry. They should always react to their own sins by observing a state of mourning, i.e. demonstrating that they were ashamed of their conduct. G’d would then take note of their penitence and react in accordance with the sincerity of their remorse.

Immediately, that you will remove your ornaments from yourselves. . . It means: I will do this to you immediately. The word “now” does not relate to that which preceded, as it does in: “Now here is your wife, take her and go” (Bereishis 12:19), and: “Now your two sons” (ibid. 48:5). [Rashi knows this] because our verse cannot be so explained. This is because the preceding statement is for their good. [To save them from destruction,] God is sending the angel rather than going Himself. Whereas this phrase, “Now remove your ornaments,” is a punishment. You might ask: Is it not written in v. 4 that they took off their ornaments of their own accord, as it is written, “No man wore his ornaments”? The answer is: There, they just removed them temporarily, out of mourning. But here, Hashem told them to remove them permanently.

ועתה הורד עדיך מעליך, these were the garments the Israelites wore when Moses sprinkled the blood of the covenant on them. It was the blood of the sacrifices offered by the firstborn at Mount Sinai. It was known as עדי ישראל, “the jewelry of Israel.” They were called thus as they symbolised glory and great honour, seeing that this blood was the visible sign of the covenant concluded between G’d and the people of Israel. I have already drawn attention to this in my commentary on Exodus 24,8.

V. 5. ויאמר im Gegensatz zu וידבר V. 1: erläuternd, zu Herzen redend. אתם וגו׳ וכליתיך: dass ich meine Beziehung zu euch und eurem Geschicke wieder auf die Stufe der von Gott geführten בני נח zurücktreten lasse (siehe Kap. 31, V. 34), bedingt eure eigene Fortexistenz. Gottes besondere Beziehung zu Israel und Israels besondere Beziehung zu Gott haben ja das doppelte Ziel: Gottes Walten über der Menschen Geschicke und Gottes Gesetz für der Menschen Tat an die Menschheit zu offenbaren. Beides gehört wesentlich zusammen. Soll Israels Geschick Gottes Walten offenbaren, so muss sein Leben ein Spiegel des göttlichen Gesetzes für die Menschentat sein. Eine besondere Gottesführung eines sündenvollen Volkes würde das Sündhafte als Gottes Willen verkünden und den diametralen Gegensatz zu dem mit Israels Erwählung beabsichtigten Zweck bewirken. Das Volk, das als "Gottesvolk" dastehen soll, muss als Muster des Gehorsams gegen Gottes Gesetz dastehen. Jede seiner Abweichungen vom Gottesgesetze wird durch den Namen, den es trägt, zu dem todeswürdigen Verbrechen des חלול השם, der Heiligsprechung des sittlich Schlechten im Namen Gottes, und die Rettung der Erkenntnis des göttlichen Sittengesetzes im Kreise der Menschen fordert züchtigende Rüge von Verirrungen des Gottesvolkes, die in Mitte anderer Völker ungerügt hervortreten. Es ist dies die faktische Anwendung des Prinzips, das einen Schlüssel zu Israels Geschichte bietet, und das sich in dem בקרבי אקדש. (Wajikra 10. 3) hinsichtlich aller den Stempel besonderer Gottesnähe tragenden Menschen ausspricht, und als Schlüssel der Geschichte Israels in dem Prophetenworte gegeben ist: רק אתכם ידעתי מכל משפחות האדמה על כן אפקד עליכם את כל עונתיכם (Amos 3, 2). — ועתה הורד וגו׳: siehe V.4.

ועתה הורד עדיך מעליך, “and now, take off your ornaments!” This command is difficult to understand as the Torah had already reported the people as having no longer put on their jewelry without having been ordered not to put it on. (Compare Exodus 33,4) Presumably, the people did not put their jewelry on for a day as a sign of mourning, but had put it on again on the following day. They had to be told therefore that at least as long as they had not atoned for their sin they were not allowed to wear ornaments. Rabbi Joseph Kara of blessed memory, explained verse four in our chapter, which reported the Israelites as not having put on their jewelry, as referring to the festive garments, the ones they had worn at the time the Ten Commandments had been revealed to them. This was the meaning of Exodus 19,14, where after immersing themselves in a ritual bath in preparation for that that event, they are described as putting on their garments. Had they been the same garments they had worn before immersing themselves in a ritual bath, the Torah certainly did not have to tell us that. They had had their jewelry removed from them by angels sent for that purpose to make them conscious of their great sin, as reported in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat folio 88. This is also the meaning of Exodus 33,6: ויתנצלו בני ישראל, “they stripped themselves; An alternate explanation: the meaning of the words in verse 4: ולא שתו וגו', is that they took off their uniforms, as if saying that unless G–d will march with us we will not agree to fight for possession of the land of Canaan. When G–d heard that He told them that instead of taking off their military uniforms they better take off their jewelry instead for as long as He would tell them what he had in mind for them.

הורד עדיך מעליך, “remove your jewelry from your persons!” this sounds strange as the Torah had already reported that the people had not put on their jewelry. They were told not to wear it, as it is more embarrassing to be denied the right to wear jewelry than to simply abstain from doing so from their own free will. In other words, by obeying G-d’s command to abstain or even remove the jewelry they had taken another small step in their moral rehabilitation.

ועתה AND NOW — This punishment shall be inflicted upon you now, at once, viz., that you should put off your ornaments from you.

ועתה הורד עדיך מעליך, this spiritual preparedness which you attained at the revelation is something that G’d does not unilaterally remove from the people as we have a rule that gifts are not revoked without the consent of the recipient. Our sages have phrased it thus in Taanit 25 (where the golden leg miraculously given to Rabbi Chanina was taken back only after he had prayed for it to revert to where it came from.)

הורד עדיך מעליך, “remove your jewelry from yourselves!”

I know what I have in My heart. . . I.e., it does not mean that through their removing the ornaments, He will know what to do with them, as the verse seems to imply. [Rashi knows this] because removing the ornaments is not a cause for God to know what to do with them.

ואדעה מה אעשה לך AND I KNOW WHAT I SHALL DO UNTO THEE — In respect to the visitation for the remainder of the sin which still remains unpunished (cf. Rashi on Exodus 32:34) I know what is in My mind to do unto you.

ואדעה מה אעשה לך, for once you do this as an admission of your guilt you will not be guilty of the ultimate punishment.