ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמות 24:18

AND UNTO MOSES HE SAID: ‘COME UP UNTO THE ETERNAL etc.’ “This section was told to Moses before the giving of the Ten Commandments, on the fourth day of Sivan.” This is Rashi’s language. “And the Eternal said unto Moses: ‘Come up to Me into the mountain, and be there’⁴⁶⁵Verse 12 (further in this section). — this was said to Moses after the Giving of the Torah.” These too are Rashi’s words. But if so, the sections of the Torah are not in chronological order, nor even in their ordinary sense! Moreover, it is written here, And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Eternal, and all the ordinances,⁴⁶⁶Verse 3. which are these ordinances written above, concerning which He said, And these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them.⁴⁶⁷Above, 21:1. For it is not correct to interpret the expression: and all the ordinances,⁴⁶⁶Verse 3. to mean [as Rashi wrote], the ordinances which “the sons of Noah”⁴⁶⁸See Vol. I, p. 417, Notes 147-8. were commanded, or the laws which were given to the Israelites in Marah⁴⁶⁹See above, 15:25. which they had already heard and knew, and besides, the word vayesapeir (and he told)⁴⁶⁶Verse 3. always indicates new things which one tells!
But Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has already grasped this subject correctly, in explaining the verses to be in their proper order, when he commented:⁴⁷⁰On the preceding Verse (23:33). “Up to here is the Book of the Covenant.” On the basis of this statement it can be seen that all the sections of the Torah are in methodical arrangement. For after the Giving of the Torah immediately on the same day G-d said to Moses, Thus shall you tell the children of Israel: Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven,⁴⁷¹Above, 20:19. and He began to warn them again against idolatry, by saying, Ye shall not make with Me etc.,⁴⁷²Ibid., Verse 20. and He continued to command him, Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them,⁴⁶⁷Above, 21:1. and all the commandments following that, and finally He finished with the admonition against the worship of idols which they find in the Land, and against making a covenant with their worshippers. He then said to Moses, “After you have commanded them this, come up unto the Eternal, thou and Aaron.” The section mentions that Moses did according to the command of G-d, and came to the camp and told the people all the words of the Eternal⁴⁶⁶Verse 3. as He had commanded him, Thus shall you tell the children of Israel: Ye yourselves have seen etc.;⁴⁷¹Above, 20:19. and all the ordinances,⁴⁶⁶Verse 3. as He had commanded him, Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them.⁴⁶⁷Above, 21:1. The people received everything with joy and said, All that the Eternal hath spoken will we do,⁴⁷³Above 19:8. See though my Hebrew commentary, p. 447, where it is pointed out that since this verse relates to an event before the Revelation and Ramban is now discussing the events after the Revelation, we must perforce understand his use of that verse, in a stylistic manner, namely, that the people joyfully accepted upon themselves the duty of observing all of G-d’s commandments. meaning that all these things which G-d has told you we will do, for we believe in your words; just as he narrated in the Book of Deuteronomy [that the people said to him], and thou shalt speak unto us all that the Eternal our G-d may speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it,⁴⁷⁴Deuteronomy 5:24. and then Moses wrote them down. Thus on that day he wrote down in a book all that he had been commanded — the statutes, the ordinances, and the laws — and he rose up early in the morning⁴⁷⁵Verse 4. of the following day to make a covenant with them concerning all this. He built the altar and offered the sacrifices,⁴⁷⁵Verse 4. and put half of the blood upon the altar of G-d, and half of it he put in basins⁴⁷⁶Verse 6. [in order to sprinkle upon the people],⁴⁷⁷As explained further in Ramban, (also in Rashi). For the reason of exact division into two equal parts see further in the text of Ramban and also in Note 479. and he took the book which he had written the day before and read it in their hearing,⁴⁷⁸Verse 7. and they accepted upon themselves to make the covenant with Him, saying. All that the Eternal hath spoken will we do, and hearken⁴⁷⁸Verse 7. to you and to whatever you will command in His Name. Then he sprinkled upon them half of the blood [which he had put in the basins], for this is the sign of a covenant, when two things⁴⁷⁹By putting half of the blood upon the altar of G-d and the other half upon the people, Moses indicated that “the two [parties to the covenant] come into equal parts.” See Deuteronomy 26:17-18, and also Vayikra Rabbah 6:5, where the equal division of the blood is explained as signifying that G-d swore to Israel never to exchange it for another nation, and Israel swore eternal fidelity to G-d. come in equal parts. Now after he finished what he did with them, he had to fulfill the word of G-d which He told him, Come up… thou and Aaron, etc. and it is with reference to this that it is said, Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu etc.⁴⁸⁰Verse 9. He completed that which he had been commanded,⁴⁸¹I.e., And Moses alone shall come near unto the Eternal (Verse 2). by coming near alone unto the Eternal. It is with reference to this that it is said, And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud etc.⁴⁸²Further, Verse 18. Thus the act of the covenant took place on the day after the Giving of the Torah, and on that day was the ascent, when Moses went up into the mountain and he stayed from then on for forty days. It is with reference to this that Scripture explains, and on the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud,⁴⁸³Ibid., Verse 16. [i.e., the seventh day of the month Sivan, which was the day after the Giving of the Torah], and it is said, And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud.⁴⁸²Further, Verse 18. All this is correctly and clearly explained.
Now I have seen in the Mechilta⁴⁸⁴Mechilta above, 19:10. That the Rabbis differed on this matter. Some say⁴⁸⁵This is the opinion of Rabbi Yishmael. that the making of the covenant took place before the Giving of the Torah — on the fifth day of Sivan — and Moses said to them: “Now you are bound, held and tied; tomorrow come and accept upon yourselves all the commandments.” But Rabbi Yosei the son of Rabbi Yehudah says: “All these acts were done on one and the same day,” that is to say all these acts were performed on the same day, namely the day after the Torah was given — all that Moses told the people and the writing of the Book of the Covenant — all as we have explained. And to this one [i.e., Rabbi Yosei the son of Rabbi Yehudah] we listen, since he has spoken according to the accepted opinion.⁴⁸⁶See Peah 4:1 for origin of this expression [“to this one we listen etc.”].

Come up to the Eternal. In line with the simple meaning of Scripture, the reason for this expression [when it should have said: “Come up unto Me”], is because it is the Scriptural style to mention the proper name instead of the pronoun, such as: And Lemech said… Ye wives of Lemech;⁴⁸⁹Genesis 4:23. It should have said: “My wives.” and the Eternal sent Jerubaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel.⁴⁹⁰I Samuel 12:11. Since Samuel was the speaker, he should have said: “and myself.” A similar case is the verse, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy Sanctuary that is desolate, for the Eternal’s sake.⁴⁹¹Daniel 9:17. It should have said: “for Thy sake.” In the Talmud,⁴⁹²Sanhedrin 38b. however, we find that they⁴⁹³“They” — the Rabbis, asked. To understand, however, the following references in Ramban it is necessary to know that the question was addressed by a min [a Jewish infidel], to Rav Idie for sectarian purposes. The answer here quoted was given by Rav Idie. asked, “It should have said, ‘come up to Me,’” and therefore they said, “this refers to Mattatron, whose name is even as the Name of his Master.”⁴⁹⁴See Ramban above, 23:20. That is to say, “And unto Moses He — the Divine Name mentioned at the beginning of this subject, namely, And the Eternal said unto Moses⁴⁹⁵Above, 20:19. — said, come up to Mattatron, for My Name is in him.” The meaning is thus: “Come up to the place of the Glory where the great angel is,” and the intention was that Moses should come into the midst of the cloud⁴⁸²Further, Verse 18. where the Glory of G-d was, but he should not come right up to the Proper Divine Name, for man shall not see Me, and live.⁴⁹⁶Further, 33:20. The intention of our Rabbis is thus not at all as Rashi had written above.⁴⁹⁷23:20. — Ramban refers to what Rashi wrote there, that the verse mentioned further on [after the sin with the golden calf], and I will send an angel before thee (33:2) has reference to Mattatron. That is not correct, for Moses did not consent that the angel mentioned there should go with them (Abusaula). See also Ramban above 23:20 for a full discussion. In Tractate Sanhedrin also the Rabbi [Rashi] turned the subject around.⁴⁹⁸In Sanhedrin 38 b, Rashi commented: “This is Mattatron. It was he who said Come up unto the Eternal.” Ramban’s opinion, as explained above, is that the Eternal said, “Come up to Mattatron.” Now I have already mentioned⁴⁹⁹Above, 23:20, and in Seder Bo 12:12. the Rabbis’ intention concerning this name [Mattatron], and all their words are true. In that homily, however, [related in Tractate Sanhedrin, concerning the infidel’s question to Rav Idie],⁴⁹³“They” — the Rabbis, asked. To understand, however, the following references in Ramban it is necessary to know that the question was addressed by a min [a Jewish infidel], to Rav Idie for sectarian purposes. The answer here quoted was given by Rav Idie. the Sages spoke in an abstract manner, since Rav Idie did not want, Heaven forbid, to reveal to that infidel who asked him the question, the matter of the great Mattatron and its secret! Instead, he mentioned to him that the verse speaks of the angel who is “the guide of the road” of the world below; and hence he told him, that “even as a guide we refused to accept him, for it is written [that Moses said], If ‘panecha’ — [literally: ‘Thy face’ or ‘Thy presence’] go not up, carry us not up hence,”⁵⁰⁰Further, 33:15. for we accepted no messenger, only the Revered G-d. I have already explained⁵⁰¹Above, 20:3. clearly the secret of panim (face) and the whole subject to those learned in the secret lore of the Cabala, in the section of the Giving of the Torah.

Rabbi Mizrachi opines that the author of Torat Kohanim clearly holds that Moses was inside the Tabernacle at that time and that this was only possible because the cloud had withdrawn at that time. [It is assumed that the readers are familiar with a Tannaitic disagreement as to whether Moses was inside the Tabernacle when G'd spoke with him at this point or not. Please refer to Exodus 40,35 where the Torah told us that Moses could not enter the Tabernacle due to the cloud containing the glory of G'd filling the Tabernacle. Some opinions (Yuma 4) hold that G'd took hold of Moses and placed him inside the Tent. On the other hand we have Numbers 7,89 from which it is evident that G'd spoke to Moses while he was inside the Tabernacle. Rabbi Mizrachi, based on Rashi, holds that the solution to the apparent contradiction in the verses we quoted is in the words "because G'd's cloud rested upon it" (Exodus 40,35); once the cloud moved Moses was able to enter. Ed.] We also find that Moses was able to "enter the cloud" in Exodus 24,18. The same may be presumed to have occurred in connection with this "call" in our verse here. As far as I am concerned the matter is very simple as it is not reasonable to assume that Moses had to wait until the cloud removed itself fom the Tabernacle and that Moses heard the call only then. Upon examination you will find that Rabbi Mizrachi quoted the text of the first part of Torat Kohanim 1,9 (The Midrash refers to Exodus 25,22 where G'd told Moses He would henceforth communicate with him inside the Tent of Meeting, G'd's voice emanating from between the cherubs which were situated on the lid of the Holy Ark): "When G'd said: 'I will communicate with you there,' He meant to exclude the Israelites who had not been deemed fit to ascend Mount Sinai; He also meant to exclude everybody else including Aaron, barring the ministering angels. Moses could not enter the Tabernacle until he had been summoned. This proves that at the time G'd called to him (in our verse) Moses was standing outside. The Torah writes that the voice came אליו, to him, i.e. from the inside of the Tabernacle and was cut off." Thus far the quote from Torat Kohanim. It is clear that the author of that Midrash was convinced that Moses stood outside the Tabernacle at the time G'd's voice called him. You may ask "how did the author of that Midrash know that the call preceded the communication (i.e. the substance of what G'd wanted to say)?" Seeing that the "call" was needed to invite Moses into the Tabernacle as he was afraid to enter unless summoned, how can we derive any additional למוד, exegetical content, from this word? The answer is that if G'd had wanted to He could have removed Moses' fear and he would have entered the Tabernacle without a special "call." Seeing G'd did not do this, this is proof that the "call" was something that had to precede the communication proper as we have outlined previously, and that Moses remained afraid to enter without invitation. He stationed himself close to the Tabernacle so as to be mentally prepared as soon as he would receive G'd's "call" at which time he would enter the Tent. The sound of the call to Moses "left" (was audible beyond) the Tabernacle, whereas the sound of G'd's communication to Moses never left the confines of the Tabernacle and thus was not heard by anybody else. Not even an echo of it was audible [as had been during the last eight commandments at Mount Sinai. Ed.].