Chasidut su Esodo 19:8
וַיַּעֲנ֨וּ כָל־הָעָ֤ם יַחְדָּו֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה נַעֲשֶׂ֑ה וַיָּ֧שֶׁב מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֥י הָעָ֖ם אֶל־יְהוָֽה׃
Ed il popolo tutto rispose insieme, e disse: Tutto ciò ch’il Signore ha parlato, eseguiremo. E Mosè rapportò [cioè andò a rapportare] al Signore le parole del popolo.
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 19,8“Moses brought back the people’s response to G’d.” A look at the Or Hachayim will show that the author did not understand this verse to mean that Moses brought G’d the people’s “answer,” as G’d was aware of this answer and did not need Moses to report this to Him. Moses “told” G’d of the people’s response in order to make them more beloved in His eyes. He emphasizes especially that the people had not said: נשמע ונעשה, “we will listen to G’d’s commandments and then perform them,” implying that they would listen conditionally, but that they had said: נעשה ונשמע, “of course we will carry out the commandments, only let us hear them, so that we will know what to do.”
Another aspect of this verse is that Moses in reflecting on the people’s response, realized that this response must have been forthcoming as the result of Divine inspiration as there are simply no normal people who would write such a “blank cheque”, not knowing the amount that would be filled in. This thought is also expressed in the Talmud Shabbat 88 where the Talmud reports that at the moment when the Jewish people said: נעשה ונשמע, a heavenly voice was heard asking: ‘who told these people the secret of this formula that is reserved for the angels?’ (compare psalms 103,20) where the psalmist quotes them saying “Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His servants who do His will; etc.” In that verse too the angels are described as doing G’d’s “word”, עושי דברו, before having heard G’d issue the command, לשמוע בקול דברו. The reason the angels did so was that they wanted to parallel, to equal what the Israelites had done. Moses realized upon reflecting on this that if the Israelites had responded with a similar reaction to the message Moses had brought them from the celestial regions, that they must have had a heavenly assist, i.e. have been inspired by G’d to do so. The verse describing Moses as “bringing the people’s response to G’d,” meant that he told G’d that he knew that the people had been inspired by Him to respond in the manner that they did. Expressed differently, Moses told G’d that he was aware that it had been G’d’s wish that they respond in the manner that they did.
Another aspect of this verse is that Moses in reflecting on the people’s response, realized that this response must have been forthcoming as the result of Divine inspiration as there are simply no normal people who would write such a “blank cheque”, not knowing the amount that would be filled in. This thought is also expressed in the Talmud Shabbat 88 where the Talmud reports that at the moment when the Jewish people said: נעשה ונשמע, a heavenly voice was heard asking: ‘who told these people the secret of this formula that is reserved for the angels?’ (compare psalms 103,20) where the psalmist quotes them saying “Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His servants who do His will; etc.” In that verse too the angels are described as doing G’d’s “word”, עושי דברו, before having heard G’d issue the command, לשמוע בקול דברו. The reason the angels did so was that they wanted to parallel, to equal what the Israelites had done. Moses realized upon reflecting on this that if the Israelites had responded with a similar reaction to the message Moses had brought them from the celestial regions, that they must have had a heavenly assist, i.e. have been inspired by G’d to do so. The verse describing Moses as “bringing the people’s response to G’d,” meant that he told G’d that he knew that the people had been inspired by Him to respond in the manner that they did. Expressed differently, Moses told G’d that he was aware that it had been G’d’s wish that they respond in the manner that they did.
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