מדוע אתה יושב לבדך? Rashi comments that Yitro asked Moses "Why do you sit down like a king?" Yitro felt that by sitting down (while the people were standing) Moses belittled the dignity of the people. This seems difficult to credit, seeing that Yitro afterwards warned Moses of becoming too tired to be useful to his people if he continued to do what he did without help.

We must appreciate that the reign and authority G–d has granted the Jewish people is quite different from that which He granted to the Gentile nations. The Gentile nations exercise rule and authority because they confer honour upon themselves; their entire concept of authority is a secular one. Using these terms in connection with the Jewish people, however, we deal with the spiritual aspect of rule and authority. Authority by Jewish rulers is a means to ensure that the people obey G–d's laws, comply with His wishes. In this connection the Torah says: ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים, "You shall be for Me a kingdom of priests." G–d's emphasis is on the word לי, "for Me". The authority granted to you shall be employed for the honour of "My Name." We have another verse expressing a similar thought in Proverbs 8,15: בי מלכים ימלכו, "Kings reign through Me." The Torah has said that "the royal authority which you exercise shall be through Me," i.e. in order to look after My needs. This is alluded to in Chronicles I 29,23: וישב שלמה על כסא ה', "Solomon sat on the throne of G–d"

Yitro had first thought that Moses used his authority like any other secular ruler. This is why he first criticised him. Afterwards he realised that Moses used his authority exclusively on G–d's behalf. He had not realised at first why the people lined up. Moses had to tell him that nothing was further from his mind than to indulge himself in the exercise of authority. This is why he told Yitro כי יבא אלי העם לדרוש אלוקים … ושפטתי בין איש ובין רעהו והודעתי את חוקי האלוקים ואת תורותיו, "For the people are in the habit of coming to me to enquire from G–d; I have to judge between one man and his fellow-man and to make known G–d's statutes and His teachings." As a result, Moses implied, I have to sit and they have to stand; I represent G–d, therefore they stand in front of G–d. When Yitro heard Moses' explanation he told him that he must not do all this without assistance for he would become too tired and as a result he would undo all he was hoping to accomplish.

We learn from all this how careful a person who has been granted honour by Heaven must be not to abuse such honour by honouring himself, but rather he must use his authority in order to instil the fear of Heaven in his students and to ensure the observance of G–d's commandments.

בחודש השלישי … ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני. Rashi says that all the Torah had to write was: ביום ההוא, "On that day." Why did the Torah write: ביום הזה, "On this day?" This was to teach us that words of Torah should always appear new in our eyes, as if they had been revealed to us this very day. It is therefore incumbent upon each one of us each and every day of our lives to remember the epsiode of Mount Sinai, the revelation, and the giving of the Torah. We must be conscious that G–d chose us from amongst all the other nations although we had been so inextricably mixed up with the Egyptians that our departure from Egypt is described in the Torah (Deut. 4,34) as the removal of גוי מקרב גוי, "one part of a nation from another part of that same nation." We must remain constantly aware of all the miracles G–d performed on our account so that we should be able to arrive at Mount Sinai and shed the pollutants from the original serpent still remaining within us. We should always keep before our mind's eye that G–d gave us the Torah, something that He did not give even to the ministering angels. We must also be aware that all our collective souls were present at Mount Sinai when all this occurred and when G–d spoke to us face to face. In view of all this, how could it even occur to a person for a moment to again risk being covered with the pollutant of the serpent by disobeying G–d once again? Are we not all part of the oath which formed the Jewish response to G–d's offer of the holy Torah, i.e. "we shall do and we shall hear?" I have written more about the moral implications of all this in chapter ten of my treatise עשרה מאמרות.

ויסעו (ישראל) מרפידים. Basing himself on the Mechilta, Rashi comments that the reason the Torah reports this departure from Refidim -although we know that this was the last place the Israelites camped- is in order to tell us that just as the arrival of the children of Israel in the desert of Sinai occurred after they had repented, so their departure from Refidim occurred after they had done תשובה before they received the Torah. The Kabbalists view this as an allusion to the difficulties some people engaged in Torah study may have in understanding the meaning of certain words or phrases. Such difficulties are often due to the influence of the קליפה created by a sin committed by such a person, which creates a barrier between him and his Maker. When a person does experience such difficulty he should examine his conduct very carefully in order to be able to do תשובה. Rabbi Cordovero composed a special prayer in his volume Pardes Rimonim to enlist G–d's help in this respect.

אתם ראיתם. This verse (19,4) introduces a list of benefits that will accrue to the Jewish people if they listen to G–d's voice.

Why does G–d first speak about the Jewish people becoming a סגולה for Him, and immediately afterwards He says they will become "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation?" All of this could have been said without repeating the words "you will become?"

There is a comment by the Zohar on פרשת בלק, (Sullam edition page 54) which may help to explain this. Deborah says in Judges 5,4: ה' בצאתך משעיר, בצעדך משדה אדום. "G–d, when You left from Se-ir and when You stepped forth from the fields of Edom, etc" G–d, before he gave the Torah to the Jewish people, first approached the descendants of Esau, as alluded to in Deut. 33,2. They refused to accept the Torah, as hinted at in וזרח משעיר למו. G–d then approached the Ishmaelites who also refused, as hinted at in והופיע מהר פארן. G–d thereupon offered the Torah to Israel. So far our tradition.

We must surely ask some penetrating questions regarding this tradition! There is nothing wrong with asking for elucidation about fine points in the Torah in order to understand their meaning! It is certainly not a sin! To which prophet of their prophets did G–d reveal the Torah -when He appproached Esau's descendants- to have caused them to refuse it? The same question applies to G–d's enquiry in Paran. Did G–d indeed consult the entire nation of the Ishmaelites? We have never heard of G–d revealing Himself to any nation except to Israel through Moses! Besides, the Torah should have said that G–d came from Paran to Sinai, not that He came from Sinai! Rabbi Shimon said that this question can be answered. The meaning of the words: "G–d came from Sinai," is similar to the meaning of G–d saying to Moses in 19,9: "Here I will come to you in the thickness of the cloud." G–d came to Moses from Sinai and revealed Himself to Israel. What did G–d reveal? He revealed that the בני שעיר had declined the offer of the Torah. He then displayed additional love for Israel. The same holds true for the words הופיע מהר פארן. G–d conveyed to Israel that the Ishmaelites had refused His offer. The refusal of other nations to accept the Torah made Israel more beloved in His eyes because Israel accepted the Torah knowing that other nations had already declined it.

Concerning the question "whom did G–d approach as the respective representatives of these various nations?" This is indeed a great secret and will be revealed through the questioner. Torah itself originates in the secret recesses of the head of the Most High, in the domain בינה. When it reached the left side of the emanations [on its way to the physical world. Ed.], the side which is personified by יצחק, the symbol of the emanation גבורה, G–d saw that a lot of blood (in a negative sense) was associated with that attribute. G–d decided that He had to counteract those phenomena by "whitening" that emanation or attribute. How did G–d go about doing this? He called on Samael, the guardian angel of Esau, and said to him: "Do you want My Torah?" Samael countered: "What is written in the Torah?" G–d said that it says in the Torah: "Do not murder!" G–d deliberately selected a commandment which he knew Esau would have difficulty with. Samael was aghast at the suggestion that his protege should surrender the basic right of "by your sword you shall live," which had been Isaac's blessing to Esau. He told G–d to keep His Torah.

He explained to G–d that acceptance of the Torah meant that he, Samael, would self-destruct. His entire authority in the universe was based on the planet Mars, the planet symbolising warfare. In order not to affront G–d absolutely, Samael suggested that G–d take the Torah and offer it to the people of Israel, a nation far more suited to live by such rules. Samael did not intend this as a compliment to Israel; on the contrary; Samael hoped that Israel would find it impossible to live by the rules of the Torah. This is the meaning of וזרח משעיר למו, "the light of Torah shone for Israel at the suggestion of Se-ir, i.e. Samael." Samael was convinced that acceptance of the Torah by Israel would lead to Israel's destruction (because of non-observance of its commandments) and would thereby prevent ultimate domination of the earth by Israel.

G–d was not satisfied with this refusal by Samael, but pointed out that because Esau was the first-born, it was he who was entitled to receive the Torah. Samael replied that the birthright had already been sold to Jacob, and that he, Samael, had concurred in the validity of the sale during his nocturnal encounter with Jacob in Genesis 32,29. G–d thereupon said to Samael: "Since you are not interested in My Torah, depart from My domain." Samael accepted. G–d said to Samael: "Since you suggested that I offer the Torah to Israel, give me some advice how to go about persuading the children of Israel to accept the Torah from Me." Samael replied that it would be necessary to bribe Israel into accepting the Torah. He suggested that a suitable bribe would be to endow Israel with some of endowments of the Celestial Regions so as to make Israel feel superior. As an opening gesture he himself volunteered to bestow some of his own light on Israel and handed it over to G–d there and then. It is this "light" that the Torah describes as וזרח משעיר "It shone forth from Se-ir towards it" (Israel). This is the mystical dimension of Leviticus 16,22: ונשא השעיר עליו את כל עונותם, "The male goat will carry all their (Israel's) sins." The שעיר refers to Samael.

In consequence of this, G–d transferred from the "blood" on the left side of the emanation גבורה, i.e. Isaac, to the right side of the corresponding emanation חסד, the emanation personified by Abraham. In this way, blood which would have been detrimental became beneficial blood, the blood of circumcision.

G–d called upon Rahav, the guardian angel of Ishmael, asking whether he wanted to accept the Torah. Rahav also wanted to know what is written in the Torah; G–d told him that the Torah prohibits adultery. This proved unacceptable to the representative of Ishmael who considered his whole kingdom on earth as based on the blessing of water, i.e. the blessing given to the fish in Genesis 1,22 to multiply indiscriminately without regard to exclusive sexual pairings. When the angel told Hagar that she would give birth to Ishmael (Genesis 16,11), he told her that Ishmael would be פרא אדם, "an unbridled human being." [the word פרא here seems related to פרו in the way the Zohar uses it. Ed.] Rahav began to plead with G–d: "Abraham had two sons.; You have the choice of giving the Torah to one of Isaac's two sons. The Torah is far more suitable for either of them than for Ishmael." G–d responded that this would not be fair because Ishmael was Abraham's first-born." The guardian angel of Ishmael then offered to waive his claim to the birthright of Ishmael in favour of Isaac. He offered to also cede to Isaac and his descendants the "light" Ishmael had inherited by dint of being Abraham's first-born son. G–d accepted this offer, and this is why the Torah says: הופיע מהר פארן.

Why does the Torah use the expression זרח when referring to Samael, whereas it uses the expression הופיע when referring to Rahav? G–d took the "light" [metaphor for the sword he was blessed with Ed.] which Samael divested himself of and used it as a legal instrument to kill with. This is alluded to in Deut.33,29: ואשר חרב גאותך, "and your (Israel's) sword is triumphant!" The blessing Moses bestows on the Jewish people in that verse is, that though traditionally the sword is not Israel's weapon- Israel will be triumphant with the sword. The other blessing, the one that Rahav waived in order not to have to accept the Torah, G–d used only sparingly, only enough to ensure the continuity of the Jewish people through an adequate birthrate. This is why the Torah used the expression מופיע מהר פארן and זרח מהר פארן. Since G–d had taken from the blessings of these two nations, the Torah describes G–d offering the Torah to all the other nations as אתה מרבבות קודש, "He came from places where He offered the Holy Torah to the various guardian angels of all the other nations, i.e. tens of thousands of people." G–d received a similar response in each and every case. G–d took away gifts previously bestowed on these various nations and instead bestowed them, or most of them, on Israel.

This can be put into perspective by the following parable. A doctor possessed a jar containing the סם החיים, the elixir of life. He saved this jar in order to give it to his son in due course. The physician was very clever. He said to himself that seeing he had servants in his house, these servants would become jealous of his son once they became aware of the contents of the jar and for whom these were meant. Therefore, they would attempt to murder the potential recipient of that gift, i.e. his son. What did the physician do? He took a small amount of poison and placed it at the opening of the jar containing the elixir of life. He called in his servants and asked them whether they would prove their loyalty to him by accepting the contents of the jar. The servants asked to be allowed to examine the contents, intending to taste same. No sooner had they opened the bottle but they experienced death pangs even before they were able to smell or taste the contents. They said to themselves that if the physician would give that potion to his son the son would surely die, and they, the servants, would inherit the physician's wealth. They therefore told the physician that they did not consider the potion in question as suitable for their constitution, but suggested that he give it instead to his son whose constitution was far more suited to benefit from it. They offered the physician an incentive to bribe his son into accepting the gift by giving up a good part of their wages in his favour.

G–d may be compared to the physician in the parable. He knew full well that if He were to give the Torah to the Jewish people without having offered it to the Gentile nations, these nations would persecute Israel and try to kill it on account of this gift. He therefore contrived that the Gentile nations even offered some of their own blessings in order to make Israel accept what they perceived to be the סם המות, deadly poison. This is why Israel became heir to the Torah without the slightest objection being raised by any of the Gentile nations. They even bestowed gifts on the Jewish people to encourage Israel to accept the Torah. When Moses ascended to Mount Sinai and thence to higher spiritual regions, he did not face opposition from any of the representatives of the seventy nations, though they all were aware of Moses' purpose in those regions.

Observe that the gifts that Israel received from the princes of the Gentile nations are testimony that they wanted us to receive the Torah. Thus, being in possession of the elixir of life, neither the angel of death nor the influences found in the סטרא אחרא could gain control over us at the critical moment when G–d revealed Himself. Once Israel sinned (during the episode of the golden calf), the Torah describes (Exodus 33,6) that they had to divest themselves of their jewellery which are only man's as a gift [not inalienable, such as an inheritance, but subject to being revoked. Ed]. The only thing that Israel retained from these gifts was called שבי. This is the meaning of Psalms 68,19: למרום עלית שבית שבי, לקחת מתנות באדם, "You ascended to the heights, having taken captives, having received tributes of men."

When Israel continued to sin, we read in the Torah Numbers 21,1: וישמע הכנעני מלך ערד … וילחם בישראל וישב ממנו שבי, "The Canaanite, king of Arad….engaged Israel in war and and took some of them captive." This means that at that point in time even what had previously remained "captive," i.e. the balance of the gifts from the Gentile nations prior to Israel accepting the Torah, was taken away from them. Whenever Israel will do תשובה, G–d will restore all these gifts. Israel will atone for its sins, and these gifts will act as protection for them.

The gifts Israel received from the שרים of Esau, Ishmael and others are what is alluded to by Bileam (Numbers 23,9) when he said of Israel: הן עם לבדד ישכון ובגוים לא יתחשב. "It is a nation which resides in solitary splendour and is not included in the count of nations." A special reward is reserved for Israel, but they also participate in any good the Gentiles receive. This latter participation in the good received by the Gentiles לא יתחשב, is not counted i.e. is not deducted from their general reward. Compare Rashi on this verse.

This is what G–d meant when He said to Israel: והייתם לי סגולה מכל העמים. "You will be precious to Me more than any of the other nations" This meant that any favours that the nations would experience, Israel would also experience. When G–d continued: ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, He announced that what Israel would receive as a part of the bounty G–d shares out to the Gentiles would not be considered as of value since Israel are a kingdom of priests. All Israelites are considered as princes, sons of kings. The word "kings" refers to the kingdom of Heaven. When the Torah says of Israel "you are a holy nation," the word "holy" is to be understood as similar to what the sages say about the angels paying their respects to the righteous in the world of the future by addressing them as קדוש, "holy."

One can also explain these verses in accordance with a statement by our sages (Yuma 72) that there are three crowns, the crown of priesthood acquired by Aaron, the crown of Monarchy acquired by David, and the crown of Torah which was granted (potentially) to everybody. Concerning all this, the Torah first says (plural) והייתם, "you will all be something precious." There is a discussion in Baba Kama 87 about the meaning of the word סגולה. Rav Chisda holds that someone could acquire סגולה by purchasing a Torah scroll. Rabba bar Rav Hunna thinks that ownership of a date-palem constitutes possession of a סגולה; the owner will be able to eat dates from it for an unlimited period of time. What Rabbi Chisda meant was that everybody is at liberty to buy a Torah scroll, hence everybody can acquire the status of being or possessing a סגולה.

With regard to the other two crowns, the Torah says: "you will be to Me 1) ממלכת, a kingdom, or 2) כהנים, priests." The expression אתם is addressed to two people exclusively, i.e. Aaron and David who personify these two "crowns."

Still another method of interpreting these verses would be to view the words והייתם as addressed to everybody, meaning that anyone who wants to can study Torah, as we know from Avodah Zarah where Rabbi Meir states that Gentiles who study Torah are highly regarded. The words "to Me a segulah from all the other nations" on the other hand, are addressed to Israel exclusively, warning that the priesthood is reserved for members of the Jewish nation. The same applies to the Monarchy. The Torah states in Deut. 17,15: "You shall appoint a king over you whom G–d will choose, from amongst your brethren. You must not appoint as king a stranger who is not your brother."

אתם ראיתם את אשר עשיתי למצרים. According to tradition the word אתם occurs four times at the beginning of a verse. The three other instances are 1) (Exodus 5,11): אתם לכו קחו לכם תבן מאשר תמצאו, "You, go and take yourselves straw from wherever you can find it;" 2) (Deut.29,9): אתם נצבים היום כולכם לפני ה' אלוקיכם; "You are all standing upright in front of the Lord your G–d this day." 3) (Isaiah 43,10): אתם עדי נאום ה' ועבדי אשר בחרתי למען תדעו ותאמינו לי ותבינו כי אני הוא, לפני לא נוצר אל ואחרי לא יהיה. "My witnesses are you, -declares the Lord- My servant whom I have chosen. In order that you may believe in Me, and understand that I am He; before Me no god was formed, and after me none shall exist."

There is a hint here that man should not be influenced when it appears to him that the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. G–ds ways are just in all His paths and He dispenses true Justice. He is a true G–d, keeps faith, and there is no crookedness in His judgments. Moses requested from G–d that He should reveal to him how His paths work. (Exodus 33,13) G–d explained to him that when one observes that a צדיק enjoys the life on this earth, this is a sign that the צדיק in question is also the son of a צדיק. When one observes a צדיק experiencing afflictions, he is the son of a wicked person. When a wicked person enjoys the good life, this is because his father was righteous, whereas if the wicked person suffers hard times it is because his father before him was also wicked. The Kabbalists explain this answer of G–d in terms of גלגל הנשמות, transmigration of souls. The reincarnated soul is called “בן” without reference to the biological father-son relationship. Any soul inhabiting a body because it has to atone for sins of a previous life, is called the "son" of the person whose body it inhabited in that previous life.

Since there are four different combinations of such relationships, we have the four verses commencing with the word אתם, "You." אתם לכו קחו לכם תבן. I have already explained both in my commentary on פרשת שמות and elsewhere that the Jewish people underwent a process of spiritual refinement [including the method of transmigration of souls Ed.] dating back to the generation of Enosh, the generation of the Deluge and the generation of the Tower of Babel. When Pharaoh ordered the Jewish male babies to be drowned in the river Nile, this was a method of atoning for the sins committed by mankind during the generation that perished during the Deluge. When Pharaoh refused to deduct from the daily quota of bricks to be produced although the straw supply was withdrawn, this was in expiation of the sins mankind committed during the generation of the Tower. Inasmuch as Israel had become an inseparable part of the Egyptian nation it had become like the "wicked person who is the son of a wicked person" from the point of view of transmigration of souls. It is therefore not surprising that it experienced the classic fate of the people G–d had described to Moses as רשע בן רשע. This is the reason that the exile was so severe and why Pharaoh compounded their troubles after Moses tried to intervene to lighten their burden.

When G–d tells Israel in 19,4: "You have seen what I have done to Egypt, etc.," this occurred at a time when they had not yet been completely purified, and were still subject to the attribute of Justice, just like the Egyptians. The attribute of Justice had wanted to know why- seeing that both the Israelites and the Egyptians worshipped idols- the former should experience redemption. The only reason G–d was able to take the Israelites out of Egypt at the time was that they were descended from צדיקים, whereas the other Egyptians were descended from רשעים. The Israelites, however, had retained a spark of their erstwhile holiness and hence the Torah said of them: ותחת כי אהב את אבותיך ויבחר בזרעו אחריו ויוציאך בפניו בכוחו הגדול ממצרים, "And because He loved your fathers, He chose their heirs after them; He Himself in His great might led you out of Egypt" (Deut. 4 37). This verse tells of the great favour G–d did for the Jewish people by taking them out of Egypt; they witnessed how G–d treated a רשע בן צדיק (in this case).

The other אתם in פרשת נצבים, which was said to the Jewish people after they had just finished listening to Moses issue dire warnings as to what would befall them if they did not observe the Torah, included a warning that someone who observed everybody else being Torah observant should not exploit the merit of the community to protect him from the consequences (Deut. 29,18-19). Moses actually told the Israelites that his very warnings were the factor that would keep them alive as they would be afraid to sin for fear of what would befall them. He explained that though they were descendants of wicked forefathers, they personally had cleaved to G–d, and this is why they had been saved (compare Rashi on Deut 4,4). [Rashi explains elsewhere that the Jews to whom Moses repeatedly referred as obstinate, sinful, etc.,were those who had been redeemed from Egypt and had perished in the desert. This made the second generation צדיקים בני רשעים. The Rashi is not on the above quoted verse. Ed.] Whenever Israel is punished such punishment includes portion of the punishment due for the sin of the golden calf which has not yet been totally expiated. This too is part of the mystical dimension of the transmigration of souls.

When G–d spoke of the Israelites being His witnesses in Isaiah 43,10, this was an allusion to the good G–d will perform for the Jewish people in the days of the Messiah when He will renew the covenant with us -one that will never be severed- and one which will symbolise that Israel has been totally refined, both the patriarchs and their descendants. At that time the השגחה will be based on the Israelites being צדיקים בני צדיקים, righteous people descended from righteous people. Our sages have stated in Avot 4,19: "Nothing is in our hands: we can neither explain the prosperity of the lawless nor the sufferings of the righteous."

Perhaps the meaning is that we should not draw conclusions from what we see with our eyes, seeing that there are other factors which play a role in G–d's השגחה to which we are not privy.

וידבר אלהים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר. The word לאמר, suggests that G–d rehearsed the words he was going to say to Israel before actually saying them. We must surely learn from here that an ordinary mortal must carefully review what he is going to say before saying it, if even G–d is reported as doing so.

We should read the Ten Commandments daily in a spirit of awe and reverence in order to make sure that we live up to them at all times in all their details. We must train ourselves to be extraordinarily careful not to violate the third commandment, and to avoid at all costs making statements in the form of an oath. Ibn Ezra deals at length with the serious nature of this prohibition, pointing out that violating it is a graver offence than violating any of the negative commandments following it. The prohibition not to murder or not to commit adultery applies only at certain times and when the opportunity arises to do so. The opportunity to use the name of G–d unnecessarily exists practically all the time, and it is therefore more difficult to guard against it. If someone bandies about the name of G–d, he will sooner or later become guilty of perjuring himself by using G–d's name in a false oath. If Israel were guilty of no other sin, this would be enough to prolong our exile, G–d forbid. When someone murders an enemy, he has at least put a stop to that particular temptation. The same is true if someone commits adultery. Using the name of G–d in vain does not bring in its wake the removal of the temptation to do so again. The very fact that one does not derive any personal satisfaction from violating this commandment makes it likely that one may do so again.

וירא העם וינועו ויעמדו מרחוק. Rashi on 20,15 says that this means that the people trembled. If someone wishes to merit the crown of Torah he must relate to Torah as did the Israelites at that time, i.e. he must study with a feeling of awe and reverence; he must not consider Torah study as a pleasurable experience. He must study diligently and sanctify himself from the impurity contracted through seminal emissions. His hands should be clean before he sits down to study Torah.

אשר לא תגלה ערותך עליו. Rashi explains the simple logic in this command (20,23). If it is forbidden to expose oneself even partially -and while wearing trousers as the priests did- to mere stones so as not to embarasss them, how much more circumspect do we have to be not to expose ourselves to a human being who has been created in the image of the Lord, and who therefore would feel far more embarassed by such a sight!