Comentário sobre Êxodo 20:21

מזבח אדמה AN ALTAR OF EARTH [SHALT THOU MAKE] — i. e. an altar attached to the earth, meaning, that they should not build an altar upon columnes or upon a base but it must rest upon the actual ground. Another explanation is, that one should fill the hollow interior of the copper altar (Exodus 27:8) with earth at the time when they encamp, and then erect it for the purpose of sacrifice (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:21:1).

AN ALTAR OF EARTH THOU SHALT MAKE UNTO ME. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained that He is saying: “Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, or gods of gold⁵⁶⁵Verse 20. to receive power from heavenly creatures through them, that they be intermediaries between Me and you, for in every place where I cause My Name to be mentioned I — I in My Glory — will come unto thee and bless thee.⁵⁷⁶Verse 21. You have no need at all for an intermediary.” And according to the opinion of the Rabbis concerning [the verses here, i.e., that they speak of] the altars that were made in the Tabernacle and in the Sanctuary,⁵⁷¹Mechilta on the verse here. He mentioned the commandment of the altars of earth and of stones⁵⁷⁷Verse 22. in order to say that they also make the altars for G-d alone and that there they shall sacrifice the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, and not to the demons in the open field.⁵⁷⁸Leviticus 17:5-7. In every place where they will mention His Name, He will come upon them in His Glory to make His Divine Presence dwell among them and to bless them.

מזבח אדמה תעשה לי, you do not need to build elaborate temples for Me either, using precious materials. It suffices if you will erect an earthen altar. I am available to be prayed to and to respond.

מזבח אדמה תעשה לי, seeing that the nations of the world construct around their places of worship, אשרות surrounding their altars with those, as we know from Judges 6,25 where G’d commands Gideon to destroy both, G’d tells the Jewish people that “even if you do construct an altar for Me do not construct it from materials other than earth.” A Jewish altar, according to our author, is to have a smooth surface only. [According to the verses mentioning אשרה, i.e. Deuteronomy 16,21 where the planting of such is prohibited, or Jeremiah 17,2 where such places of worship are associated with child offerings, it seems clear that an אשרה contains trees, which is the reason that in the Temple courtyard no trees were allowed. Ed.] ואם מזבח אבנים, even if you want to construct a more durable altar, one made of stones, as directed in Deuteronomy 26,5

מזבח אדמה תעשה לי, “an earthen altar you shall make for Me.” Some commentators see in this verse a message not to decorate the altar with any artwork on its walls, etc., and this is why the verse is followed by the injunction that if the altar is made of stones these stones are to be smooth, without engravings of any kind, either recessed into the stone or protruding from the stone. Other commentators understand the whole verse as G’d telling us that He does not expect us to erect fancy buildings for Him, buildings made of gold or silver, but to erect the most simple structure for Him which He will be happy to take up residence in on earth, the only condition being that we will offer our sacrifices to Him, exclusively. Nachmanides writes that Ibn Ezra means that the entire verse is to be understood in conjunction with the report in Parshat Mishpatim (chapter 24) where Moses is described as erecting an altar (central) and 12 smaller altars, one for each tribe, called מצבה, on which the priests, i.e. the firstborn offered meat-offerings to Hashem, most of these animals being consumed by their owners. These offerings represented the sealing of the covenant entered into by the people with G’d at the revelation. Assuming that the Torah reports the events surrounding the revelation in chronological order, the sequence is as follows: G’d tells Moses to remind the people (20,20) that they have seen visual evidence that Hashem spoke to them from the heaven in His capacity, as the attribute י-ה-ו-ה. On the one hand, you must not make beside Me silver or golden gods (material values which you revere as if they were gods), but I do permit you to erect altars made of earth, or of smooth stones in order to offer sacrifices to My attribute of Hashem, be they burnt offerings or meat-offerings, and these may be offered without restriction of location. I will bless you at these sites wherever they are. These blessings will be both of spiritual and material dimensions. The Torah writes: ואם מזבח אבנים תעשה לי which creates the impression as if the building of an altar is a voluntary thing, entirely up to you, although it is, of course, a precondition to the offering of sacrifices. The meaning of the line is: “if and when the time comes when you will inherit the land and a Temple is to be built, when the altar will be a solid structure, it must not be decorated with pictures, etc., but the stones must be perfectly smooth. There must not be any steps by which to ascend it. Seeing that the subject of the altar came up, mention is made here already of details of the altar, although we would have expected to hear about it much later, either when the Tabernacle’s furnishings are discussed, or in the Book of Kings when Solomon constructs his Temple and all of these details are recorded for posterity.

Attached to the earth. . . [Rashi knows this] because otherwise, why is it called “earthen”? For it was made of copper-plated acacia wood, as it is written in 27:1. (R. Noson)

V. 21. Du sollst nicht gestalten, was bei mir, vielmehr lasse ich dich gestalten, was bei dir; nicht Himmlisches zu dir herabzuziehen, sondern alles Irdische zu mir emporzuheben ist deine Aufgabe; und wenn du zu mir hintrittst, hast du dir nicht zu vergegenwärtigen, was du dir im Himmel bei mir vorstellst, sondern wie Ich will, daß sich alles bei dir gestalten soll, die Erde und nicht der Himmel soll dir gegenwärtig sein, wenn du zu mir hintrittst; die durch Menschentat zu Gott emporzuhebende Erde soll der Altar darstellen, den du mir erbauest. Einen "Erdaltar": unmittelbar von der Erde auf soll er sich erheben שיהא מחובר מאדמה (באדמה?) שלא יבננו לא על גבי מחילות ולא על גבי כיפין (Sebachim 58 a.) "nicht auf Höhlen und nicht auf Wölbungen darf er gebaut sein", selbst ein faustgroßer Zwischenraum würde schon den Altar פסול machen, (תוספתא פ׳ט אהלות ר׳ש שם, טו׳) אין מעלין עולות גבוה מן הארץ טפח, der Wanderaltar des Stiftzeltes war selbst ein Erdaufwurf, von einem hohlen Würfel — נבוב לוחות — umkleidet. —

מזבח אדמה, “an altar of earth which does not lend itself to carve images upon, is what you should erect for Me;

תעשה לי THOU SHALT MAKE FOR ME — this implies that from its very beginning it shall be made for My Name (i. e. for the service of Me).

בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי, at any lace which at one time or another I select to serve as such a place for communing with My servant. Compare Isaiah 12,4 הזכירו כי נשגב שמי, “declare that His name is exalted.

בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי, “wherever I permit My name to be mentioned.” According to Ibn Ezra the line means “at any site where there is some memory of My presence to be recorded.” When, in the future, you will have occasion to visit such a site, I will make a point to also bestow My blessings on you there.

That are from your sheep and your cattle. Rashi added the words “That are” in order that the phrase, “Your sheep and your cattle,” will be an explanation of, “Your burnt-offerings, your peace-offerings.” And Rashi understands את in the sense of מן (from). Thus it is as if the verse said, “Slaughter your burnt-offerings and your peace-offerings from your sheep and from your cattle.”

וזבחת עליו, nicht auf ihm, aber mit Hinblick auf ihn, um an ihm und auf ihm die עבודות דם ואיברי׳, resp. אימורים zu vollziehen, wurde die שחיטה des Opfertiers vollzogen; nicht Vernichtung soll die שחיטה sein, vielmehr in dem Hingeben an die durch den מזבח repräsentierte Hinanhebung alles Irdischen zu Gott ihr positives Ziel und darin so wesentlich ihre Bedeutung finden, dass, wenn im Moment der שחיטה der מזבח im geringsten schadhaft gewesen, alle dort geopferten Opfer פסול geworden, מזבח שנפגם כל הקדשים שנשחטו שם פסולין (Sebachim 59 b.)! Ebenso durfte auch rückblickend von keinem Opfer genossen werden, wenn der Altar schadhaft geworden, מזבח שנפגם אין אוכלין בגינו שירי מנחה קדש קדשים קדשים קלים (das. 60 a.). Liegt doch ohnehin, wie wir bereits zu Bereschit 8, 20 bemerkt, in זכה nicht sowohl der negierende Begriff des Tötens, als vielmehr der positive des Mahlbereitens, und מזבח ist nicht sowohl die Schlachtstätte, als vielmehr die Mahlstätte, wo das Opfer לחם אשי ד׳ wird.

וזבחת עליו, “you will slaughter upon it;” not literally upon it, but “thereby;”

וזבחת עליו AND THOU SHALT SACRIFICE (slaughter) עליו — i. e. near it, in the same sense as, (Numbers 2:20) “and by him (ועליו) the tribe of Manasseh”. Or perhaps this is not the meaning, but it means “[thou shalt slaughter] upon it”, in its literal sense? This cannot be so, because it states, (Deuteronomy 12:27) “[And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings] as regards the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God”, but the slaughtering shall not be on the top of the altar (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:21:2).

אבא אליך וברכתיך, you do not need to employ artificial means made from silver or gold to attract My benevolent providence, for I can come to you anywhere and bless you when you but mention My name in prayer.

Wherever I will permit you. . . אזכיר is a transitive verb involving a secondary object, [conveying: I permit you to mention My Name. Rashi knows this] because otherwise, it should say תזכור שמי (you mention My Name). Rashi explains “My Name” as “My special Name” — the Explicit Name — which was permitted to be uttered only in the Beis Hamikdosh, where the Shechinah resides. However, other Names of Hashem may be mentioned elsewhere.

Also: nicht der Himmel, die durch unser Wirken zu Gott emporzuhebende Erde soll uns gegenwärtig sein, wenn wir zu Gott hintreten, und auf ihr haben wir in עולות unser "Taten"-Leben und in שלמים unser "genießendes" Leben, sei es im Gefühle bescheidenster Stellung als צאן, oder im Bewusstsein freiester Selbständigkeit als בקר, zu Gott hinanstrebend zu weihen (siehe zu Wajikra Kap. 1 u. 3).

את עולותיך ואת שלומיך, “your burnt offerings and your peaceofferings;” the burnt offering must be presented on the northern section of the altar and the peaceofferings on its southern section. Whence do I know that only the northern half of the altar is suitable for the performance of these presentations? We derive this from Leviticus 14,13: ושחט את הכבש במקום אשר ישחט את החטאת ואת העולה, “he is to slaughter the sheep on the place where he will slaughter the burnt offering and the sinoffering.” (Compare Mechilta “bachodesh” chapter 11) What precisely did the Torah mean when writing: במקום הקדש, “on the place that is sanctified?” These words are to teach that any part of the altar‘s surface that is in the northern section of it is acceptable.

את עלתיך ואת שלמיך THY BURNT OFFERINGS AND THY FEAST OFFERINGS which are from (belong to) thy flocks and thy herds. [את צאנך ואת בקרך are thus a further explanation of the words את עלתיך ואת שלמיך‎].

אזכיר את שמי, wo ich will, dass meines Namens gedacht werde, d. h. wo ich meine besondere Gegenwart bekunden will, dass man sage: ד׳ שמה, "dort ist Gott!" da wirst du mich nicht im Bilde zu schauen haben, da wirst du mich in dem Segen erkennen, den ich dir bereiten werde. Vergl. die Ausdrücke: ושמו שמי על בני ישראל ואני אברכם ,שם ד׳ נקרא עליך ,להיות שמי שם ,לשכן שמו שם ,המקום אשר יבחר ד׳ לשום את שמו שם und sonst.

וזבחת עליו, “you are to slaughter upon it” Why are these words necessary? To teach that even an ordinary Israelite, not only a priest, may perform that part of the service, as we accept the principle that the act of slaughtering an animal sacrifice is acceptable even when performed_by a non priest. (Talmud tractate B’rachot, folio 31.) Any step commencing with the placing of the animal’s blood into a special receptacle is reserved for the priests, According to the Talmud in Yuma folio 27, non priests were allowed on the area immediately surrounding the altar. [We are speaking of the copper altar situated outside the Temple building. Ed.] In the Talmud Sukkah, 45, it is stated specifically that on the festival of Sukkot, the people at large walked around that altar carrying their aravot, willow branches.

בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי IN ALL PLACES WHERE I MENTION MY NAME — This means: where I will give you permission to mention My Proper Name, there אבא אליך וברכתיך I WILL COME TO THEE AND I WILL BLESS THEE — I will make My Shechina rest upon thee. From this you may learn that He did not give any permission to mention (pronounce) His Proper Name except in the place where the Shechina would come — and this is the Chosen House (another term for the Temple at Jerusalem). He gave permission to the priests to pronounce His Proper Name there whilst lifting up their hands to bless the people (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:21:3; Sotah 38a; and Rashi on Numbers 6:27).

בכל המקום, “on any place,” seeing that the Tabernacle, after the Israelites had crossed the river Jordan was to stand at different periods in Gilgal, Shiloh, Nov and Giveon, before being moved to Jerusalem, we know that the presence of G-d’s glory was not limited to a single area in the Holy Land. From the above words the sages derived this principle, as the Torah did not bother to spell out the names of any specific place.