ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף דברים 9:9

The first name (principle) of the Sabbath, helps remove two obstacles to Sabbath observance, namely the profound nature of the inadequate perceptual powers of the people who are to observe the Sabbath. By allowing us to stop work on the Sabbath, G-d has enabled us to grasp spiritual truths no gentile has an inkling of. By removing our work load, He has given us the time to study Torah and thus add an extra dimension to our soul. In this way, we can correct our faults, shortcomings, and advance towards perfection, something no other people can accomplish. The second name (principle) of the Sabbath removes two further obstacles to Sabbath observance, namely the natural tendencey to opt for a life of ease and indulgence, and the obstacle to the arduous task of performing mitzvot and acquire Torah knowledge. The Sabbath provides an incentive to learn. The moral and ethical truths learned on that day provide a bulwark against our baser instincts and traits. The third name (principle) helps to deal with the remaining two obstacles, namely the need to attend to the task of earning a livelihood, ensure our material well being, as well as the need to ensure our physical well being, health. Once one has absorbed the lesson of the third Sabbath principle, namely the lack of substance of everything material, one is well on the way to achieving mastery of the mind over the body. All the examples of apparently superhuman limitation in food intakes such as Rabbi Chaninah ben Dotha subsisting on a "kav of carobs," or Moses going without food and drink for forty days, are then understood quite easily.

In order to achieve maximum impact by His revelation at Mount Sinai, G-d resorted to extraordinary phenomena both before, during and after matan Torah, the presentation of the Torah to the people. This becomes evident when one studies the story of the Jewish people's arrival in the desert of Sinai. First we are told that they arrived in Sinai on the first day of the third month. Next, though we know that their last stop had been Refidim, the fact that they set out from Refidim and arrived in Sinai is repeated. Next it says that Moses ascended to G-d and called to Him from the Mountain. The order really should have been "G-d called to Moses and the latter ascended." From the manner of the text, it appears as if Moses was on a higher level than the one calling to him. Next we have the emphasis on the order of addressing Israel, "thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel." Furthermore, "these are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel." This suggests that Moses had no latitude in the words he could use. However, it is worth noting that anyone who has a major request of his fellow man would do well to pay attention to the following prerequisites in order to assure himself of an optimal chance of success. He must watch (a) timing, (b) place, (c) method of presentation of the request, (d) the ability of the party petitioned to grant the petition, (e) explain the advantages accruing to the petitioned party if he grants the petition. He must also bear in mind the position in society of the party petitioned. Queen Esther is a prime example of how all these points need to be heeded when she petitioned king Ahasverus. She chose the timing very carefully, saying "tomorrow I shall do what the king says." She chose the place, inviting him to lunch at her palace, so as to be undisturbed. She chose the method, i.e. wine, in order to put the king into a good frame of mind, and at the same time to make Haman relaxed and careless. She adhered to the order of priorities by begging for her own life first. Concerning the king's ability to deliver, and the advantage to him by granting her request, she said "we have been sold, and the king stands to lose heavily financially." In our situation, G-d demonstrates the same care in His request from Israel. The time chosen, the third month after the Exodus, allowed Israel to have recovered from the slavery experienced.They had been given ample opportunity to observe the way in which G-d had looked after their needs thus far. The mountain, frequently referred to as "the mountain of G-d", was meant to impress itself on those who beheld it. (by far the highest mountain in that part of the world). When one contrasts unpleasant memories with pleasant experiences, the latter seem much more impressive than when contrasted with everyday events. Since the events in Refidim had been exceptionally upsetting, mentioning the contrast of their departure from there with the arrival at Sinai, left an especially favourable impression. The site was well chosen, therefore. As far as how G-d’s request was related to the Jewish people, this was accomplished through the good offices of Moses who was the most suitable instrument, being someone who had reached the highest level of humanity without the benefit of Torah legislation. Concerning the exact formulation of the request, the word "thus" indicates that Moses indeed was not given any leeway in the precise wording he had to employ. The content of the message concentrated on reminding the addressee of prior events which have a bearing on his attitude. In this case, these would be G-d’s actions against Egypt, which form the background for His present request. There follows the purpose of the request, namely that Israel become a holy nation, a nation of priests, precious to the Lord etc. That such a carefully planned scenario elicited a favourable response from Israel is hardly surprising then. Although Moses relayed G-d’s request only to the elders, fearing that the nation as a whole might not be so responsive, the nation's response shows how effective G-d’s planning of this event had been. The wonderfully effective things G-d was going to do during the actual revelation is introduced by His saying to Moses "here I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will hear Me talk to you and will also believe in your leadership forever more". The objective of becoming a "holy nation" by means of the mitzvot is described in Deuteronomy 30,11, as a very easily attainable goal. "For this commandment is not so wonderfuL.it is easily achievable..up to your mouth and your heart to implement". Our sages tell us that the Torah is so structured that even "the empty ones among you are as full of mitzvot as pomegranates are full of pips". This is so, because the mitzvot apply to our body's activities and do not require intellectual brilliance in order to be performed.

And as with the borrowing of the vessels from the Egyptians, so is it with Israel's being commanded to cut off the men of Canaan. Even though it is not withheld from the Almighty to give His people an inheritance of field and vineyard without such violence and cruelty as cutting off nations which did them no harm, the Blessed One desired that they cut off those nations so that they take mussar ("chastisement") and see how the L-rd punishes doers of evil. As Moses said to them (Vayikra 18:27) "for all of these abominations were done by the people of the land which were before you", (Ibid. 25) "and the land vomited out its inhabitants", (Ibid. 26) "And you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, etc.", (Ibid. 28) "so that the land not vomit you out by your making it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you." And it is for this reason that the Torah foretold in the L-rd's words to Abraham (Bereshith 15:16) "And the fourth generation (of the Egyptian exile) shall return here (to Canaan), for the sin of the Emori would not have been consummated, (justifying their being driven out of the land) until then." All this, to apprise us that those nations were cut off only because of their wickedness, Israel being powerless to take the land from their hands until their "measure" (of wickedness) had been consummated. And, likewise, from Moses' telling them (Devarim 9:9) "Do not say in your heart, when the L-rd your G-d thrusts them from before you: In my righteousness did the L-rd bring me to inherit this land, etc.", it is seen clearly that this was the inclination of their hearts, that the success of every nation was a result of the Blessed One's decree and providence, and not of chance as those who came after them assumed. And it follows from this that when they cut off the Canaanites, no negative impress was made on their souls which would run counter to improvement of character, but, rather, it was deeply impressed upon them that those nations were liable to destruction because of their abominations, and that they were only acting as the emissaries of the L-rd. And this belief was strengthened in their hearts by witnessing the signs and wonders wrought for them by the L-rd when they came to conquer the land, by crossing them over the Jordan on the dry land, by their warring against the men of Canaan as He pelted them with great stones from the heavens, and by His causing the sun to stand still in the midst of the heavens. And if the "wise ones" (those filled with compassion and kindness to the distant and the dead) would arise and say: "How could the L-rd command the destruction of an entire nation — men and women, young and old, sucklings and nurslings who did not sin?" you, in kind, "dull their teeth" and say to them: "And when the earth quakes and trembles, and houses fall on their dwellers, or if it come to pass in a land that half its inhabitants are cut off and perish, did the L-rd not command it?" It is not for me to defend the Almighty. It suffices for me if I have demonstrated clearly that what the L-rd commanded to Israel, both as regards the borrowing of the vessels from the Egyptians and the annihilating of the dwellers of Canaan did not leave in their hearts a negative impress which vitiated their character, but, to the contrary, strengthened their belief in providence and in reward and punishment.