Wyjścia 33:4 Komentarz: Rashi, Chizkuni, Kli Yakar & Rashbam

הדבר הרע THIS EVIL THING — that the Shechina would not dwell nor go with them.

ולא שתו איש עדיו עליו, “they did not adorn themselves with the jewelry and costly garments that they had taken with them from Egypt.”

And no man put his jewels on himself. Some raise a difficulty: If they themselves did not put their jewels on themselves, why did He then say again Now remove your jewels from upon you? It seems to me that there were two types of jewels here. The first is the general jewels — rings, nose rings, and ornaments that they would adorn themselves with. The second is those crowns that were given to them at Horeb when they said We will do and we will hear. And in the first instance, when they heard this thing that the Holy One, blessed be He, said For I will not go up in your midst, they were like those who are excommunicated from Heaven, therefore they mourned and no man put his jewels. From the phrase [no] man his jewel, and it did not say, “the Children of Israel,” we can infer that it is speaking about jewels specific to each individual according to his wealth — the rich would have more and the poor would have less, and they accepted upon themselves repentance for the sin that stemmed from the jewels, as it says and all the people removed the golden nose rings, etc. But those two crowns that they received at Horeb, they did not remove, because it would appear to them like removing the yoke of the Torah, as if they were saying “we have no portion in the Torah and its crown.” Therefore, they were told a second time Now remove your jewels from upon you, even those two crowns, and about this it says the children of Israel stripped themselves of their jewels from Mount Horeb. That jewel that was given to them at Mount Horeb, and here it says the children of Israel and not “[no] man his jewels,” because all of Israel were equal in it, the rich and the traveler alike.

איש עדיו [AND NO MAN PUT ON HIM] HIS ORNAMENT — the crowns which were given them on Horeb when they said: (Exodus 24:7) “we shall do and hearken” (Shabbat 88a).