Commento su Deuteronomio 10:1

בעת ההוא AT THAT TIME — At the end of forty days He was reconciled with me and said to me, פסל לך HEW FOR THYSELF [TWO TABLETS] and afterwards, ועשית לך ארון עץ MAKE THEE AN ARK OF WOOD. I, however, (see v. 3) made the Ark first (Midrash Tanchuma, Eikev 1), because when I came with the tablets in my hand where could I place them? Now this was not the Ark which Bezaleel made for the Tabernacle, because with the Tabernacle they did not occupy themselves until after the Day of Atonement, for only when he came down from the mountain on that day did he give them the command regarding the construction of the Tabernacle, and Bezaleel made the Tabernacle first and afterwards the Ark and the other articles (Berakhot 55a). It follows, therefore, that this was another Ark; and it was this, that went forth with them to battle, whilst that which Bezaleel made went forth to battle only once, in the days of Eli — and they were punished for this, for it was captured by the Philistines (cf. Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 6:1).

AT THAT TIME THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO ME: ‘HEW THEE TWO TABLETS OF STONE.’ After I cast myself down in prayer before G-d for forty days and forty nights, He was reconciled with me that He would write the second Tablets. However, the first ones were the work of G-d, and the writing was the writing of G-d,¹⁶⁴Exodus 32:16. whereas these [second Tablets] He commanded me that they be hewn by my hands and the writing will be like the writing on the first ones, by the finger of G-d.¹⁶⁵Ibid., 31:18.

בעת ההיא אמר ה' אלי "פסל לך", in spite of all my prayers, the repair, the reconstitution of what had been damaged, proved to be incomplete,for the substitution for the first set of Tablets was not something made by G’d Himself, and this is why He commanded me: פסל לך, “carve it out by yourself!”

בעת ההיא אמר ה׳ אלי, "At that time G'd said to me: 'hew for yourself,' etc." Seeing that the materials for the first Tablets were G'd-made as opposed to the raw material being provided by Moses, and that after the episode of the golden calf the Israelites were no longer worthy of such Tablets, G'd told Moses to hew them out of materials that the Israelites were able to relate to, instead of G'd providing supernatural materials unfamiliar to the people which they were unable to relate to and to esteem properly.

בעת ההיא אמר ה' אלי: "פסל לך שני לוחות אבנים", “At that time Hashem said to me: ‘carve for yourself two stone Tablets;’” This was a sign that G’d looked once more favourably upon me, seeing that He was willing to inscribe these Tablets Himself. However, the second set of Tablets was distinctly different from the first set, seeing that the first set of Tablets was entirely the work of Hashem, He even supplied the raw material, presumably material not even found on earth.

And Betzalel made the Tabernacle first, etc. I.e., do not say that they certainly were not commanded to make the Tabernacle until after Yom Kippur, but Betzalel made the ark first and afterward the Tabernacle. And if so, this ark (mentioned here) could be the ark that Betzalel made. Therefore, Rashi explains, “And Betzalel made the Tabernacle first, etc.”

Kap. 10. V. 1. בעת ההיא. Am Ende jener mittleren vierzig Tage, in welchen Mosche um die Wiederanknüpfung der besonderen göttlichen Waltungsbeziehungen zu Israel sich bewarb (siehe Schmot 33, 12 f. und 34, 1 f.). ועשית לך וגו׳ damit war von vornherein die Weisung gegeben, dass sie nicht wieder zerbrochen werden sollten, damit implizite die Versicherung, dass, der noch zu überwindenden Unvollkommenheiten und Verirrungen des Volkes ungeachtet, ihre endliche Bestimmung, Träger und Wahrer des göttlichen Gesetzes zu sein, mit ihnen durchdauern werde.

בעת ההיא, “at that time;” after G–d had pardoned the people’s sin and instructed him to hew new Tablets out of material found on earth. He did so to make sure the people could not accuse Moses at a later stage to have smashed the Tablets G–d had given him for the people. After all, they had been the most precious gift the people had ever been meant to receive. This is also what Kohelet had in mind when he said in Kohelet 3,1: there is a time for everything, a time for every imaginable “thing.” There was a time when the Tablets had to be smashed, and there was another time when new Tablets had to be made. Moses refers to the second such time. A different interpretation of the words: פסל לך ההיא. The word: פסל, which is part of the word פסולת, rubbish, chips, is what will be Moses’ after he had hewn out the new tablets from stone. It would be his reward for performing that work. It would enrich Moses as the “stone” from which he hewed these tablets were sapphires. There is a disagreement between the sages about where Moses had been able to find those sapphires. According to Rabbi Levi, Moses found this under the throne of G–d; according to the opinion of Rabbi Chanan, he found it beneath his tent. The source of this discussion is found in Song of Songs 5,14: ידיו גלילי זהב, “his arms are rods of gold, are studded with sapphires overlaid with ivory.” i.e. the tablets, i.e. the commandments were arranged five on each tablet. (Compare Talmud tractate Shekalim chapter 6, halachah 1) Yet another interpretation of the words: פסל לך: I appoint you as king and you may disqualify anyone and anything that you desire. (Tanchuma section 9 on our portion)

בעת ההיא, “at that time;” on the night of the twenty ninth of Av;” this is a reference to Exodus 34,1, when G-d said to Moses to that he was to carve out stones for the second set of Tablets.

ועשית לך ארון עץ, “you will make for yourself a wooden ark.” Rashi explains that this is not the Holy Ark constructed by Betzalel when he made the Tabernacle about 3-4 months later. The meaning of the instruction in our verse is that the Tablets would be housed in the ark made by Moses until the time when the Tabernacle would be built and inaugurated. [at this point in time G’d had not even instructed Moses to build a Tabernacle. Ed.] After the Tabernacle was built, the ark constructed by Moses now would house the broken pieces of the first set of Tablets. Nachmanides comments that our sages do not appear to agree with Rashi’s explanation (Baba Batra 14 and Menachot 99) The opinion expressed in the Talmud is that both the second set of Tablets and the broken pieces of the first set reposed in the same ark, i.e. the ark constructed by Betzalel. This appears as the more logical scenario, seeing that the ark constructed by Moses was not inside the innermost and most sacred part of the Tabernacle during the 40 years the people traveled through the desert. According to tradition, the only time the Holy Ark left the Tabernacle/Temple, was when the High Priest Eli’s sons took it with them in the war against the Philistines, as a result of which it fell into captivity until it was eventually repatriated by King David to Jerusalem, about 50 years later. According to the sages, the ark Moses constructed was to serve his carrying the second set of Tablets in on his descent from the Mountain, and they would repose there until the consecration of the Tabernacle almost 6 months later. The reason that Moses was not instructed to make an ark prior to receiving the first set of Tablets was that it was foreseen that these would be smashed and did not need an ark to house them. Therefore the words ויהיו שם in verse 5 mean that the Tablets would remain in that ark pending the construction of the Holy Ark surrounded by gold and covered with the golden lid on which were mounted the two cherubs. Taking a more pragmatic approach to the text, i.e. the peshat, it is possible to understand G’d’s instruction to make a wooden ark as already referring to the ark that would be constructed by Betzalel later, seeing that long before Betzalel was appointed to be the artisan in charge of constructing the Tabernacle, Moses had been charged by Gd with that project in Exodus 25,10 after G’d had told Moses to collect the requisite donations from the people for that project (Exodus 25,2-9). Execution of that project had been sidelined due to the sin of the golden calf until after G’d had become reconciled to the atonement for that sin having been adequate, [although it was never totally forgiven Ed. (Sanhedrin 102)] When the time had come, G’d briefly told Moses to make an ark for the Tablets, this being none other than the ark already mentioned in Exodus It was a way of G’d indicating to Moses that what had been interrupted due to the episode of the golden calf could now be resumed, including the collection of the donations for that project. This is the meaning of Moses adding after the words ויהיו שם, “they remained there,” the words: כאשר צווני ה', “as Hashem had (previously) commanded me.” He meant that the Tablets were to repose within that ark permanently. When Moses descended from the Mountain carrying the second set of Tablets he deposited them in the אהל מועד, “the tent of testimony,” [the one Moses had retreated to after the sin of the golden calf, compare Exodus Ed.] in order to remain there until the Tabernacle had been constructed. If Moses had not smashed the first set of Tablets, he would have deposited them in that tent until Betzalel would have completed the Ark that was intended to house the Tablets permanently. It is most likely that what happened to the second Tablets also happened to the remains of the First Tablets. [By the way, Eliyahu Ki Tov, ז'צ'ל in his booklets on the portions of the Torah’ illustrates by a calculation how both the first set of the Tablets in their fragments plus the second set, plus the Torah scroll written by Moses could be fitted within the dimensions given by the Torah for the size of the Holy Ark. He also adds a fascinating calculation as to the combined weight of the Holy Ark when it was being transported. Ed.] It is impossible to explain this in a different fashion, as Moses most certainly did not take the fragments of the first set of Tablets back up the Mountain with him. [This is true as long as we stay within the parameters of the peshat, without speculating on what happened to the letters of the Tablets, etc., etc., as the Midrash does. Ed.] We must not ask that according to what Moses relates in verse 3 and 5 respectively, that he must have placed the Tablets in an ark at hand as soon as he descended with these Tablets and that they remained in that same ark. We must not understand all of these steps as having occurred exactly in the sequence Moses portrays them. He was only interested in concluding the subject of the Tablets and the Holy Ark within which they reposed after the Tabernacle had been built. The principal part of Moses’ message was verse 4, in which he testifies that what Hashem wrote on the second set of Tablets was exactly what He had written on the first set. This being so, this set of Tablets also qualified for being housed in the original Holy Ark that G’d had told Moses about in Exodus chapter 25. Hashem’s holy name was honoured by His writing reposing in a Holy Ark on earth. With the words

G'd continued by telling Moses that he was to make a wooden ark for these tablets. The expression "make for yourself" a wooden ark does not mean that the ark would be Moses' property or would be paid for out of Moses' private funds; but, seeing that the materials the Tablets were made of were man-made, Moses was also to provide a man-made ark to house the Tablets. This is in sharp contrast to the first Tablets when G'd had not commanded that Moses bring an ark to the Mountain to house the Tablets. Seeing that the original Tablets were of material provided by G'd they did not need a protective cover such as an ark, other than the ark which G'd had commanded Betzalel to construct in Exodus 25,10. Compare what I have written on Deut. 9,17 in connection with the words מעל שתי ידי, "above my two hands." Moses was specific in repeating G'd's command ועשית לך, to teach us that inasmuch as the Tablets were really his (as opposed to the people's), it was appropriate that he be the one to construct the ark for them.

AND MAKE THEE AN ARK OF WOOD. The meaning thereof is that you put the Tablets into this ark when you descend [the mountain]. Now this ark, including its cover, is to be entirely from wood [and not overlaid with gold], like all arks, and the Tablets should remain there until the Tabernacle is made. [Only] then, they made the ark which was covered with gold and the ark-cover upon it of pure gold.¹⁶⁶Ibid., 37:1-6. — In order to understand the text, it is necessary to recall that the affairs of the golden calf, the breaking of the first Tablets, and the giving of the second Tablets, all took place in the summer of the first year after the exodus, while the building of the Tabernacle, the making of the ark, etc., were not completed until the spring of the second year after the exodus. Now, since the command about making an ark for the second Tablets was given to Moses immediately upon his receiving them on the tenth day of Tishri — the Day of Atonement — this ark was obviously not the ark made by Bezalel for the Tabernacle during the following winter. Ramban will further on present a different solution to the problem. He did not tell Moses [to make an ark] for the first Tablets because it was manifest before Him that he would break them [immediately upon coming down the mountain]. And the meaning of the verse, and there they were, as the Eternal commanded me¹⁶⁷Further, Verse 5. is that the Tablets were there [in the ark] until the Tabernacle was made concerning which He commanded me, And thou shalt put the ark-cover above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the Testimony that I shall give thee.¹⁶⁸Exodus 25:21. This is the good and correct [interpretation] of these verses.
And Rashi wrote: “Now, this was not the ark which Bezalel made [for the Tabernacle], because they did not occupy themselves in the making of the Tabernacle until after the Day of Atonement, for it was only when he came down from the mountain that he commanded them concerning the construction of the Tabernacle, and it was Bezalel who made, first the Tabernacle, and afterwards the ark¹⁶⁹See Vol. II, p. 558, Note 72. and the vessels. Thus it follows that this [ark mentioned here] was a different one, and it was this [ark] that went forth with them to battle, while the one that Bezalel made did not go forth to battle except in the days of Eli¹⁷⁰I Samuel 4:4. and they were punished for this and it was captured [by the Philistines].”¹⁷¹Ibid., Verse 17. This is the Rabbi’s language, quoting words of Agadah which he found written in the Tanchuma.¹⁷²Tanchuma, Eikev 10.
Now one may ask: “And after they removed the Tablets from this ark and placed them in the ark which Bezalel made, what happened to this ark? And why did this one go forth with the people to battle [since it was empty, the Tablets having been removed]?” Some say that the broken Tablets lay in that ark, and so in fact it is found in the Agadah, but these are the words of a single Sage, for thus we learned in Tractate Shekalim:¹⁷³Yerushalmi Shekalim VI, 1. “We are taught [in a Beraitha]: Rabbi Yehudah the son of Rabbi Ilai says: Israel had two arks in the wilderness, one in which the broken Tablets lay etc. But the Rabbis say: there was only one, and once it went forth [to battle] in the days of Eli and it was captured [by the Philistines].” The opinion of our Rabbis throughout the Talmud is also not so [that there were two arks]; but that [both] the whole Tablets and the broken Tablets lay in the [same] ark. Besides, where was this ark containing the first [broken] Tablets to stay all the years in the wilderness? For in the Tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies beyond the Veil, there were no two arks, and Solomon also brought but one ark into the Holy of Holies [of the Sanctuary]!¹⁷⁴I Kings 8:7. Rather, [we must say] that this ark of Moses was stored away upon the completion of the ark of Bezalel, as is the law of implements of holiness [which must be stored away after having served their purpose].¹⁷⁵Megillah 26b.
This is the correct interpretation in accordance with the opinion of our Rabbis, for, in line with the plain meaning of Scripture, it is possible that the verse here, and make thee an ark of wood, refers to the ark which Bezalel made. This [could be explained as follows]: First Moses was commanded regarding the making of the Tabernacle and its vessels, the first command being And they shall make an ark of acacia-wood,¹⁷⁶Exodus 25:10. for this [to contain the Tablets] was the main purpose of the entire Tabernacle — that the Eternal that sitteth upon the cherubim¹⁷⁷II Samuel 6:2. be there. Afterwards they made the calf and when G-d was reconciled with Moses and told him that He would write on these Tablets according to the first writing,¹⁷⁸Verse 4 here. He commanded him briefly that he should make for these [second] Tablets an ark of wood, this being the same one concerning which he was commanded for the first Tablets. Thus He mentioned to Moses [as narrated by Moses in the verse before us] the primary commandment regarding the Tabernacle, and [the one] upon which everything depended. It was from this [charge to build the ark] that Moses deduced [that he was] to make the Tabernacle and its vessels, as he had been commanded earlier. And in that case the interpretation of the phrase, and there they were, as the Eternal command me¹⁶⁷Further, Verse 5. is that they be there forever as the Eternal commanded me originally: and in the ark thou shalt put the Testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will speak with thee etc.¹⁷⁹Exodus 25:21-22. Now when Moses came down from the mountain he placed the Tablets in [his personal] tent of meeting¹⁸⁰Ibid., 33:7. until he made the ark and the Tabernacle.¹⁸¹In the Tur: “the Tabernacle and the ark.” For had he not broken the first Tablets, they would have been in [his] tent of meeting¹⁸⁰Ibid., 33:7. until Bezalel had made the ark. And so perforce we must also say that the broken tablets were there [in his tent of meeting], for he did not return them with him when he ascended the mountain. Proof for this [i.e., that the command for making the ark mentioned here is identical with the command mentioned in the Book of Exodus with the instructions to build the Tabernacle] is the fact that Moses did not mention this command in the section of Ki Thisa,¹⁸²There, in the chapter after the affair of the golden calf, we are told that Moses was commanded concerning the second Tablets (Exodus 34:1-5), but nothing is said there about the making of an ark for those Tablets, such as is mentioned here. Now, if the ark cited here was a different one than Bezalel’s, the question arises why is that command not referred to in the Book of Exodus, where the subject of the second Tablets is mentioned? If, however, we say that the ark here, is the same as that made by Bezalel, then there was no need to discuss it in Exodus, for Moses had already ordered its construction in Exodus 31:7. for there He mentioned the ark of Bezalel expressly.¹⁸³Ibid., 31:7. — The section begins: See, I have called by name Bezalel (Verse 2). Now here he did not mention the Tabernacle and its vessels for the people saw it before them, and therefore he mentioned it only briefly [through the first command concerning the ark].
Now, do not consider it difficult that he said, So I made an ark of acacia-wood, and hewed two Tablets of stone¹⁸⁴Verse 3 here. [which would seem to indicate that Moses made the ark at once and then hewed the two Tablets of stone, and, if so, this could not be the ark of Bezalel], for he completed the narration of the subject of the ark at one time. For G-d had commanded him, Hew thee two Tablets of stone etc., and come up unto Me into the mount; and make thee an ark of wood, meaning that he should first come up with the Tablets and afterwards he should make an ark of wood; but He prolonged [the subject of the Tablets] in order to say, And I will write on the Tablets the words that were on the first Tablets which thou didst break, and thou shalt put them in the ark,¹⁸⁵Verse 2. that is to say that these second Tablets will be identical to the first ones in writing and, therefore, it is proper that they, like the first ones, be in the [previously] commanded ark, where I will meet with the children of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by My glory.¹⁸⁶Exodus 29:43. Therefore Moses finished the account by stating, So I made an ark,¹⁸⁴Verse 3 here. in order to briefly complete the commandment and the deed. Afterwards he returned to speak at length on the subject mentioned before.

ועלה אלי ההרה, “and ascend the Mountain to Me;” ועשית לך ארון עץ, “and make for yourself a wooden ark” (after ascending). According to Tanchuma, Moses did not make this ark afterwards but before ascending [as where was he to put the Tablets in the interval after returning from the Mountain? Ed.].

ארון עץ, “an ark made of wood.” There is disagreement among the sages in the Jerusalem Talmud, tractate shekalim, chapter six halachah 1, if this refers to a single ark or to two. The latter opinion holds that one of these arks was to contain the Torah scroll, and the other was to contain the second set of Tablets.