“And they journeyed from Rephidim and came to the desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert; and Israel camped there opposite the mountain.” See how many repetitions are written here, and what would the verse have lacked if it had said, “And they journeyed from Rephidim and camped in the desert of Sinai opposite the mountain”? And why did it first say they camped [plural] and afterwards he camped [singular]? First it mentions desert of Sinai, and afterwards it simply says in the desert; first it called the mountain by the name Sinai and afterwards simply called it the mountain. It appears that all this is evidence that Israel was not worthy of receiving the Torah until there was peace among them, words of the wise given from one shepherd (Ecclesiastes 12:11). The Torah’s paths are all peace, because through division of hearts, one forbids and another permits, and thus the Torah becomes like two Torahs. This is what is meant by In the third month… on this day they came to the desert of Sinai. It indicates that this month, whose zodiac sign is Gemini [Twins], signifies attachment and love, that together they would be perfect like twins to each other, and then there would be abundant peace for those who love the Torah. This also alludes to the two tablets that were like twins together, five opposite five.

And afterwards it says “They traveled from Rephidim.” This refers to the place where there was quarreling and division, for that place was called Massah and Meribah. The word Rephidim contains the letters of “peridim” [separated ones], similar to [the interchangeable words] “kesev”/“keves” [lamb], named for the separation that existed among them. Our Sages (Sanhedrin 106a) interpreted it as “rafu yadayim” [weakening of hands], because one thing depends on the other. Through the division that existed among them, their hands were weakened from Torah study. Now they traveled from Rephidim, from that place — meaning they removed themselves from division — and they came to the Sinai desert. For this place caused them to become one unified group, since the pursuit of honor and authority is the cause of all quarrels and afflictions. When they saw that Mount Sinai, the lowest of the mountains, was the mountain God desired for His dwelling, they realized that the Holy One, blessed be He, chooses the humble, and thereby they chose the attribute of humility, which is the cause of peace. Therefore, the verse mentions them in plural form: They came to the Sinai desert and they encamped in the desert, indicating that from the perspective of the desert, they were still divided in their opinions and were not yet of one heart as one person. But when they came before the mountain and were told that God would descend on this mountain, then Israel encamped [in singular form] — they were of one heart as one person. Initially, however, before they came to this mountain, both when they entered the desert and when they encamped in the desert, they had not yet abandoned their division until they came before the mountain as mentioned. This is because the name [Sinai] indicates the opposite, namely hatred, as our Sages said (Shabbat 89b): “Sinai, from which hatred [sin’ah] descended to the nations, etc.” Therefore it says, Israel encamped there before the mountain, because it was the essence of the mountain that caused peace, not its name.

And I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Here, three ascending levels are mentioned. First, He said, And I carried you on eagles’ wings, which is like a caretaker carrying an infant. At this stage, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is at the level of a father, and Israel at the level of a son. Afterward, He said, And I brought you to Myself, implying that you would be equal to Me, like two brothers of equal standing. Then He said, And you shall be to Me a kingdom, meaning, as it were, kings to Me, as it is written, The righteous ruler in the fear of God (2 Samuel 23:3). This is explained according to the Midrash Chazit, which Ramban cites in Parashat Chayei Sarah (24:1), which states: Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai asked Rabbi Elazar bar Yossi, “Is it possible that you heard from your father the meaning of with the crown with which his mother crowned him” (Song of Songs 3:11)? He replied, “This is comparable to a king who had an only daughter whom he cherished greatly. At first, he called her ‘my daughter.’ His love for her grew until he called her ‘my sister.’ His love continued to grow until he called her ‘my mother.’ Similarly, the Holy One, Blessed be He, cherishes Israel and called them ‘my daughter,’ as it is said, Listen, daughter, and see (Psalms 45:11). His love for them grew until He called them ‘my sister,’ as it is said, Open for me, my sister, my beloved (Song of Songs 5:2). His love for them continued to grow until He called them ‘my mother,’ as it is said, Listen to Me, My people, and My nation [le’umi] (Isaiah 51:4), which is written as ‘le’imi’ [to my mother].”

And it appears that this midrash did not state the order of the levels, because first [it mentions] “daughter,” and afterward [God] increased His love for her and called her “my sister,” and this addition is actually a reduction, because without doubt a person cherishes his daughter more than his sister. And without doubt this midrash speaks of the levels of authority that one has over another, because a father rules over his daughter, and so does a mother, but a brother and sister are equal. Similarly, at first the Holy One, blessed be He, called Israel “daughter” due to His love for Israel, as only He, may He be blessed, has the sovereignty to rule over Israel like the authority of a father over his daughter. And this was in the days of Abraham, because the verse Listen, daughter, and see is interpreted as referring to Abraham (Genesis Rabbah 39:1), and this is the first level mentioned here: I carried you on eagles’ wings, and this carrying is like when a caretaker carries a nursing child. Afterward, the Holy One, blessed be He, elevated them to a greater level by calling them “my sister,” suggesting that they are equal to Him, may He be blessed. The Holy One, blessed be He, equated His honor and awe, may He be blessed, with their honor, as our Sages of blessed memory said that the righteous are considered as if they became partners with the Blessed One. This was in the days of Isaac, to whom the Holy One, blessed be He, said, Dwell in this land, and I will be with you (Genesis 26:3) — meaning, equal to you, because his own merit was added to the merit of Abraham his father. Therefore, the expression “I will be with you” was not said to Abraham as it was to Isaac. This is the second level mentioned here: and I brought you to Me, which is similar to the statement I will be with you. Afterward, when Jacob came — God’s portion, the threefold cord — the Lord elevated him to an even greater level, calling him “mother,” just as a mother rules over a daughter. Similarly, a righteous person rules over the fear of God, as our Sages of blessed memory expounded (Moed Katan 16b). This is what is said about Jacob: For you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed. Although to Jacob it was also said (Genesis 31:3), And I will be with you, nevertheless, he was later elevated to a third level when he struggled with God and prevailed. And this is what [the Sages] said (Megillah 18a): “The Holy One, blessed be He, called Jacob ‘God’” — meaning that he rules over Him, as it were. And this is what is stated here: And you shall be for Me a kingdom of kings — for Me, as it were. I decree a decree, and the righteous person nullifies it. And they merited this level by virtue of being the children of Israel, as the passage begins: Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel, etc.

And we can interpret the verse “and you shall be for Me a kingdom of priests.” Kings over the priests, because through receiving the Torah, those who study it have an advantage over the priests, for even a Torah scholar of illegitimate birth takes precedence over an ignorant High Priest (Horayot 13). And some say, You have seen what I did to Egypt refers to the plagues, because when the plagues came from the earth — blood, lice, and similar ones — then I bore you on eagles’ wings, so that you would not be harmed by them, as if I had lifted you above the earth. And afterward, when the plagues came from the heavens — fire and hail — then I brought you to Me, to elevate you above the cosmic order. And some say that He elevated them above the angels who are called “winged beings,” and about this He said, I bore you on eagles’ wings, meaning, I lifted you to a level that is higher than the wings of eagles.

“And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.” This entire verse seems superfluous because it was already stated and Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. Rashi explained that Moses told the Holy One, blessed be He, how Israel said “we want to see our King,” but this is not explicitly stated in the Scripture. Perhaps Rashi found it difficult that the words to the Lord seem redundant, as it should have said “And Moses told the words of the people to Him,” since he was already speaking with the Lord. However, this is a response to what the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will also believe in you forever. But they said, We will listen to the Lord and not to Moses. That is why it says, And Moses told the words of the people, and what were their words? About this it says to the Lord, meaning they said “we will listen to the Lord” and not to you. Still, it is not explained in the Scripture where Moses heard from them that they said this. And there is another difficulty: why does it say above and Moses responded while here it says and Moses told.

But this is its explanation, according to what is said, And Moses came and called the elders of the people, etc. and All the people answered, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do’ (Exodus 19:7-8). But the elders had not yet told them anything, so how did they answer immediately? Rather, certainly as soon as they saw that Moses spoke his words to the elders, they immediately understood that all the words would come through intermediaries — that the Holy One, blessed be He, would speak to Moses, and Moses to the elders, and the elders to Israel. Immediately, Israel jumped to answer Moses, indicating by this that they had no desire for the intermediation of the elders. And by saying All that the Lord has spoken we will do, they showed that they did not want Moses’s intermediation either. They said that they would do all that the Lord would speak to them, not what Moses would speak to them. They had [good] reason and rationale, as they wanted to see their King. They could have simply said, “We will do it,” but they specifically said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do to exclude Moses’s words. They also alluded [to this] in saying, All that the Lord has spoken we will do. And the Holy One, blessed be He, said, Now if you will surely listen to My voice (Exodus 19:5). This implies that the Lord wanted them to hear the voice of the Lord speaking to them directly, not through intermediaries. And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel (Exodus 19:6) — you yourself, not through any intermediation. Moses went and told the elders first, and Israel was very angry that the Lord would speak to them through two intermediaries. Therefore, they said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do — to hear the voice of the Lord directly. Therefore, the first time, Moses responded to the Lord only the matter on which the main mission depended, which is what they said, We will do all the words of the Lord, and the termresponded is appropriate here. Moses had not yet told the Lord anything about what he understood from them — that they wanted to see their King — because Moses thought that surely God understood their ways and their thoughts, and would do according to their will. When God said to him again, Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, etc., and they will also believe in you forever (Exodus 19:9), then he understood that the Holy One, blessed be He, still wanted to speak to them through intermediation. Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord — he told Him what they said: All that the Lord has spoken we will doThe term told is appropriate here, not the term “responded,” because this matter is not a response to the main mission but merely a telling of what had happened with them. And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “If so, do this: Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow” (Exodus 19:10) — because to see the face of their King, they need to be holy, for I am holy — and on the third day, the Lord will descend before the eyes of all the people (Exodus 19:11). Then they will see the face of their King. And indeed, He began to speak to them Himself, for they heard the first two commandments from the mouth of the Almighty, until they were afraid of the fire and the sounds. Then they retreated from their request and said, Speak you with us, and we will hear (Exodus 20:16).

And regarding what is written, “Behold, I come to you in the thickness of the cloud.” Because a person can never use two senses equally at once, to see and hear simultaneously, therefore the Holy One, Blessed be He, said: “If I appear to them openly, they will direct their heart and mind to the sight, to see their King, and will not pay attention to the hearing. Therefore, I will come in the thickness of the cloud so that they will not be able to see, in order to strengthen the sense of hearing.” This is what is meant by so that the people may hear.

And there were voices and lightning. Some Torah commentators wanted to give a reason for why there were these voices and the sound of the shofar, and each one makes allusions in the manner of derash [homiletic interpretation] according to his understanding. What seems closest to me is to add a comparison to this, since we see that the sounds of thunder and lightning are opposite to the sound of the shofar. For the sounds of thunder coming from within the cloud cease quickly, and lightning’s arrow emerges, appears for a moment, and is immediately gone and finished. But the sound of the shofar was continually increasing in strength. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that this is a hint to the two groups who received the Torah: the elder Torah scholars and the elder common people. For the former increase in wisdom while the latter grow more foolish over time. Similarly, this shofar, which was from the ram of Isaac and is associated with the righteous, its sound grows stronger and stronger, for elder Torah scholars continually increase in wisdom. But the thick, heavy cloud, which is associated with the elder common people, those of material nature — their voice and the spark of their light is only momentary. And the word shofar they interpreted (Vayikra Rabbah 29:6) from the language of “improve [shapru] your deeds,” which agrees with our explanation. It also alludes to the merit of Isaac, which continues to grow stronger, and its voice is heard in every generation, growing ever stronger.

And it also hints to what is written (in Pirkei Rabbi Eliezer 31) that nothing of Isaac’s ram was wasted; its left horn was blown at Mount Sinai, and its right horn will be blown in the future [Messianic era], as it is said And on that day, a great shofar will be blown (Isaiah 27:13). The reason it is called great is because in this world, the voice of the Torah is not heard in our land except through promises of reward in this world, such as wealth and honor which are in its left hand. The Torah did not want to explain the spiritual reward to those lacking comprehension, because while a person is entangled in physicality, they lack the ability to understand the nature of spiritual reward. But in the future, the earth will be filled with knowledge, and then God will announce to the redeemed of God the spiritual reward and length of days in its right hand in the world that is entirely long [eternal]. This is an additional and stronger voice than the voice at the giving of the Torah. Therefore it says, The sound of the shofar grew increasingly stronger.

And Moses brought forth the people towards God. This implies that the Divine Presence went forth first to meet them, and this is how Rashi explains it, which agrees with what is concluded in the Yalkut on Jeremiah (30:12) regarding the verse Who is he who would engage [his heart] to approach [Me]? Rabbi Rabba bar Rav Huna said: This indicates a special distinction for Israel compared to converts, for regarding Israel it is written (Jeremiah 31:32), I will be their God and afterward they shall be My people. However, regarding converts it is written (Jeremiah 30:21), Who is he who would engage his heart to approach Me? and afterward You shall be My people, and I will be your God. And Rashi explained it as a groom going out to meet his bride, etc., for who seeks after whom? The owner of a lost item seeks after his lost possession. Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, seeks after Israel who were like lost sheep among the nations, as it is written (Hosea 9:10), Like grapes in the desert I found your forefathers, etc.

“And they stood at the foot of the mountain.” From here, our Sages learned (Shabbat 88) that He held the mountain over them like a barrel, saying, “If you do not accept the Torah, there will be your burial place.” And Rav Acha bar Yaakov said: “From here is a great protest against the Torah, for Israel could say, ‘We were coerced.’” The explanation is not that God wanted to force them so they would have an excuse, because if so, when He offered the Torah to all the nations and they refused to accept it, why didn’t He compel them? Furthermore, Israel had already willingly accepted it, saying, All that God has spoken, we will do. Additionally, in the days of Ezekiel, when they wanted to cast off the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and said, “Let us be like all the nations,” God responded to them, With outpoured wrath will I reign over you (Ezekiel 20:32–33). If they had been coerced into accepting the Torah, how could He have forced them? Rather, certainly for their benefit He held the mountain over them, saying, “See that as long as you do not accept the Torah, you are considered as dead even in your lifetime, and in your death you have no continuity — there will be your burial place, and the dead will not live, the departed will not rise.” And through the Torah, your lives will be life in this world and the next. And Rav Acha bar Yaakov said: Although He did not want to force them to accept the Torah, nevertheless, a detriment resulted from this for future generations who might mistakenly say, “We were coerced.” This was their argument in the days of Ezekiel, but in the days of Ahasuerus, “they confirmed what they had already undertaken” — meaning they accepted upon themselves not to claim coercion anymore, for it was a mistaken argument.

And it can be further explained that “there shall be your burial,” that you will not merit to enter the Land of Israel, because they were promised the inheritance of the nations on the condition that they observe His statutes. And it specifically mentions burial because the dead of the Land of Israel will be resurrected first, and He told them that if they do not accept the Torah, then certainly they have no share in the resurrection of the dead for the World to Come. Thus, there is no difference between burial in the Land of Israel and burial outside the Land. Therefore, in the desert you shall die and there you shall be buried, for what purpose would there be in carrying your bones to be buried there if you have no share in the World to Come.