Pensamento Judaico sobre Deuteronômio 4:33

It is a well known fact that whenever someone makes extraordinary efforts to accomplish something, that something is of exceptional importance to the person making such a supreme effort on its account. If the Shunamite woman whose house the prophet Elisha used to frequent, built a private apartment for his use, then it is not surprising that the prophet tried to figure out the real reason she had gone to such trouble. When he failed to find the obvious answer such as acting as her attorney at the king's Court, he asked his assistant Gechazi. The latter noted that the woman was childless and had an aging husband. (Kings II chapter 4) After the sin of the golden calf, Moses used the argument that in order to justify all that G-d had done to release Israel from bondage in Egypt, His objective must have been extremely important, else why go to such trouble? To abandon such an objective and to annihilate Israel, would make all of G-d’s efforts look foolish, and this would diminish rather than enhance G-d’s image in the eyes of mankind. G-d relented and accepted that argument. The same argument may lead to our undeserved redemption in the future (Ezekiel chapter 36) to justify G-d’s "name," i.e. to justify the historic existence of the Jewish people throughout the many centuries of exile. At Mount Sinai then, all G-d’s preparations prior to the revelation, all the thunder and lightning accompanying the revelation must have had as its objective something completely beyond anything man had ever experienced. Seeing that the ten commandments do not contain any new philosophic insights, and in fact, most of these commandments could easily have been legislated by human legislators of average intelligence interested in a well functioning society, one wonders wherein lay the great purpose that produced such extraordinary effort. One might have expected answers to the mysteries of the universe, but they do not contain anything of the sort. Even the first two commandments stipulating the uniqueness of G-d etc., are matters easily arrived at by the human intellect as demonstrated by Maimonides chapter thirty three second section of his "Moreh." This in spite of the fact that these two commandments were heard by all the people directly from the mouth of G-d. Similarly, the fact that the tablets were G-d’s own handiwork as well as the inscriptions on them, all suggest that the purpose of the revelation must have been an all encompassing one. If it was not its purpose to teach new philosophical insights, what was its purpose? It was first and foremost to disabuse people of false philosophies, many of which were circulating freely. Although the vast majority of mankind may acknowledge the existence of G-d as the Creator, they deny His ability or willingness to guide the fate of man or the history of the universe. It was that kind of the denial of G-d’s role that the plagues in Egypt had targeted. It was also what the revelation at Mount Sinai was to impress upon Israel. The purpose was simply to demonstrate the presence and involvement in the personal fate of each and every Jew by G-d. This was demonstrated for all future generations to remember. It was not hearsay, historic fable or legend, but a living experience shared by the entire nation. Henceforth that truth could no longer be denied by speculative reason. The constant nagging doubt "is the Lord in our midst?" was stilled once and for all. A major reason for the reluctance of many Israelites to leave Egypt had been their doubt if the G-d of Israel in all His majesty would concern Himself with such trivial matters as the safety of a people on its march through the desert. Therefore they had preferred the authority of the Egyptian state and civilisation, whose acknowledged task it was to look after its subjects. If, in fact, G-d had indulged Moses at Mount Sinai in answering all the philosophical arguments, the result would have had meaning, at best, for that generation, whereas future generations would have each had to have its own revelation. Therefore G-d addressed Himself exclusively to the fears that lurked in people's minds, and demonstrated that G-d’s Providence did indeed extend to each one of them in whatever circumstances they might find themselves. He stressed the love He had demonstrated for them by releasing them from bondage to the cruel and arrogant Egyptian kingdom. He stressed that He wanted them to retain their freedom from any other deity by not worshipping such deity nor building altars or idols for them etc. Lastly, He demanded the honour due Him by not bandying about His name in idle oaths, and positively observing the Sabbath as a day of rest, emulating Him, since He had rested on the Sabbath. After that, He turned His attention to domestic problems between man and fellow man. When the Midrash discusses anthropomorphical problems such as G-d’s "right" and G-d’s "left," the writing on the tablets with G-d’s "finger" etc. it is dear that all these descriptions are allegorical. Let us take a closer look at the ten commandments themselves.

It is, therefore, my view that these two verses, "For the L-rd your G-d is a merciful G-d…" and "For ask now of the former days" are the rationale for the immediately preceding verses in which we are assured that even if we do not seek the Blessed One from the pureness of our hearts but in the extremity of afflictions, He will nonetheless listen to our voices. And this is, indeed, a wondrous thing, that after having rebelled and having done what is evil in the eyes of the L-rd to anger Him, and, even after that, not having taken it to heart to repent before Him except in the extremity of afflictions — with all this, to have our repentance accepted by Him! We find Yiftach expostulating with the men of Gilead (Judges 11:7): "And why do you come to me now, when you are in distress!" How, then, is it possible for the Blessed One, the Majestic and Exalted, to tolerate something which an ordinary human being would not tolerate, to place the dignity of a mere mortal above His own! Moses supplies the rationale for this, saying: Do not wonder about this, "for the L-rd your G-d is a merciful G-d; He will not forsake you and He will not destroy you," and though you do not merit this, still, "He will not forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them." And do not wonder how the covenant of your fathers will suffice for all this, "for ask now of the former days… was there ever anything so great as this" that the Blessed One has done for you? As he concludes (Deuteronomy 4:33): "Did a people ever hear the voice of G-d…", sealing his words with (Ibid 37): "…and because He loved your fathers." That is, all of these wondrous, awesome things He did not for your sakes, but because He loved your fathers. And just as these great, awesome things were done for your fathers, so you can believe that the Blessed One will accept your repentance that proceeds from affliction for the sake of the covenant of your fathers, though this be wondrous indeed.