The Legends of the Jews, Volume III, Chapter 2, Moses In the Wilderness, THE INSTALLATION OF ELDERS

THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS

VOLUME III

BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS FROM THE EXODUS TO THE DEATH OF MOSES

BY LOUIS GINZBERG

TRANSLATED PROM THE GERMAN MANUSCRIPT BY PAUL RADIN

REVISER AND PROOF-READER OF VOLUME III, DOCTOR ISAAC HUSIK

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Chapter 2

THE INSTALLATION OF ELDERS

Jethro, who had come to Moses shortly before the revelation on Mount Sinai,
stayed with his son-in-law for more than a year. In the first months, however,
he had no opportunity of observing Moses in the capacity of judge, for Moses spent
the time from the day of the revelation to the tenth day of Tishri almost entirely
in heaven. Hence Jethro could not be present at a court proceeding of his before
the eleventh day of Tishri, the first day after Moses’ return from heaven. Jethro
now perceived how Moses sat like a king upon his throne, while the people, who
brought their lawsuits before him, stood around him. This so displeased him that
he said to his son-in-law: “Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people
stand by thee from morning until even?” Moses answered: “Because the people come
unto me to enquire of God. It is not in my honor that they stand, but in honor
of God, whose judgement they would know. When they are in doubt over a case of
clean or unclean, or when there is a dispute between two parties, which they desire
to have settled exactly according to the law, or in conformity with a compromise,
they come to me; and when the parties at dispute leave me, they part as friends
and no longer enemies. I expound to the people, besides, the words of God and
His decisions.”

On the day that Moses again took up his activity as a judge, and Jethro had
for the first time the chance of observing him, came the mixed multitude with
the pleas that they, like the other Israelites, wanted their share in the Egyptians
booty. Moses’ method, first seen by him in practice, struck Jethro as most absurd,
and he therefore said: “The thing that thou doest is not good,” through delicacy
softening his real opinion, “It is bad” to “It is not good.” “The people,” he
continued, “will surely unbraid thee and Aaron, his two sons Nadab and Abihu,
and the seventy elders, if thou continuest in this fashion. But if thou hearkenest
now to my voice, thou wilt fare well, provided God approves of my plan. This is,
that thou shalt be ‘the vessel of the revelations of God,’ and shalt lay the revelations
of God before the people, as often as thou receivest them; so that they may understand
the exposition of the Torah, as well as its decisions. And thou shalt instruct
them how to pray in the synagogues, how to tend the sick, how to bury their dead,
how to render the services of friendship to one another, how to practice justice,
and how, in some cases, not to insist on strict justice. But as for trying the
people as a judge, thou shouldst, in accordance with thy prophetic insight, choose
men that are possessed of wisdom, fear of God, modesty, hate of covetousness,
love of truth, love of humanity, and a good name, and these shall devote all their
time to trials, and to the study of the study of the Torah. If God approve my
plan, then wilt thou and Aaron, his sons and the seventy elders, and all the people
dwell in peace.”

This counsel of Jethro’s found great favor in Moses’ eyes, for he had been
only too well aware of the difficulties and annoyances with which he had had to
contend. The people were very disputatious, being willing to spend seventy silverlings
in litigation costs for the sake of gaining one silverling, and did their utmost
to lengthen their disputes at law. When on say that Moses was about to cast a
decision against him, he demanded that his lawsuit be adjourned, declaring that
had witnesses and other proofs, which he would bring forward on the next occasion.
But they were not merely litigious and disputations, they were also spiteful,
and vented their temper on Moses. If Moses went out early, they would say: “Behold
the son of Amram, who betakes himself early to the gathering of manna, that he
may get the largest grains.” If he went out late, they would say: “Behold the
son of Amram, he goes through the multitude, to gather in marks of hone.” But
if he chose a path aside from the crowd, they said: “Behold the son of Amram,
who makes it impossible for us to follow the simple commandment, to hone a sage.”
Then Moses said: “If I did this you were not content, and if I did that you were
not content! I can no longer bear you alone. ‘The Eternal, your God, hath multiplied
you, and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. The Lord,
God of you fathers, make you a thousand times so many as ye are, and bless you,
as he hath promised you!”

The Israelites were not content with this blessing of Moses, and said to him:
“O our teacher Moses, we do not desire thee to bless us, we have had much greater
blessings given to us. God spoke to our father Abraham: ‘I will bless thee and
in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore,’ and thou dost limit our blessings.” Moses cried:
“I am only a creature of flesh and blood, limited in my powers, hence is my blessing
limited. I give you my blessing, but the blessing of God remains preserved for
ye, and He will bless you unlimitedly, and multiply you as the fish of the sea
and the sands on the seashore, as the star in the sky and the plants on the earth.”

After he had bestowed his blessing upon them, he asked them to propose capable
pious men, that he might appoint them as judges and leaders over them. He said:
“If a man were to present himself to me as a candidate for this position of honor,
I alone should not be able to decide to what tribe he belonged, and whence he
came; but you know them, and hence it is advisable for you to propose them. Do
not think, however, that I feel I must abide by your choice, for it depends solely
upon me, whether or not I shall appoint them.”

The people were very eager to carry this plan of Moses into execution, and
requested him to settle the matter as quickly as possible. But their motive was
self-interested, for every one among them said: “Moses will now appoint about
eighty thousand officials. If I myself should not be among them, surely my son
will be, and if not he, my grandson, and with a gift of some kind it will be an
easy matter to induce such a judge to look after my interests at court.” Moses,
of course, was not deceived about their true sentiments; still, he paid no further
attention to them, and picked out the best men among the people, though they were
not possessed of nearly all the good qualities Jethro had thought essential for
judges and leaders of people. With kindly words he invited them to assume their
offices, and said: “Blessed are ye that are judged worthy of being leader of the
children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of a people whom God called His friends,
His brothers, His flock, and other titles of love.” He impressed upon them that
they must possess much patience, and must not become impatient if a lawsuit is
brought before them more than once. “Heretofore,” he said, “you belonged to yourselves,
but from now you belong to the people; for you judge between every man, and his
brother and his neighbor. If ye are to appoint judges, do so without respect of
persons. Do not say ‘I will appoint that man because he is a handsome man or a
strong man, because he is my kinsman, or because he is a linguist.’ Such judges
will declare the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent, not through wickedness,
but through ignorance; and God will reckon the appointment of such judges against
you, as a perversion of justice, on account of your respect of persons. If a wealthy
man and a poor man come before you to court, do not say: ‘Why should I insult
the rich man for so small a matter? I will rather give judgement in his favor,
and then, outside the court, tell him to give the poor man what he demands, as
he is in the right.’ But do not, on the other hand, if the poor man is in the
wrong, say: ‘The rich man is obliged to assist the poor anyhow, I will now decide
in favor of the poor, that in a decent way he may, without begging, obtain money
from his rich fellow-man.’ Do not, moreover, say: ‘I fear to pronounce judgement,
lest that man kill my son, burn my barn, or destroy my plants,’ for the judgement
is God’s.”

After these admonitions, Moses instructed the new judges in legal procedure,
in both civil and criminal cases, and at the same time urged the people no to
deny the judges the veneration due him. For great is the importance of justice.
For him who hates it, there is no remedy; but the judge who decides conscientiously
is the true peacemaker, for the weal of Israel, of the commonwealth, and indeed
of all living creatures.

JETHRO REWARDED

Although the installation of elders on Moses’ part came to pass in accordance
with the command of God, still it was Jethro upon whose advice Moses besought
God to lighten his burden, and to permit him partly to transfer the leadership
of the people to others. Hence he did not conceal the name of the adviser, but
announced it to all the people, and immortalized him as such in the Holy Scriptures;
for he deemed it praiseworthy to appreciate duly the merits of others. It had,
however, been part of God’s scheme to reward Jethro for the love he bore the Torah;
and for this reason did He allow it to come to pass that Moses had to have his
attention called to the plan of installing the elders through his father-in-law,
that the Holy Scriptures might devote a whole chapter to the plan of Jethro.

This, however, is not the only reward for Jethro’s piety, who, in his love
for the Torah, excelled all proselytes. A miracle occurred on the very first day
of his arrival in camp for manna in his honor descended at the noon hour, the
hour of his arrival; and, moreover, in as great quantities as was wont to rain
down for sixty myriads of Israelites. He did not have to exert himself to gather
the food, for it came over his body, so all he had to do was to carry his hand
to his mouth to partake of it. Jethro, nevertheless, did not remain with Moses,
but returned to his native land. Moses, of course, tried to persuade his father-in-law
to stay. He said to him: “Do not think that we shall continue to move thus slowly
through the desert, nay, we shall now move directly to the promised land.” Only
to urge Jethro to stay longer with them did Moses use the words “we move,” so
that his father-in-law might believe that Moses too would enter the promised land,
for otherwise he would hardly have allowed himself to be persuaded to join the
march to Palestine. Moses continued: “I do not want to mislead thee, hence I will
tell thee that the land will be divided only among the twelve tribes, and that
thou has no claim to possession of lands; but God bade us be kind to the proselytes,
and to thee we shall be kinder than to all other proselytes.” Jethro, however,
was not to be persuaded by his son-in-law, considering himself in duty bound to
return to his native land. For the inhabitants of his city had for many years
made a habit of having him store their valuable, as none possessed their confidence
in such a measure as he. If he had stayed still longer with Moses, people would
have declared that he had absconded with all these things and fled to Moses to
share it with him, and that would have been a blot on his fair name and that of
Moses. Jethro had furthermore made many debts during the year in which he came
to Moses, for, owing to the hail God had sent upon Egypt before the exodus of
Israel, a great famine had arisen in Jethro’s home too, and he had found himself
obliged to lend money for the support of the poor. If he were not now to return
to his home, people would say that he had run away in order to evade his creditors,
and such talk concerning a man of piety would have been desecration of the Divine
Name. So he said to Moses: “There are people who have a fatherland, but no property
there; there are also property-holders who have no family; but I have a fatherland,
and have property there as well as a family; hence I desire to return to my fatherland,
my property, and my family.” But Moses would not yield so soon, and said to his
father-in-law: “If thou dost not accompany us as a favor, I will command thee
to do so, that the Israelites might not say thou hadst been converted to our religion
only in the expectation of receiving a share in the promised land, but hadst returned
to thy home when thou didst discover that proselytes have no claim on property
in the Holy Land. Through thy refusal to move with us, thou wilt give the heathens
an opportunity to say that the Jews do not accept proselytes, since they did not
accept even their own king’s father-in-law, but allowed him to return to his own
land. Thy refusal will injure the glory of God, for the heathens will keep away
from the true faith. But if thou wilt wander with us, I assure thee that they
seed shall share with us the Temple, the Torah, and the future reward of the pious.
How canst thou, moreover, who hast seen all the miracles of God wrought for us
during the march through the desert; who wert a witness of the way in which even
the Egyptians became fond of us-how canst thou now depart from us? It is a sufficient
motive for thee to remain with us, in order to officiate as a member of the Sanhedrin,
and teach the Torah. We, on our part, want to retain thee, only that thou mightest
in difficult cases enlighten our eyes; for thou wert the man who gave us good
and fair counsel, to which God Himself could not refuse His assent.” Jethro replied:
“A candle may glow in the dark, but not when the sun and the moon; of what avail
would my candle-light be? I had, therefore, better return to my home city that
I may make proselytes of its inhabitants, instruct them in the Torah, and lead
them under the wings of the Shekinah.” Amid great marks of honor, and provided
with rich gifts, Jethro returned to his home, where he converted his kinsmen and
his compatriots to the belief in the true God, as he had intended.

The descendants of Jethro later settled in Palestine, where the fruitful land
of Jericho was allotted to them as a dwelling place. After the capture of Palestine,
the tribes, by mutual consent, agreed that the fertile strip of land at Jericho
should fall to the share of the tribe on whose land the Temple was to be erected.
But when its erection was postponed for a long time, they agreed to allot this
piece of land to Jethro’s sons, because they, being proselytes, had no other possession
in the Holy Land. Four hundred and eighty years did the descendants of Jethro
dwell in Jericho, when, upon the erection of the Temple at Jerusalem, they relinquished
it to the tribe of Judah, who claimed it as an indemnity for the site of the Temple.

Jethro’s descendants inherited his devotion to the Torah, like him dedicating
their lives entirely to its study. So long as Joshua lived, they sat at this master’s
feet, but when he died, they said: “We left our fatherland and came here only
for the sake of studying the Torah; if we were now to spend our time in cultivating
the soil, when should we study the Torah?” They therefore gave up their dwelling-place
in Jericho, and moved to the cold barren wilderness, to Jabez, who there had his
house of instruction. But when they there beheld the priests, the Levites, and
the noblest of the Jews, they said, “How can we, proselytes, presume to sit beside
these?” Instead of sitting within the house of instruction, they remained at the
entrance of it, where they listened to the lectures, and in this manner made further
progress in the study of the Torah. They were rewarded for their piety, their
prayer was heard by God, and their good deeds served as a protection to Israel;
and on account of their pious actions they were called “the families of the scribes,”
the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Suchathites, names designating their
piety and devotion to the Torah.

One of the descendants of Jethro was Jonadab, son of Rechab, who, when he heard
from a prophet that God would destroy the Temple, bade all his children, as a
toke of mourning, to drink no wine, use no oil for anointing themselves, nor cut
their hair, nor dwell in houses. The Rechabites obeyed this command of their sire,
and as a reward for this, God made a covenant with them that their descendants
should always be members of the Sanhedrin, and teachers of Israel. The covenant
with the Rechabites was even stronger than that with David, for to the house of
the latter God promised to keep the covenant only if his descendants were pious,
but He made an unconditional covenant with the Rechabites. God rewarded them for
their devotion to Him in this way, although they did not belong to the Jewish
nation. From this one can gather how great would have been their reward if they
had been Israelites.

THE TIME IS AT HAND

Moses sent his father-in-law Jethro back to his home, shortly before the revelation
on Mount Sinai. He thought: “When God gave us a single commandment of the Torah
in Egypt, the Passover, He said, ‘There shall no stranger eat thereof.’ Surely
Jethro may not look on when God bestows on us the whole Torah.” Moses was right:
God did not want Jethro to be present at the revelation. He said: “Israel was
in Egypt, bound to work with clay and bricks, at the same time as Jethro was sitting
at home in peace and quiet. He who suffers with the community shall share their
future joys, but he who does not share the sufferings of the community shall not
take part in their rejoicing.”

God had not only good cause to delay the giving of the Torah until after the
departure of Jethro, but the time He chose to bestowing it was also chosen for
a good reason. Just as a female proselyte, or a woman freed from captivity, or
an emancipated slave, may not enter wedlock before she has for three months lived
as a free Jewess, so God also waited three months after the deliverance of Israel
from the bondage and the slavery of Egypt, before His union with Israel on Mount
Sinai. God furthermore treated His bride as did that king who went to the marriage
ceremony only after he had overwhelmed his chosen bride with many gifts. So did
Israel first receive manna, the well, and the quails, and not till then was the
Torah granted them. Moses, who had received this promise when God had first appeared
to him, viz., “When thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve
God upon this mountain”-waited most longingly for the promised time, saying, “When
will this time come to pass?” When the time drew near, God said to Moses, “The
time is at hand when I shall bring about something entirely new.”

This new miracle of which God spoke was the healing of all the sick among the
Jews. God had wanted to give the Torah to the Jews immediately after the exodus
from Egypt, but among them were found many that were lame, halt, or deaf; wherefore
God said: “The Torah is without a blemish, hence would I not bestow it on a nation
that has in it such as are burdened with defects. Nor do I want to wait until
their children shall have grown to manhood, for I do not desire any longer to
delay the delight of the Torah.” For these reasons nothing was left Him to do,
but to heal those afflicted with disease. In the time between the exodus from
Egypt and the revelation on Mount Sinai, all the blind among the Israelites regained
their sight, all the halt became whole, so that the Torah might be given to a
sound and healthy people. God wrought for that generation the same miracle which
He will hereafter bring about in the future world, when “the eyes of the blind
shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, the lame man leap as
an hart, and the tongues of the dumb sing.” Not only physically was this generation
free from blemishes, but spiritually, too, it stood on a high plane, and it was
the combined merits of such a people that made them worthy of their high calling.
Never before or after lived a generation as worthy as this of receiving the Torah.
Had there been but one missing, God would not have given them the Torah: “for
He layeth up wisdom for the righteous; He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.”

For one other reason did God delay the revelation of the Torah. He had intended
giving them the Torah immediately after their exodus from Egypt, but at the beginning
of the march through the desert, great discord reigned among them. Nor was harmony
established until the new moon of the third month, when they arrived at Mount
Sinai; whereupon God said: “The ways of the Torah are ways of loveliness, and
all its paths are paths of peace; I will yield the Torah to a nation that dwells
in peace and amity.” This decision of God, now to give them the Torah, also shows
how mighty is the influence of penance. For they had been sinful upon their arrival
at Mount Sinai, continuing to tempt God and doubting His omnipotence. After a
short time, however, they changed in spirit; and hardly had they reformed, when
God found them worthy of revealing to them the Torah.

The third month was chosen for the revelation, because everything that is closely
connected with the Torah and with Israel is triple in number. The Torah consists
of three parts, the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa; similarly the
oral law consists of Midrash, Halakah, and Haggadah. The communications between
God and Israel were carried on by three, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Israel also
is divided into three divisions, priests, Levites, and laymen; and they are, furthermore,
the descendants of the three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God has
a preference for “the third”: It was the third of Adam’s sons, Seth, who became
the ancestor of humanity, and so too it was the third among Noah’s sons, Shem,
who attained high station. Among the Jewish kings, too, it was the third, Solomon,
whom God distinguished before all others. The number three plays a particularly
important part in the life of Moses. He belonged to the tribe of Levi, which is
not only the third of the tribes, but has a name consisting of three letters.
He himself was the third of the children of the family; his own name consists
of three letters; in his infancy he had been concealed by his mother throughout
three months; and in the third month of the year, after a preparation of three
days, did he receive the Torah on a mountain, the name of which consists of three
letters.

THE GENTILES REFUSE THE TORAH

The mountain on which God made his revelation bears six names: It is called
the Desert Sin, because God there announced His commandments; it is called the
Desert Kadesh, because Israel was sanctified there; the Desert Kadmut because
the pre-existing Torah was there revealed; the Desert Paran because Israel there
was greatly multiplied; the Desert Sinai because the hatred of God against the
heathens began there, for the reason that they would not accept the Torah; and
for this same reason is it called Horeh, because the annihilation of the heathens
was there decreed by God. For the wrath of God against the heathens dates from
their refusal to accept the Torah offered them.

Before God gave Israel the Torah, He approached every tribe and nation, and
offered them the Torah, that hereafter they might have no excuse to say, “Had
the Holy one, blessed be He, desired to give us the Torah, we should have accepted
it.” He went to the children of Esau and said, “Will ye accept the Torah?” They
answered Him, saying, “What is written therein?” He answered them, “Thou shalt
not kill.” Then they all said: “Wilt Thou perchance take from us the blessing
with which our father Esau was blessed? For he was blessed with the words, ‘By
thy sword shalt thou live.” We do not want to accept the Torah.” Thereupon He
went to the children of Lot and said to them, “Will ye accept the Torah?” They
said, “What is written therein?” He answered, “Thou shalt not commit unchastity.”
They said: “From unchastity do we spring; we do no want to accept the Torah.”
Then He went to the children of Ishmael and said to them, “Do ye want to accept
the Torah?” They said to Him, “What is written therein?” He answered, “Thou shalt
not steal.” They said: “Wilt Thou take from us the blessing with which our father
was blessed? God promised him: ‘His hand will be against every man.’ We do not
want to accept the Thy Torah.” Thence He went to all the other nations, who likewise
rejected the Torah, saying: “We cannot give up the law of our fathers, we do not
want Thy Torah, give it to Thy people Israel.” Upon this He came to Israel and
spoke to them, “Will ye accept the Torah?” They said to Him, “What is written
therein?” He answered, “Six hundred and thirteen commandments.” They said: “All
that the Lord has spoken will we do and be obedient.” “O Lord of the world!” they
continued, “We acted in accordance with Thy commandments before they were revealed
to us. Jacob fulfilled the first of the Ten Commandments by bidding his sons put
away strange gods that were among them. Abraham obeyed the commandment not to
take the name of the Lord in vain, for he said: ‘I have lifted up mine hand unto
the Lord, the most high God.’ Joseph fulfilled the commandment to remember the
Sabbath and keep it holy; and when his brothers came to him, he had everything
for their welcome prepared on Friday. Isaac observed the law to honor his father
and his mother, when he allowed Abraham to bind him on the altar as a sacrifice.
Judah observed the commandment not to kill when he said to his brothers, ‘What
profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?’ Joseph observed the
law: ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery,’ when he repulsed the desire of the wife
of Potiphar. The other sons of Jacob observed the commandment: ‘Thou shalt not
steal,’ saying: ‘How then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver and gold?’
Abraham observed the commandment: ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness,’ for he
was a true witness, and bore witness before all the world that Thou art the Lord
of all creation. It was Abraham, also, who observed the last of the Ten Commandments
‘Thou shalt not covet,’ saying: ‘I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet.'”

THE CONTEST OF THE MOUNTAINS

While the nations and peoples were refusing to accept the Torah, the mountains
among themselves were fighting for the honor of being chosen as the spot for the
revelation. One said: “Upon me shall the Shekinah of God rest, and mine shall
be this glory,” whereupon the other mountain replied: “Upon me shall the Shekinah
rest, and mine shall be this glory.” The mountain of Tabor said to the mountain
of Hermon: “Upon me shall the Shekinah rest, mine shall be this glory, for in
times of old, when in the days of Noah the flood came over the earth, all the
mountains that are under the heavens were covered with water, whereas it did not
reach my head, nay, not even my shoulder. All the earth was sunk under water,
but I, the highest of the mountains, towered high above the waters, hence I am
called upon to bear the Shekinah.” Mount Hermon replied to Mount Tabor: “Upon
me shall the Shekinah rest, I am the destined one, for when Israel wished to pass
through the Red Sea, it was I who enabled them to do so, for I settled down between
the two shores of the sea, and they moved from one side to the other, through
my aid, so that not even their clothes became wet.” Mount Carmel was quite silent,
but settled down on the shore of the sea, thinking: “If the Shekinah is to repose
on the sea, it will rest upon me, and if it is to repose on the mainland, it will
rest upon me.” Then a voice out of the high heavens rang out and said: “The Shekinah
shall not rest upon these high mountains that are so proud, for it is not God’s
will that the Shekinah should rest upon high mountains that quarrel among themselves
and look upon one another with disdain. He prefers the low mountains, and Sinai
among these, because it is the smallest and most insignificant of all. Upon it
will He let the Shekinah rest.” The other mountains hereupon said to God, “Is
it possible that Thou are partial, and wilt give us no reward for our good intention?”
God replied: “Because ye have striven in My honor will I reward ye. Upon Tabor
will I grant aid to Israel at the time of Deborah, and upon Carmel will I give
aid to Elijah.”

Mount Sinai was given the preference not for its humility alone, but also because
upon it there had been no worshipping of idols; whereas the other mountains, owing
to their height, had been employed as sanctuaries by the idolaters. Mount Sinai
has a further significance, too, for it had been originally a part of Mount Moriah,
on which Isaac was to have been sacrificed; but Sinai separated itself from it,
and came to the desert. Then God said: “Because their father Isaac lay upon this
mountain, bound as a sacrifice, it is fitting that upon it his children receive
the Torah.” Hence God now chose this mountain for a brief stay during the revelation,
for after the Torah had been bestowed, He withdrew again to heaven. In the future
world, Sinai will return to its original place, Mount Moriah, when “the mountain
of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall
be exalted above the hills.”

Just as Sinai was chosen as the spot for the revelation owing to its humility,
so likewise was Moses. When God said to Moses, “Go, deliver Israel,” he in his
great humility, said: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the children
of Israel out of Egypt? There are nobler and wealthier than I.” But God replied:
“Thou are a great man, thee have I chosen out of all Israel. Of thee shall the
prophet of the future say, ‘I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted
on chosen out of the people.'” Moses in his humility, however, still stood apart
and would not accept the office offered him, until God said to him “Why dost thou
stand apart? If they are not to be delivered by thee, by none other will they
be delivered.” When, likewise, at God’s command Moses had erected the Tabernacle,
he did not enter it, out of great humility, until God said to him, “Why dost thou
stand outside? Thou are worthy to serve Me.”

THE TORAH OFFERED TO ISRAEL

On the second day of the third month, Moses received word form God to betake
himself to Mount Sinai, for without this direct summons he would not have gone
there. This time, as at all times, when God desired to speak with Moses, He twice
called him by name, and after he had answered, “Here I am,” God’s revelation to
him followed. When Moses had been carried to God in a cloud, which was always
ready to bear him to God and the restore him to men, God said to him: “Go and
acquaint the women of Israel with the principles of Judaism, and try with kindly
words to persuade them to accept the Torah; but expound the full contents of the
Torah to the men, and with them speak solemn words concerning it.”

There were several reasons for his going to the women first. God said: “When
I created the world, I gave My commandment concerning the forbidden fruit to Adam
only, and not to his wife Eve, and this omission had the effect that she tempted
Adam to sin. Hence it appears advisable that the women first hear My commandments,
and the men will then follow their counsel.” God, furthermore, knew that women
are more scrupulous in their observance of religious percepts, and hence He first
addressed Himself to them. Then, too, God expected the women to instruct their
children in the ways of the Torah, wherefore He sent His messenger first to them.

The words that Moses was to address to the women as well as to the men, to
the Sanhedrin as well as to the people, were as follows: “You yourselves have
seen-for it is not from writings, or through tradition, or from the mouths of
others that ye learn it-what I did for you in Egypt; for although they were idolaters,
slayers of men, and men of lewd living, still I punished them not for these sins,
but only for the wrong done to you. But ye will I carry on the wings of eagles,
on the day of the revelation at Sinai, and ye will I bring to Me when the Temple
shall be erected. Since I have wrought for you so many miracles, even before you
had received the Torah and observed the laws, how many more miracles will I work
for you, when you will have received the Torah and observed the laws! The beginning
of all things is hard, but as soon as you will have grown accustomed to obedience,
all else will be easy to you. If you will now observe the Abrahamic covenant,
the Sabbath, and the commandment against idolatry, then will you be My possession;
for although everything belongs to Me, Israel will be My especial possession,
because I led them out of Egypt, and freed them from bondage. With respect to
Israel, God is like one who receive many fields as an heritage, but one he purchased
himself, and the one he earned was dearest to his heart. I will reign alone over
you, as My possession, I and none other, so long as you keep yourselves aloof
from other peoples. If not, other peoples shall reign over you. But if you obey
Me, you shall be a nation, not only free from care, but also a nation of priests,
and a holy nation.”

If Israel had not sinned through worshipping the Golden Calf, there would be
among them no caste of priests, the nation would have been a nation of priests,
and it was only after their sin that the greater part of the people lost the right
to priesthood.

God now instructed Moses to transmit to the people His words without adding
to them or diminishing from them, in the precise order and in the same tongue,
the Hebrew. Moses hereupon betook himself to the people to deliver his message,
without first seeing his family. He first addressed the word of God to the elders,
for he never forgot the honor due the elders. Then, in simple and well arranged
form, he repeated it to all the people, including the women. Joyfully and of his
own impulse, every Israelite declared himself willing to accept the Torah, whereupon
Moses returned to God to inform Him of the decision of the people. For although
God, being omniscient, had no need of hearing from Moses the answer of the people,
still propriety demands that one who is sent on a message return to make a report
of his success to him who sent him. God hereupon said to Moses: “I will come to
thee in a thick cloud and repeat to thee the commandments that I gave thee on
Marah, so that what thou tellest them may seem to the people as important as what
they hear from Me. But not only in thee shall they have faith, but also in the
prophets and sages that will come after thee.”

Moses then returned to the people once more, and explained to them the serious
effects that disregard of the law would have upon them. The first time he spoke
to them about the Torah, he expounded its excellencies to them, so as to induce
them to accept it; but now he spoke to them of the terrible punishments they would
bring upon themselves, if they did not observe the laws. The people did not, however,
alter their resolution, but were full of joy in the expectation of receiving the
Torah. They only wished Moses to voice to God their desire to hear Him impart
His words directly to them, so they said to Moses, “We want to hear the words
of our King from Himself.” They were not even content with this, but wanted to
see the Divine presence, for “hearing is not like seeing.” God granted both their
wishes, and commanded Moses to tell them to prepare themselves during the next
two days for receiving the Torah.

ISRAEL PREPARES FOR THE REVELATION

Just as one who is to be admitted to Judaism must first submit to the three
ceremonies of circumcision, baptism, and sacrifice, so Israel did not receive
the Torah until they had performed these three ceremonies. They had already undergone
circumcision in Egypt. Baptism was imposed upon them two days before the revelation
on Mount Sinai. On the day preceding the revelation Moses recorded in a book the
covenant between Israel and their God, and on the morning of the day of the revelation,
sacrifices were offered as a strengthening of the covenant.

As there were no priests at that time, the service was performed by the elders
of Israel, who in spite of their age performed their duty with youthful vigor.
Moses erected an altar on Mount Sinai, as well as twelve memorial pillars, one
for each tribe, and then bade them bring bulls, as a burnt offering and a peace
offering. The blood of these animals was then separated exactly into two halves.
This was attended to by the angel Michael, who guided Moses’ hand, and so conducted
the separation of the blood that there might be not a drop more in one half than
in the other. God upon this said to Moses: “Sprinkle the one half of the blood
upon the people, as a token that they will not barter My glory for the idols of
other peoples; and sprinkle the other half on the altar, as a token that I will
not exchange them for any other nation.” Moses did as he was bidden, and lo! the
miracle came to pass that the blood of a few animals sufficed to sprinkle every
single Israelite.

Before this covenant between God and Israel had been made, Moses read aloud
to the people all of the Torah, that they might know exactly what they were taking
upon themselves. This covenant was made a second time in the desert of Moab by
Moses, and a third time by Joshua after the entrance into the promised land, on
the mountains of Gerizim and Ebal.

Although the people had now clearly expressed their desire to accept the Torah,
still God hesitated to give it to them, saying: “Shall I without further ado give
you the Torah? Nay, bring Me bondsmen, that you will observe it, and I will give
you the Torah.” Israel: “O Lord of the world! Our fathers are bondsmen for us.”
God: “Your fathers are My debtors, and therefore not good bondsmen. Abraham said,
‘Whereby shall I know it?’ and thus proved himself lacking in faith. Isaac loved
Esau, whom I hated, and Jacob did not immediately upon his return from Padan-Aram
keep his vow that he had made upon his way there. Bring Me good bondsmen and I
will give you the Torah.” Israel: “Our prophets shall be our bondsmen.” God: “I
have claims against them, for ‘like foxes in the deserts became your prophets.’
Bring Me good bondsmen and I will give you the Torah.” Israel: “We will give Thee
our children as bondsmen.” God: “Well, then, these are good bondmen, on whose
bond I will give you the Torah.” Hereupon the Israelites brought their wives with
their babes at their breasts, and their pregnant wives, and God made the bodies
of the pregnant women transparent as glass, and He addressed the children in the
womb with these words: “Behold, I will give your fathers the Torah. Will you be
surety for them that they will observe it?” They answered: “Yea.” He furthermore
said: “I am your God.” They answered: “Yea.” “Ye shall have no other gods.” They
said: “Nay.” In this wise the children in the womb answered every commandment
with “Yea,” and every prohibition with “Nay.” As it was the little children upon
whose bond God gave His people the Torah, it comes to pass that many little children
die when Israel does not observe the Torah.

THE REVELATION ON MOUNT SINAI

From the first day of the third month, the day on which Israel arrived at Mount
Sinai, a heavy cloud rested upon them, and every one except Moses was forbidden
to ascend the mountain, yea, they durst not even stay near it, lest God smite
those who pushed forward, with hail or fiery arrows. The day of the revelation
announced itself as an ominous day even in the morning, for diverse rumblings
sounded from Mount Sinai. Flashes of lightning, accompanied by an ever swelling
peal of horns, moved the people with mighty fear and trembling. God bent the heavens,
moved the earth, and shook the bounds of the world, so that the depths trembled,
and the heavens grew frightened. His splendor passed through the four portals
of fire, earthquake, storm and hail. The kings of the earth trembled in their
palaces, and they all came to the villain Balaam, and asked him if God intended
the same fate for them as for the generation of the flood. But Balaam said to
them: “O ye fools! The Holy One, blessed be He, has long since promised Noah never
again to punish the world with a flood.” The kings of the heathen, however, were
not quieted, and furthermore said: “God has indeed promised never again to bring
a flood upon the world, but perhaps He now means to destroy it by means of fire.”
Balaam said: “Nay, God will not destroy the world either through fire or through
water. The commotion throughout nature was caused through this only, that He is
not about to bestow the Torah upon His people. ‘The Eternal will give strength
unto His people.'” At this all the kings shouted, “May the Eternal bless His people
with peace,” and each one, quieted in spirit, went to his house.

Just as the inhabitants of the earth were alarmed at the revelation, and believed
the end of all time had arrived, so too did the earth. She thought the resurrection
of the dead was about to take place, and she would have to account for the blood
of the slain that she had absorbed, and for the bodies of the murdered whom she
covered. The earth was not calmed until she heard the first words of the Decalogue.

Although phenomena were perceptible on Mount Sinai in the morning, still God
did not reveal Himself to the people until noon. For owing to the brevity of the
summer nights, and the pleasantness of the morning sleep in summer, the people
were still asleep when God had descended upon Mount Sinai. Moses betook himself
to the encampment and awakened them with these words: “Arise from your sleep,
the bridegroom is at hand, and is waiting to lead his bride under the marriage-canopy.”
Moses, at the head of the procession, hereupon brought the nation to its bridegroom,
God, to Sinai, himself going up the mountain. He said to God: “Announce Thy words,
Thy children are ready to obey them.” These words of Moses rang out near and far,
for on the occasion, his voice, when he repeated the words of God to the people,
had as much power as the Divine voice that he heard.

It was not indeed quite of their own free will that Israel declared themselves
ready to accept the Torah, for when the whole nation, in two divisions, men and
women, approached Sinai, God lifted up this mountain and held it over the heads
of the people like a basket, saying to them: “If you accept the Torah, it is well,
otherwise you will find you grave under this mountain.” They all burst into tears
and poured out their heart in contrition before God, and then said: “All that
the Lord hath said, will we do, and be obedient.” Hardly had they uttered these
words of submission to God, when a hundred and twenty myriads of angels descended,
an provided every Israelite with a crown and a girdle of glory-Divine gifts, which
they did not lose until they worshipped the Golden Calf, when the angels came
and took the gifts away from them. At the same time with these crowns and girdles
of glory, a heavenly radiance was shed over their faces, but this also they later
lost through their sins. Only Moses retained it, whose face shone so brightly,
that if even to-day a crack were made in his tomb, the light emanating from his
corpse would be so powerful that it could not but destroy all the world.

After God had bestowed upon Israel these wonderful gifts, He wanted to proceed
to the announcement of the Torah, but did not desire to do so while Moses was
with Him, that the people might not say it was Moses who had spoken out of the
cloud. Hence He sought an excuse to be rid of him. He therefore said to Moses:
“Go down, warn the people, that they shall not press forward to see, for if even
one of them were to be destroyed, the loss to Me would be as great as if all creation
had been destroyed. Bid Nadab and Abihu also, as well as the first born that are
to perform priestly duties, beware that they do not press forward.” Moses, however,
desirous of remaining with God, replied: “I have already warned the people and
set the bounds beyond which they may not venture.” God hereupon said to Moses:
“Go, descend and call upon Aaron to come up with thee, but let him keep behind
thee, while the people do not move beyond the positions thou hadst assigned them.”
Hardly had Moses left the mountain, when God revealed the Torah to the people.

This was the sixth revelation of God upon earth since the creation of the world.
The tenth and last is to take place on the Day of Judgement.

The heavens opened and Mount Sinai, freed from the earth, rose into the air,
so that its summit towered into the heavens, while a thick cloud covered the sides
of it, and touched the feet of the Divine Throne. Accompanying God on one side,
appeared twenty-two thousand angels with crowns for the Levites, the only tribe
that remained true to God while the rest worshipped the Golden Calf. On the second
side were sixty myriads, three thousand five hundred and fifty angels, each bearing
a crown of fire for each individual Israelite. Double this number of angels was
on the third side, whereas on the fourth side they were simply innumerable. For
God did not appear from one direction, but from all four simultaneously, which,
however, did not prevent His glory from filling the heaven as well as all the
earth. In spite of these innumerable hosts of angels there was no crowding on
Mount Sinai, no mob, there was room for all the angels that had appeared in honor
of Israel and the Torah. They had, however, at the same time received the order
to destroy Israel in case they intended to reject the Torah.

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

The first word of God on Sinai was Anoki, “It is I.” It was not a Hebrew word,
but and Egyptian word that Israel first heard from God. He treated them as did
that king his home-coming son, whom, returning from a long stay over sea, he addressed
in the language the son had acquired in a foreign land. So God addressed Israel
in Egyptian, because it was the language they spoke. At the same time Israel recognized
in this word “Anoki,” that is was God who addressed them. For when Jacob had assembled
his children around his death-bed, he warned them to be mindful of the glory of
God, and confided to them the secrets that God would hereafter reveal to them
with the word “Anoki.” He said: “With the word ‘Anoki’ He addressed my grandfather
Abraham; with the word ‘Anoki’ He addressed my father Isaac, and with the word
‘Anoki’ He addressed me. Know, then, that when He will come to you, and will so
address, you, it will be He, but not otherwise.”

When the first commandment had come out of the mouth of God thunder and lightning
proceeded from His mouth, a torch was at His right, and a torch at His left, and
His voice flew through the air, saying: “My people, My people, House of Israel!
I am the Eternal, you God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” When Israel
heard the awful voice, they flew back in their horror twelve miles, until their
souls fled from them. Upon this the Torah turned to God, saying: “Lord of the
world! Hast Thou given me to the living, or to the dead?” God said: “To the living.”
The Torah: “But they are all dead.” God: “For thy sake will I restore them to
life.” Hereupon He let fall upon them the dew that will hereafter revive the dead,
and they returned to life.

The trembling of heaven and earth that set in upon the perception of the Divine
voice, alarmed Israel so greatly that they could hardly stand on their feet. God
hereupon sent to every one of them two angels; on lay his hand upon the heart
of each, that his soul might not depart, and on to lift the head of each, that
he might behold his Maker’s splendor. They beheld the glory of God as well as
the otherwise invisible word when it emanated from the Divine vision, and rolled
forward to their ears, whereupon they perceived these words: “Wilt thou accept
the Torah, which contains two hundred and forty-eight commandments, corresponding
to the number of the members of they body?” They answered: “Yea, yea.” Then the
word passed from the ear to the mouth; it kissed the mouth, then rolled again
to the ear again to the ear, and called to it: “Wilt thou accept the Torah, which
contains three hundred and sixty-five prohibitions, corresponding to the days
of the year?” And when they replied, “Yea, yea,” again the word turned from the
ear to the mouth and kissed it. After the Israelites had in this wise taken upon
themselves the commandments and the prohibitions, God opened the seven heavens
and the seven earths, and said: “Behold, these are My witnesses that there is
none like Me in the heights or on earth! See that I am the Only One, and that
I have revealed Myself in My splendor and My radiance! If anyone should say to
you, ‘Go, serve other gods,’ then say: ‘Can one who has seen his Maker, face to
face, in His splendor, in His glory and His strength, leave Him and become an
idolater?’ See, it is I that have delivered you out of the house of bondage; it
is I that cleaved the seas before you and led you on dry land, while I submerged
you enemies in the depths. I am the God of the dry land as well as the sea, of
the past as well as of the future, the God of this world as well as of the future
worlds. I am the God of all nations, but only with Israel is My name allied. If
they fulfil My wishes, I, the Eternal, am merciful, gracious and long suffering,
and abundant in goodness and truth; but if you are disobedient, then will I be
a stern judge. If you had not accepted the Torah, no punishment could have fallen
upon you were you not to fulfil it, but now that you have accepted it, you must
obey it.”

In order to convince Israel of the unity and uniqueness of God, He bade all
nature stand still, that all might see that there is nothing beside Him. When
God bestowed the Torah, no bird sang, no ox lowed, the Ofannim did not fly, the
Seraphim uttered not their “Holy, holy, holy,” the sea did not roar, no creature
uttered a sound-all listened in breathless silence to the words announced by an
echoless voice, “I am the Lord you God.”

These words as well as the others, made know by God on Mount Sinai, were not
heard by Israel alone, but by the inhabitants of all the earth. The Divine voice
divided itself into the seventy tongues of men, so that all might understand it;
but whereas Israel could listen to the voice without suffering harm, the souls
of the heathens almost fled from them when they heard it. When the Divine voice
sounded, all the dead in Sheol were revived, and betook themselves to Sinai; for
the revelation took place in the presence of the living as well as of the dead,
yea, even the souls of those who were not yet born were present. Every prophet,
every sage, received at Sinai his share of the revelation, which in the course
of history was announced by them to mankind. All heard indeed the same words,
but the same voice, corresponding to the individuality of each, was God’s way
of speaking with them. And as the same voice sounded differently to each one,
so did the Divine vision appear differently to each, wherefore God warned them
not to ascribe the various forms to various beings, saying: “Do not believe that
because you have seen Me in various forms, there are various gods, I am the same
that appeared to you at the Red Sea as a God of war, and at Sinai as a teacher.”

THE OTHER COMMANDMENTS REVEALED ON SINAI

After Israel had accepted the first commandment with a “Yea,” God said: “As
you have now acknowledged Me as you sovereign, I can now give you commands: Thou
shalt not acknowledge the gods of other nations as such, for they bring no advantage
to those who adore them; this thou shalt not do while I exist. I have given you
my Torah in order to lend sovereignty to you, hence you must not kindle My wrath
by breaking My covenant through idolatry. You shall not worship dead idols, but
Him who kills and restores to life, and in whose hand are all living things. Do
not learn the works of other nations, for their works are vanity. I, the Eternal,
you God, rule over zeal and am not ruled by it; I wait until the fourth generation
to visit punishment. But those who love Me, or fear Me, will I reward even unto
the thousandth generation.”

When Moses heard these words, according to which God would visit upon the descendants
the sins of their fathers only if the consecutive generations were one after another
sinful, he cast himself upon the ground and thanked God for it; for he knew it
never occurred among Israel that three consecutive generations were sinful.

The third commandment read: “O My people of Israel, none among you shall call
the name of the Lord in vain, for he who swears falsely by the name of the Lord
shall not go unpunished on the great Judgement Day.” Swearing falsely has terrible
consequences not only for the one who does it, but it endangers all the world.
For when God created the world, He laid over the abyss a shard, on which is engraved
the Ineffable Name, that the abyss may not burst forth and destroy the world.
But as often as on swears falsely in God’s name, the letters of the Ineffable
Name fly away, and as there is then nothing to restrain the abyss, the waters
burst forth from it to destroy the world. This would surely come to pass, if God
did not sent the angel Ya’asriel, who has charge of the seventy pencils, to engrave
anew the Ineffable Name on the shard.

God said then to Israel, “If you accept My Torah and observe My laws, I will
give you for all eternity a thing most precious that I have in My possession.”
“And what,” replied Israel, “is that precious thing which Thou wilt give us if
we obey Thy Torah?” God: “The future world.” Israel: “But even in this world should
we have a foretaste of that other.” God: “The Sabbath will give you this foretaste.
Be mindful of the Sabbath on the seventh day of the creation of the world.” For
when the world was created, the seventh day came before God, and said to Him:
“All that Thou has created is in couples, why not I?” Whereupon God replied, “The
community of Israel shall be thy spouse.” Of this promise that God had made to
the seventy day, He reminded the people on Mount Sinai, when he gave them the
fourth commandment, to keep the Sabbath holy.

When the nations of the earth heard the first commandment, they said: “There
is no king that does not like to see himself acknowledged as sovereign, and just
so does God desire His people to pledge unto Him their allegiance.” At the second
commandment they said: “No king suffers a king beside himself, nor does the God
of Israel.” At the third commandment they said: “Is there a king that would like
to have people swear false oaths by his name?” At the fourth commandment they
said: “No King dislikes to see his birthday celebrated.” But when the people heard
the fifth commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother,” they said: “According
to our laws, if a man enrolls himself as a servant of the king, he thereby disowns
his parents. God, however, makes it a duty to honor father and mother; truly,
for this is honor due to Him.”

It was with these words that the fifth commandment was emphasized: “Honor thy
parents to whom thou owest existence, as thou honorest Me. Honor the body that
bore thee, and the breasts that gave thee suck, maintain thy parents, for thy
parents took part in thy creation.” For man owes his existence to God, to his
father, and to his mother, in that he receives from each of his parents five of
the parts of his body, and ten from God. The bones, the veins, the nails, the
brain, and the white of the eye come from the father. The mother gives him skin,
flesh, blood, hair, and the pupil of the eye. God gives him the following: breath,
soul, light of countenance, sight, hearing, speech, touch, sense, insight, and
understanding. When a human being honors his parents, God says: “I consider it
as if I had dwelled among men and they had honored Me,” but if people do not honor
their parents, God say: “It is good that I do not dwell among men, or they would
have treated Me superciliously, too.”

God not only commanded to love and fear parents as Himself, but in some respects
He places the honor due to parents even higher than that due Him. A man is only
then obliged to support the poor or to perform certain religious ceremonies, if
he has the wherewithal, but it is the duty of each one even to go begging at men’
doors, if he cannot otherwise maintain his parents.

The sixth commandment said: “O My people Israel, be no slayers of men, do not
associate with murderers, and shun their companionship, that your children may
not learn the craft of murder.” As a penalty for deeds of murder, God will send
a devastating war over mankind. There are two divisions in Sheol, an inner and
an outer. In the latter are all those who were slain before their time. There
they stay until the course of the time predestined them is run; and every time
a murder has been committed, God says: “Who has slain this person and has forced
Me to keep him in the outer Sheol, so that I must appear unmerciful to have removed
him from earth before his time?” On the Judgement Day the slain will appear before
God, and will implore Him: “O Lord of the world! Thou hast formed me, Thou hast
developed me, Thou hast been gracious unto me while I was in the womb, so that
I left it unharmed. Thou in Thy great mercy hast provided for me. O Lord of all
worlds! Grant me satisfaction from this villain that knew no pity for me.” Then
God’s wrath will be kindled against the murderer, into Gehenna will he throw him
and damn him for all eternity, while the slain will see satisfaction given him,
and be glad.

The seventh commandment says: “O My people of Israel, be not adulterers, nor
the accomplices or companions of adulterers, that your children after you may
not be adulterers. Commit no unchaste deeds, with your hands, feet, eyes, or ears,
for as a punishment therefore the plague will come over the world.”

This is the eighth commandment: “Be not thief, nor the accomplice or companion
of thieves, that your children may not become thieves.” As a penalty for robbery
and theft famine will come upon the world. God may forgive idolatry, but never
theft, and He is always ready to listen to complaints against forgers and robbers.

The ninth commandment reads: “O My people of Israel, bear not false witness
against your companions, for in punishment for this the clouds will scatter, so
that there may be no rain, and famine will ensue owing to drought.” God is particularly
severe with a false witness because falsehood is the one quality that God did
not create, but is something that men themselves produces.

The content of the tenth commandment is: “O My people Israel, covet not the
possessions of your neighbors, for owing to this sin will the government take
their possessions from the people, so that even the wealthiest will become poor
and will have to go into exile.” The tenth commandment is directed against a sin
that sometimes leads to a trespassing of all the Ten Commandments. If a man covets
his neighbor’s wife and commits adultery, he neglects the first commandment: “I
am the Eternal, thy God,” for he commits his crime in the dark and thinks that
none sees him, not even the Lord, whose eyes float over all the world, and see
good as well as evil. He oversteps the second commandment: “Thou shalt not have
strange gods besides Me…, I am a jealous God,” who is wroth against faithlessness,
whether toward Me, or toward men. He breaks the third commandment: “Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord in vain,” for he swears he has not committed adultery,
but he did so. He is the cause of profanation of the Sabbath, the consecration
of which God commands in the fourth commandment, because in his illegal relation
he generates descendants who will perform priestly duties in the Temple on the
Sabbath, which, being bastards, they have no right to do. The fifth commandment
will be broken by the children of the adulterer, who will honor as a father a
strange man, and will not even know their true father. He breaks the sixth commandment:
“Thou shalt not kill,” if he is surprised by the rightful husband, for every time
a man goes to a strange woman, he does so with the consciousness that this may
lead to his death or the death of his neighbor. The trespassing of the seventh
commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” is the direct outcome of a forbidden
coveting. The eighth commandment: “Thou shalt not steal,” is broken by the adulterer,
for he steals another man’s fountain of happiness. The ninth commandment” “Thou
shalt not bear false witness,” is broken by the adulterous woman, who pretends
that the fruit of her criminal relations is the child of her husband. In this
way, the breaking of the tenth commandment has not only led to all the other sins,
but has also the evil effect that the deceived husband leaves his whole property
to one who is not his son, so that the adulterer robs him of his possessions as
well as of his wife.

THE UNITY OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

The Ten Commandments are so closely interwoven, that the breaking of one leads
to the breaking of another. But there is a particularly strong bond of union between
the first five commandments, which are written on one table, and the last five,
which were on the other table. The first commandment: “I am the Lord, thy God,”
corresponds to the sixth: “Thou shalt not kill,” for the murderer slays the image
of God. The second: “Thou shalt have no strange gods before me,” corresponds to
the seventh: “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” for conjugal faithlessness is as
grave a sin as idolatry, which is faithlessness to God. The third commandment:
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain,” corresponds to the eighth:
“Thou shalt not steal,” for theft leads to false oath. The fourth commandment:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” corresponds to the ninth: “Thou shalt
not bear false witness against thy neighbor,” for he who bears false witness against
his neighbor commits as grave a sin as if he had borne false witness against God,
saying that He had not created the world in six days and rested on the seventh,
the Sabbath. The fifth commandment: “Honor thy father and thy mother,” corresponds
to the tenth: “Covet not thy neighbor’s wife,” for one who indulges this lust
produces children who will not honor their true father, but will consider a stranger
their father.

The Ten Commandments, which God first revealed on Mount Sinai, correspond in
their character to the ten words of which He had made use at the creation of the
world. The first commandment: “I am the Lord, thy God,” corresponds to the first
word at the creation: “Let there be light,” for God is the eternal light. The
second commandment: “Thou shalt have no strange gods before me,” corresponds to
the second word: “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let
it divide the waters from the waters.” For God said: “Choose between Me and the
idols; between Me, the fountain of living waters, and the idols, the stagnant
waters.” The third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain”
corresponds to the word: “Let the waters be gathered together,” for as little
as water can be gathered in a cracked vessel, so can a man maintain his possession
which he has obtained through false oaths. The fourth commandment: “Remember to
keep the Sabbath holy,” corresponds to the word: “Let the earth bring forth grass,”
for he who truly observes the Sabbath will receive good things from God without
having to labor for them, just as the earth produces grass that need not be sown.
For at the creation of man it was God’s intention that he be free from sin, immortal,
and capable of supporting himself by the products of the soil without toil. The
fifth commandment: “Honor thy father and thy mother,” corresponds to the word:
“Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven,” for God said to man: “I
gave thee two lights, thy father and thy mother, treat them with care.” The sixth
commandment: “Thou shalt not kill,” corresponds to the word: “Let the waters bring
forth abundantly the moving creature,” for God said: “Be not like the fish, among
whom the great swallow the small.” The seventh commandment: “Thou shalt not commit
adultery,” corresponds to the word: “Let the earth bring forth the living creature
after his kind,” for God said: “I chose for thee a spouse, abide with her.” The
eighth commandment: “Thou shalt not steal,” corresponds to the word: “Behold,
I have given you every herb-bearing seed,” for none, said God, should touch his
neighbor’s goods, but only that which grows free as the grass, which is the common
property of all. The ninth commandment: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor,” corresponds to the word: “Let us make man in our image.” Thou,
like thy neighbor, art made in My image, hence bear not false witness against
thy neighbor. The tenth commandment: “Thou shalt not covet the wife of thy neighbor,”
corresponds to the tenth word of the creation: “It is not good for man to be alone,”
for God said: “I created thee a spouse, and let not one among ye covet his neighbor’s
wife.”

MOSES CHOSEN AS INTERMEDIATOR

After Israel had heard the Ten Commandments, they supposed that God would on
this occasion reveal to them all the rest of the Torah. But the awful vision on
Mount Sinai, where they heard the visible and saw the audible-the privilege was
granted them that even the slave women among them saw more than the greatest prophet
of later times-this vision has so exhausted them that they would surely have perished,
had they heard another word from God. They therefore went to Moses and implored
him to be the intermediator between them and God. God found their wish right,
so that He not only employed Moses as His intermediator, but determined in all
future times to send prophets to Israel as messengers of His words. Turning to
Moses, God said: “All that they have spoken is good. If it were possible, I would
even now dismiss the Angel of Death, but death against humanity has already been
decreed by Me, hence it must remain. Go, say unto them: ‘Return to your tents,’
but stay thou with Me.” In these words God indicated to Israel that they might
again enter upon conjugal relations, from which they has abstained throughout
three days, while Moses should forever have to deny himself all earthly indulgences.

Moses in his great wisdom now knew how, in a few words, to calm the great excitement
of the myriads of men, saying to them: “God gave you the Torah and wrought marvels
for you, in order, through this and through the observances of the laws which
He imposed upon you, to distinguish you before all other nations on earth. Consider,
however, that whereas up to this time you have been ignorant, and your ignorance
served as your excuse, you now know exactly what to do and what not to do. Until
now you did not know that the righteous are to be rewarded and the godless to
be punished in the future world, but now you know it. But as long as you will
have a feeling of shame, you will not lightly commit sins.” Hereupon the people
withdrew twelve miles from Mount Sinai, while Moses stepped quite close before
the Lord.

In the immediate proximity of God are the souls of the pious, a little farther
Mercy and Justice, and close to these was the position Moses was allowed to occupy.
The vision of Moses, owing to his nearness to God, was clear and distinct, unlike
that of the other prophets, who saw but dimly. He is furthermore distinguished
from all the other prophets, that he was conscious of his prophetic revelations,
while they were unconscious in the moments of prophecy. A third distinction of
Moses, which he indeed shared with Aaron and Samuel, was that God revealed Himself
to him in a pillar of cloud.

In spite of these great marks of favor to Moses, the people still perceived
the difference between the first two commandments, which they heard directly from
God, and those that they learned through Moses’ intercession. For when they heard
the words, “I am the Eternal, thy Lord,” the understanding of the Torah became
deep-rooted in their hearts, so that they never forgot what they thus learned.
But they forgot some of the things Moses taught, for as man is a being of flesh
and blood, and hence ephemeral, so are his teachings ephemeral. They hereupon
came to Moses, saying: “O, if He would only reveal Himself once more! O that once
more He would kiss us with the kisses of His mouth! O that understanding of the
Torah might remain firm in our hearts as before!” Moses answered: “It is no longer
possible now, but it will come to pass in the future world, when He will put His
law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.”

Israel had another reason for regretting the choice of an intermediator between
themselves and God. When they heard the second commandment: “Thou shalt have no
strange gods beside Me,” the evil impulse was torn out from their hearts. But
as soon as they requested Moses to intercede for them, the evil impulse set in
once more in its old place. In vain, however, did they plead with Moses to restore
the former direct communication between them and God, so that the evil impulse
might be taken from them. For he said: “It is no longer possible now, but in the
future world He will ‘take out of your flesh the stony heart.'”

Although Israel had now heard only the first two commandments directly from
God, still the Divine apparition had and enormous influence upon this generation.
Never in the course of their lives was any physical impurity heard of among them,
nor did any vermin succeed in infesting their bodies, and when they died, their
corpses remained free from worms and insects.

MOSES AND THE ANGELS STRIVE FOR THE TORAH

The day on which God revealed Himself on Mount Sinai was twice as long as ordinary
days. For on that day the sun did not set, a miracle that was four times more
repeated for Moses’ sake. When this long day had drawn to its close, Moses ascended
the holy mountain, where he spent a week to rid himself of all mortal impurity,
so that he might betake himself to God into heaven. At the end of his preparations,
God called him to come to Him. Then a cloud appeared and lay down before him,
but he knew not whether to ride upon it or merely to hold fast to it. Then suddenly
the mouth of the cloud flew open, and he entered into it, and walked about in
the firmament as a man walks about on earth. Then he met Kemuel, the porter, the
angel who is in charge of twelve thousand angels of destruction, who are posted
at the portals of the firmament. He spoke harshly to Moses, saying: “What dost
thou here, son of Amram, on this spot, belonging to the angels of fire?” Moses
answered: “Not of my own impulse do I come here, but with the permission of the
Holy One, to receive the Torah and bear it down to Israel.” As Kemuel did not
want to let him pass, Moses struck him and destroyed him out of the world, whereupon
he went on his way until the angel Hadarniel came along.

This angel is sixty myriads of parasangs taller than his fellows, and at every
word that passes out of his mouth, issue twelve thousand fiery lightning flashes.
When he beheld Moses he roared at him: “What dost thou here, son of Amram, here
on the spot of the Holy and High?” When Moses heard his voice, he grew exceedingly
frightened, his eyes shed tears, and soon he would have fallen from the cloud.
But instantly the pity of God for Moses was awakened, and He said to Hadarniel:
“You angels have been quarrelsome since the day I created you. In the beginning,
when I wanted to create Adam, you raised complaint before Me and said, ‘What is
man that Thou are mindful of him!’ and My wrath was kindled against you and I
burned scores of you with My little finger. Now again ye commence strife with
the faithful one of My house, whom I have bidden to come up here to receive the
Torah and carry it down to My chosen children Israel, although you know that if
Israel did not receive the Torah, you would no longer be permitted to dwell in
heaven.” When Hadarniel heard this, he said quickly to the Lord: “O Lord of the
world! It is manifest and clear to Thee, that I was not aware he came hither with
Thy permission, but since I now know it, I will be his messenger and go before
him as a disciple before his master.” Hadarniel hereupon, in a humble attitude,
ran before Moses as a disciple before his master, until he reached the fire of
Sandalfon, when he spoke to Moses, saying: “Go, turn about, for I may not stay
in this spot, or the fire of Sandalfon will scorch me.”

This angel towers above his fellows by so great height, that it would take
five hundred years to cross over it. He stands behind the Divine Throne and binds
garlands for his Lord. Sandalfon does not know the abiding spot of the Lord either,
so that he might set the crown on His head, but he charms the crown, so that it
rises of its own accord until it reposes on the head of the Lord. As soon as Sandalfon
bids the crown rise, the hosts on high tremble and shake, the holy animals burst
into paeans, the holy Seraphim roar like lions and say: “Holy, holy, holy is the
Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” When the crown has reached
the Throne of Glory, the wheels of the Throne are instantly set in motion, the
foundations of its footstool tremble, and all the heavens are seized with trembling
and horror. As soon as the crown now passes the Throne of Glory, to settle upon
its place, all the heavenly hosts open their mouths, saying: “Praised be the glory
of the Eternal from His place.” And when the crown has reached its destination,
all the holy animals, the Seraphim, the wheels of the Throne, and the hosts on
high, the Cherubim and the Hashmalim speak with one accord: “The Eternal is King,
the Eternal was King, the Eternal will be King in all eternity.”

Now when Moses beheld Sandalfon, he was frightened, and in his alarm came near
to falling out of the cloud. In tears he imploringly begged God for mercy, and
was answered. In His bountiful love of Israel, He Himself descended from the Throne
of His glory and stood before Moses, until he had passed the flames of Sandalfon.

After Moses had passed Sandalfon, he ran across Rigyon, the stream of fire,
the coals of which burn the angels, who dip into them every morning, are burned,
and then arise anew. This stream with the coals of fire is generated beneath the
Throne of Glory out of the perspiration of the holy Hayyot, who perspire fire
out of fear of God. God, however, quickly drew Moses past Rigyon without his suffering
any injury.

As he passed on he met the angel Gallizur, also called Raziel. He it is who
reveals the teachings to his Maker, and makes known in the world what is decreed
by God. For he stands behind the curtains that are drawn before the Throne of
God, and sees and hears everything. Elijah on Horeb hears that which Raziel calls
down into the world, and passes his knowledge on. This angel performs other functions
in heaven. He stands before the Throne with outspread wings, and in this way arrests
the breath of the Hayyot, the heat of which would otherwise scorch all the angels.
He furthermore puts the coals of Rigyon into a glowing brazier, which he holds
up to kings, lords, and princes, and from which their faces receive a radiance
that makes men fear them. When Moses beheld him, he trembled, but God led him
past unhurt.

He then came to a host of Angels of Terror that surround the Throne of Glory,
and are the strongest and mightiest among the angels. These now wished to scorch
Moses with their fiery breath, but God spread His radiance of splendor over Moses,
and said to him: “Hold on tight to the Throne of My Glory, and answer them.” For
as soon as the angels became aware of Moses in heaven, they said to God: “What
does he who is born of woman here?” And God’s answer was as follows: “He has come
to receive the Torah.” They furthermore said: “O Lord, content Thyself with the
celestial beings, let them have the Torah, what wouldst Thou with the dwellers
of the dust?” Moses hereupon answered the angels: “It is written in the Torah:
‘I am the Eternal, thy Lord, that have led thee out of the land of Egypt and out
of the house of bondage.’ Were ye perchance enslaved in Egypt and then delivered,
that ye are in need of the Torah? It is further written in the Torah: ‘Thou shalt
have no other gods.’ Are there perchance idolaters among ye, that ye are in need
of the Torah? It is written: ‘Thou shalt not utter the name of the Eternal, thy
God, in vain,’ Are there perchance business negotiations among ye, that ye are
in need of the Torah to teach you the proper form of invocation? It is written:
‘Remember to keep the Sabbath holy.’ Is there perchance any work among you, that
ye are in need of the Torah? It is written: ‘Honor thy father and thy mother.’
Have ye perchance parents, that ye are in need of the Torah? It is written: ‘Thou
shalt not kill.’ Are there perchance murderers among ye, that ye are in need of
the Torah? It is written: ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Are there perchance
women among ye, that ye are in need of the Torah? It is written: ‘Thou shalt not
steal.’ Is there perchance money in heaven, that ye are need of the Torah? It
is written: ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.’ Is there
perchance any false witness among ye, that ye are in need of the Torah? It is
written: ‘Covet not the house of thy neighbor.’ Are there perchance houses, fields,
or vineyards among ye, that ye are in need of the Torah?” The angels hereupon
relinquished their opposition to the delivering of the Torah into the hands of
Israel, and acknowledged that God was right to reveal it to mankind, saying: “Eternal,
our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth! Who hast set Thy glory upon
the heavens.”

Moses now stayed forty days in heaven to learn the Torah from God. But when
he started to descend and beheld the hosts of the angels of terror, angels of
trembling, angels of quaking, and angels of horror, then through his fear he forgot
all he had learned. For this reason God called the angel Yefefiyah, the prince
of the Torah, who handed over to Moses the Torah, “ordered in all things and sure.”
All the other angels, too, became his friends, and each bestowed upon him a remedy
as well as the secret of the Holy Names, as they are contained in the Torah, and
as they are applied. Even the Angel of Death gave him a remedy against death.
The applications of the Holy Names, which the angels through Yefefiyah, the prince
of the Torah, and Metatron, the prince of the Face, taught him, Moses passed on
to the high-priest Eleazar, who passed them to his son Phinehas, also known as
Elijah.

MOSES RECEIVES THE TORAH

When Moses reached heaven, he found God occupied ornamenting the letters in
which the Torah was written, with little crown-like decorations, and he looked
on without saying a word. God then said to him: “In thy home, do not people know
the greeting of peace?” Moses: “Does it behoove a servant to address his Master?”
God: “Thou mightest at least have wished Me success in My labors.” Moses hereupon
said: “Let the power of my Lord be great according as Thou hast spoken.” Then
Moses inquired as the significance of the crowns upon the letter, and was answered:
“Hereafter there shall live a man called Akiba, son of Joseph, who will base in
interpretation a gigantic mountain of Halakot upon every dot of these letters.”
Moses said to God: “Show me this man.” God: “Go back eighteen ranks.” Moses went
where he was bidden, and could hear the discussions of the teacher sitting with
his disciples in the eighteenth rank, but was not able to follow these discussions,
which greatly grieved him. But just then he heard the disciples questioning their
master in regard to a certain subject: “Whence dost thou know this?” And he answered,
“This is a Halakah given to Moses on Mount Sinai,” and not Moses was content.
Moses returned to God and said to Him: “Thou has a man like Akiba, and yet dost
Thou give the Torah to Israel through me!” But God answered: “Be silent, so has
it been decreed by Me.” Moses then said: “O Lord of the world! Thou has permitted
me to behold this man’s learning, let see also the reward which will be meted
out to him.” God said: “Go, return and see.” Moses saw them sell the flesh of
the martyr Akiba at the meat market. He said to God: “Is this the reward for such
erudition?” But God replied: “Be silent, thus have I decreed.”

Moses then saw how God wrote the word “long-suffering” in the Torah, and asked:
“Does this mean that Thou hast patience with the pious?” But God answered: “Nay,
with sinners also am I long-suffering.” “What!” exclaimed Moses, “Let the sinners
perish!” God said no more, but when Moses implored God’s mercy, begging Him to
forgive the sin of the people of Israel, God answered him: “Thou thyself didst
advice Me to have no patience with sinners and to destroy them.” “Yea,” said Moses,
“but Thou didst declare that Thou art long-suffering with sinners also, let now
the patience of the Lord be great according as Thou has spoken.”

The forty days that Moses spent in heaven were entirely devoted to the study
of the Torah, he learned the written as well as the oral teaching, yea, even the
doctrines that an able scholar would some day propound were revealed to him. He
took an especial delight in hearing the teachings of the Tanna Rabbi Eliezer,
and received the joyful message that this great scholar would be one of his descendants.

The study of Moses was so planned for the forty days, that by day God studied
with him the written teachings, and by night the oral. In this way was he enabled
to distinguish between night and day, for in heaven “the night shineth as the
day.” There were other signs also by which he could distinguish night from day;
for if he heard the angels praise God with “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts,”
he knew that it was day; but if they praised Him with “Blessed be the Lord to
whom blessing is due,” he knew it was night. Then, too, if he saw the sun appear
before God and cast itself down before Him, he knew that it was night; if, however,
the moon and the stars cast themselves at His feet, he knew that it was day. He
could also tell time by the occupation of the angels, for by day they prepared
manna for Israel, and by night they sent it down to earth. The prayers he heard
in heaven served him as another token whereby he might know the time, for if he
heard the recitation of the Shema’ precede prayer, he knew that it was day, but
if the prayer preceded the recitation of the Shema’, then it was night.

During his stay with Him, God showed Moses all the seven heavens, and the celestial
temple, and the four colors that he was to employ to fit up the tabernacle. Moses
found it difficult to retain the color, whereupon God said to him: “Turn to the
right,” and as he turned, he saw a host of angels in garments that had the color
of the sea. “This,” said God, “is violet.” Then He bade Moses turn to the left,
and there he saw angels dressed in red, and God said: “This is royal purple.”
Moses hereupon turned around to the rear, and saw angels robed in a color that
was neither purple nor violet, and God said to him: “This color is crimson.” Moses
then turned about and saw angels robed in white, and God said to him: “This is
the color of twisted linen.”

Although Moses now devoted both night and day to the study of the Torah, he
still learned nothing, for hardly had he learned something from God when he forgot
it again. Moses thereupon said to God: “O Lord of the world! Forty days have I
devoted to studying the Torah, without having profited anything by it.” God therefore
bestowed the Torah upon Moses, and now he could descend to Israel, for now he
remembered all that he had learned.

Hardly had Moses descended from heaven with the Torah, when Satan appeared
before the Lord and said: “Where, forsooth, is the place where the Torah is kept?”
For Satan knew nothing of the revelation of God on Sinai, as God had employed
him elsewhere on purposes, that he might not appear before him as an accuser,
saying: “Wilt Thou give the Torah to a people that forty days later will worship
the Golden Calf?” In answer to Satan’s question regarding the whereabouts of the
Torah, God said: “I gave the Torah to Earth.” To earth, then, Satan betook himself
with his query: “Where is the Torah?” Earth said: “God knows of its course, He
knoweth its abiding-place, for ‘He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth
under the whole heaven.'” Satan now passed on to the sea to seek for the Torah,
but the sea also said: “It is not with me,” and the abyss said: “It is not in
me.” Destruction and death said: “We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.”
Satan now returned to God and said: “O Lord of the world! Everywhere have I sought
the Torah, but I found it not.” God replied: “Go, seek the son of Amram.” Satan
now hastened to Moses and asked him: “Where is the Torah that God hath given thee?”
Whereupon Moses answered: “Who am I, that the Holy One, blessed be He, should
have given me the Torah?” God hereupon spoke to Moses: “O Moses, thou utterest
a falsehood.” But Moses answered: “O Lord of the world! Thou hast in Thy possession
a hidden treasure that daily delights Thee. Dare I presume to declare it my possession?”
Then God said: “As a reward for thy humility, the Torah shall be named for thee,
and it shall henceforth be known as the Torah of Moses.”

Moses departed from the heavens with the two tables on which the Ten Commandments
were engraved, and just the words of it are by nature Divine, so too are the tables
on which they are engraved. These were created by God’s own hand in the dusk of
the first Sabbath at the close of the creation, and were made of a sapphire-like
stone. On each of the two tables are the Ten Commandments, four times repeated,
and in such wise were they engraved that the letters were legible on both sides,
for, like the tables, the writing and the pencils for inscription, too, were of
heavenly origin. Between the separate commandments were noted down all the precepts
of the Torah in all their particulars, although the tables were not more than
six hands in length and as much in width. It is another of the attributes of the
tables, that although they are fashioned out of the hardest stone, they can still
be rolled up like a scroll. When God handed the tables to Moses, He seized them
by the top third, whereas Moses took hold of the bottom third, but on third remained
open, and it was in this way that the Divine radiance was shed upon Moses’ face.

THE GOLDEN CALF

When God revealed Himself upon Mount Sinai, all Israel sang a song of jubilation
to the Lord, for their faith in God was on this occasion without bounds and unexampled,
except possibly at the time of the Messiah, when they likewise will cherish this
firm faith. The angels, too, rejoiced with Israel, only God was down-cast on this
day and sent His voice “out of thickest darkness,” in token of His sorrow. The
angels hereupon said to God: “Is not the joy that Thou hast created Thine?” But
God replied: “You do not know what the future will bring.” He knew that forty
days later Israel would give the lie to the words of God: “Thou shalt have no
other gods before Me,” and would adore the Golden Calf. And truly, God had sufficient
cause to grow sad at this thought, for the worship of the Golden Calf had more
disastrous consequences for Israel than any other of their sins. God had resolved
to give life everlasting to the nation that would accept the Torah, hence Israel
upon accepting the Torah gained supremacy over the Angel of Death. But they lost
this power when they worshipped the Golden Calf. As a punishment for this, their
sin, they were doomed to study the Torah in suffering and bondage, in exile and
unrest, amid cares of life and burdens, until, in the Messianic time and in the
future world, God will compensate them for all their sufferings. But until that
time there is no sorrow that falls to Israel’s lot that is not in part a punishment
for their worship of the Golden Calf.

Strange as it may seem that Israel should set out to worship this idol at the
very time when God was busied with the preparation of the two tables of the law,
still the following circumstances are to be considered. When Moses departed from
the people to hasten to God to receive the Torah, he said to them: “Forty days
from to-day I will bring you the Torah.” But at noon on the fortieth day Satan
came, and with a wizard’s trick conjured up for the people a vision of Moses lying
stretched out dead on a bier that floated midway between earth and heaven. Pointing
to it with their fingers, they cried: “This is the man Moses that bought us up
out of the land of Egypt.” Under the leadership of the magicians Jannes and Jambres,
they appeared before Aaron, saying: “The Egyptians were wont to carry their gods
about with them, to dance and play before them, that each might be able to behold
his gods; and now we desire that thou shouldst make us a god such as the Egyptians
had.” When Hur, the son of Miriam, whom Moses during his absence had appointed
joint leader of the people with Aaron, owing to his birth which placed him among
the notables of highest rank, beheld this, he said to them: “O ye frivolous ones,
you are no longer mindful of the many miracles God wrought for you.” In their
wrath, the people slew this pious and noble man; and, pointing out his dead body
to Aaron, they said to him threateningly: “If thou wilt make us a god, it is well,
if not we will dispose of thee as of him.” Aaron had no fear for his life, but
he thought: “If Israel were to commit so terrible a sin as to slay their priest
and prophet, God would never forgive them.” He was willing rather to take a sin
upon himself than to cast the burden of so wicked a deed upon the people. He therefore
granted them their wish to make them a god, but he did it in such a way that he
still cherished the hope that this thing might not come to pass. Hence he demanded
from them not their own ornaments for the fashioning of the idol, but the ornaments
of their wives, their sons, and their daughters, thinking: “If I were to tell
them to bring me gold and silver, they would immediately do so, hence I will demand
the earrings of their wives, their sons, and their daughters, that through their
refusal to give up their ornaments, the matter might come to nought.” But Aaron’s
assumption was only in part true; the women indeed did firmly refuse to give up
their jewels for the making of a monster that is of no assistance to his worshippers.
As a reward for this, God gave the new moons as holidays to women, and in the
future world too they will be rewarded for their firm faith in God, in that, like
the new moons, they too, may monthly be rejuvenated. But when the men saw that
no gold or silver for the idol was forthcoming from the women, they drew off their
own earrings that they wore in Arab fashion, and brought these to Aaron.

No living calf would have shaped itself out of the gold of these earrings,
if a disaster had not occurred through an oversight of Aaron. For when Moses at
the exodus of Israel from Egypt set himself to lifting the coffin of Joseph out
of the depths of the Nile, he employed the following means: He took four leaves
of silver, and engraved on each the image of one of the beings represented at
the Celestial Throne,-the lion, the man, the eagle, and the bull. He then cast
on the river the leaf with the image of the lion, and the waters of the river
became tumultuous, and roared like a lion. He then threw down the leaf with the
image of man, and the scattered bones of Joseph united themselves into an entire
body; and when he cast in the third leaf with the image of the eagle, the coffin
floated up to the top. As he had no use for the fourth leaf of silver with the
image of the bull, he asked a woman to store it away for him, while he was occupied
with the transportation of the coffin, and later forgot to reclaim the leaf of
silver. This was now among the ornaments that the people brought to Aaron, and
it was exclusively owing to this bull’s image of magical virtues, that a golden
bull arose out of the fire into which Aaron put the gold and silver.

When the mixed multitude that had joined Israel in their exodus from Egypt
saw this idol conducting itself like a living being, they said to Israel: “This
is thy God, O Israel.” The people then betook themselves to the seventy members
of the Sanhedrin and demanded that they worship the bull that had led Israel out
of Egypt. “God,” said they, “had not delivered us out of Egypt, but only Himself,
who had in Egypt been in captivity.” The members of the Sanhedrin remained loyal
to their God, and were hence cut down by the rabble. The twelve heads of the tribes
did not answer the summons of the people any more than the members of the Sanhedrin,
and were therefore rewarded by being found worthy of beholding the Divine vision.

But the people worshipped not only the Golden Calf, they made thirteen such
idols, one each for the twelve tribes, and one for all Israel. More than this,
they employed manna, which God in His kindness did not deny them even on this
day, as an offering to their idols. The devotion of Israel to this worship of
the bull is in part explained by the circumstance that while passing through the
Red Sea, they beheld the Celestial Throne, and most distinctly of the four creatures
about the Throne, they saw the ox. It was for this reason that they hit upon the
notion that the ox had helped God in the exodus from Egypt, and for this reason
did they wish to worship the ox beside God.

The people then wanted to erect an altar for their idol, but Aaron tried to
prevent this by saying to the people: “It will be more reverential to your god
if I build the altar in person,” for he hoped that Moses might appear in the meantime.
His expectation, however, was disappointed, for on the morning of the following
day, when Aaron had at length completed the altar, Moses was not yet at hand,
and the people began to offer sacrifices to their idol, and to indulge in lewdness.

MOSES BLAMED FOR ISRAEL’S SIN

When the people turned from their God, He said to Moses, who was still in heaven:
“‘Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of
Egypt, have corrupted themselves.'” Moses, who until then had been superior to
the angels, now, owing to the sins of Israel, feared them greatly. The angels,
hearing that God meant to send him from His presence, wanted to kill him, and
only by clinging to the Throne of God, who covered him with His mantle, did he
escape from the hands of the angels, that they might do him no harm. He had particularly
hard struggle with the five Angels of Destruction: Kezef, Af, Hemah, Mashhit,
and Haron, whom God had sent to annihilate Israel. Moses then hastened to the
three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and said to them: “If ye are men
who are participators of the future life, stand by me in this hour, for your children
are as a sheep that is led to the slaughter.” The three Patriarchs united their
prayers with those of Moses, who said to God; “Hast Thou not made a vow to these
three to multiply their seed as the stars, and are they now to be destroyed?”
In recognition of the merits of these three pious men, God called away three of
the Angels of Destruction, leaving only two: whereupon Moses further importuned
God: “For the vow Thou madest to Israel, take from them the angel Mashhit;” and
God granted his prayer. Moses continued: “For the vow Thou madest me, take from
them also the angel Haron.” God now stood by Moses, so that he was able to conquer
this angel, and he thrust him down deep into the earth in a spot that is possession
of the tribe of Gad, and there held him captive.

So long as Moses lived this angel was held in check by him, and if he tried,
even when Israel sinned, to rise out of the depths, open wide his mouth, and destroy
Israel with his panting, all Moses had to do was to utter the name of God, and
Haron, or as he is sometimes called, Peor, was drawn once more into the depths
of the earth. At Moses’ death, God buried him opposite the spot where Peor is
bound. For should Peor, if Israel sinned, reach the upper world and open his mouth
to destroy Israel with his panting, he would, upon seeing Moses’ grave, be so
terror-stricken, that he would fall back into the depths once more.

Moses did indeed manage the Angels of Destruction, but it was a more difficult
matter to appease God in His wrath. He addressed Moses harshly, crying: “The grievous
sins of men had once caused Me to go down from heaven to see their doings. Do
thou likewise go down from heaven now. It is fitting that the servant be treated
as his master. Do thou now go down. Only for Israel’s sake have I caused this
honor to fall to thy lot, but now that Israel has become disloyal to Me, I have
not further reason thus to distinguish thee.” Moses hereupon answered: “O Lord
of the world! Not long since didst Thou say to me: ‘Come now, therefore, and I
will send thee that thou mayest bring forth My people out of Egypt;’ and now Thou
callest them my people. Nay, whether pious or sinful, they are Thy people still.”
Moses continued: “What wilt Thou now do with them?” God answered: “I will consume
them, and I will make of thee a great nation.” “O Lord of the world!” replied
Moses, “If the three-legged bench has no stability, how then shall the one-legged
stand? Fulfil not, I implore Thee, the prophecies of the Egyptian magicians, who
predicted to their king that the star ‘Ra’ah’ would move as a harbinger of blood
and death before the Israelites.” Then he began to implore mercy for Israel: “Consider
their readiness to accept the Torah, whereas the sons of Esau rejected it.” God:
“But they transgressed the precepts of the Torah; one day were they loyal to Me,
then instantly set to work to make themselves the Golden Calf.” Moses: “Consider
that when in Thy name I came to Egypt and announced to them Thy name, they at
once believed in me, and bowed down their heads and worshipped Thee.” God: “But
they now bow down their heads before their idol.” Moses: “Consider that they sent
Thee their young men to offer Thee burnt offerings.” God: “They now offered sacrifices
to the Golden Calf.” Moses: “Consider that on Sinai they acknowledged that Thou
are their God.” God: “They now acknowledge that the idol is their god.”

All these arguments with God did not help Moses; he even had to put up with
having the blame for the Golden Calf laid on his shoulders. “Moses,” said God,
“when Israel was still in Egypt, I gave thee the commission to lead them out of
the land, but not take with thee the mixed multitude that wanted to join them.
But thou in thy clemency and humility didst persuade Me to accept the penitent
that do penance, and didst take with thee the mixed multitude. I did as thou didst
beg me, although I knew what the consequences would be, and it is now these people,
‘thy people,’ that have seduced Israel to idolatry.” Moses now thought it would
be useless to try to secure God’s forgiveness for Israel, and was ready to give
up his intercession, when God, who in reality meant to preserve Israel, but only
like to hear Moses pray, now spoke kindly to Moses to let him see that He was
not quite inaccessible to his exhortations, saying: “Even in Egypt did I foresee
what this people would do after their deliverance. Thou foresawest only the receiving
of the Torah on Sinai, but I foresaw the worship of the Calf as well.” With these
words, God let Moses perceive that the defection of Israel was no surprise to
Him, as He had considered it even before the exodus from Egypt; hence Moses now
gathered new courage to intercede for Israel. He said: “O Lord of the world! Israel
has indeed created a rival for Thee in their idol, that Thou are angry with them.
The Calf, I supposed, shall bid stars and moon to appear, while Thou makest the
sun to rise; Thou shalt send the dew and he will cause the wind to blow; Thou
shalt send down the rain, and he shall bid the plants to grow.” God: “Moses, thou
are mistaken, like them, and knowest not that the idol is absolutely nothing.”
“If so,” said Moses, “why art Thou angry with Thy people for that which is nothing?”
“Besides,” he continued, “Thou didst say Thyself that it was chiefly my people,
the mixed multitude, that was to blame for this sin, why then are Thou angry with
Thy people? If Thou are angry with them only because they have not observed the
Torah, then let me vouch for the observance of it on the part of my companions,
such as Aaron and his sons, Joshua and Caleb, Jair and Machir, as well as many
pious men among them, and myself.” But God said: “I have vowed that ‘He that sacrificeth
unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed,’ and a vow
that has once passe My lips, I can not retract.” Moses replied: “O Lord of the
world! Has not Thou given us the law of absolution from a vow, whereby power is
given to a learned man to absolve any one from his vows? But every judge who desires
to have his decisions accounted valid, must subject himself to the law, and Thou
who has prescribed the law of absolution from vows through a learned man, must
subject Thyself to this law, and through me be absolved from Thy vow.” Moses thereupon
wrapped his robe about him, seated himself, and bade God let him absolve Him from
his vow, bidding Him say: “I repent of the evil that I had determined to bring
upon My people.” Moses then cried out to Him: “Thou are absolved from Thine oath
and vow.”

THE PUNISHMENT OF THE SINNERS

When Moses descended from Sinai, he there found his true servant Joshua, who
had awaited him on the slope of the mountain throughout all the forty days during
which Moses stayed in heaven, and together they repaired to the encampment. On
approaching it, they heard cries of the people, and Joshua remarked to Moses:
“There is a noise of war in the camp,” but Moses replied: “Is it possible that
thou, Joshua, who art one day destined to be the leader of sixty myriads of people,
canst not distinguish among the different kinds of dins? This is no cry of Israel
conquering, nor of their defeated foe, but their adoration of an idol.” When Moses
had now come close enough to the camp to see what was going on there, he thought
to himself: “How now shall I give to them the tables and enjoin upon them the
prohibition of idolatry, for the very trespassing of which, Heaven will inflict
capital punishment upon them?” Hence, instead of delivering to them the tables,
he tried to turn back, but the seventy elders pursued him and tried to wrest the
tables from Moses. But his strength excelled that of the seventy others, and he
kept the tables in his hands, although these were seventy Seah in weight. All
at once, however, he saw the writing vanish from the tables, and at the same time
became aware of their enormous weight; for while the celestial writing was upon
them, they carried their own weight and did not burden Moses, but with the disappearance
of the writing all this changes. Now all the more did Moses feel loath to give
the tables without their contents to Israel, and besides he thought: “If God prohibited
one idolatrous Israelite from partaking of the Passover feast, how much more would
He be angry if I were now to give all the Torah to an idolatrous people?” Hence,
without consulting God, he broke the tables. God, however, thanked Moses for breaking
the tables.

Hardly had Moses broken the tables, when the ocean wanted to leave its bed
to flood the world. Moses now “took the Calf which they had made, and burnt it
in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water,” saying to
the waters: “What would ye upon the dry land?” And the waters said: “The world
stands only through the observance of the Torah, but Israel has not been faithful
to it.” Moses hereupon said to the water” “All that have committed idolatry shall
be yours. Are you now satisfied with these thousands?” But the waters were not
to be appeased by the sinners that Moses cast into them, and the ocean would not
retreat to its bed until Moses made the children of Israel drink of it.

The drinking of these waters was one of the forms of capital punishment that
he inflicted upon the sinners. When, in answer to Moses’ call: “Who is on the
Lord’s side? Let him come unto me,” all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together
unto him-they who had not taken part in the adoration of the Golden Calf,-Moses
appointed these Levites as judges, whose immediate duty it was to inflict the
lawful punishment of decapitation upon all those who had been seen by witnesses
to be seduced to idolatry after they had been warned not to do so. Moses gave
the command as though he had been commissioned to do so by God. This was not actually
so, but he did it in order to enable the judges appointed by him to punish all
the guilty in the course of one day, which otherwise, owing to the procedure of
Jewish jurisprudence, could not well have been possible. Those who, according
to the testimony of witnesses, had been seduced to idolatry, but who could not
be proven to have been warned beforehand, were not punished by temporal justice,
they died of the water that Moses forced them to drink; for this water had upon
them the same effect as the curse-bringing water upon the adulterous woman. But
those sinners, too, against whom no witnesses appeared, did not escape their fate,
for upon them God sent the plague to carry them off.

MOSES INTERCEDES FOR THE PEOPLE

Those who were executed by these judgements numbered three thousand, so that
Moses said to God: “O Lord of the world! Just and merciful art Thou, and all Thy
deeds are deeds of integrity. Shall six hundred thousand people-not to mention
all who are below twenty years of age, and all the many proselytes and slaves-perish
for the sake of three thousand sinners?” God could no longer withhold His mercy,
and determined to forgive Israel their sins. It was only after long and fervent
prayers that Moses succeeded in quite propitiating God, and hardly had he returned
from heaven, when he again repaired thither to advance before God his intercession
for Israel. He was ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of Israel, and as soon
as punishment had been visited on the sinners, he turned to God with the words:
“O Lord of the world! I have now destroyed both the Golden Calf and its idolaters,
what cause for ill feeling against Israel can now remain? The sins these committed
came to pass because Thou hadst heaped gold and silver upon them, so that the
blames is not wholly theirs. ‘Yet now, if Thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if
not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou has written.'”

These bold words of Moses were not without consequences for him, for although
God thereupon replied: “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out
of My blood,” still it was on account of this that his name was omitted from one
section of the Pentateuch. But for Israel his words created an instant revulsion
of feeling in God, who now addressed him kindly, and promised that he would send
His angel, who would lead the people into the promised land. These words indicated
to Moses that God was not yet entirely appeased, and he could further see this
in the punishment that fell upon Israel on that day. Their weapons, which every
man among them had received at the revelation on Sinai, and which had miraculous
virtues, having the name of God engraved upon them, were taken from them by the
angels, and their robes of purple likewise. When Moses saw from this that God’s
wrath was still upon Israel, and that He desired to have nothing further to do
with them, he removed his tent a mile away from the camp, saying to himself: “The
disciple may not have intercourse with people whom the master has excommunicated.”

Not only the people went out o this tent whenever they sought the Lord, but
the angels also, the Seraphim, and the heavenly hosts repaired thither, the sun,
the moon, and the other heavenly bodies, all of whom knew that God was to be found
there, and that the tent of Moses was the spot where they were to appear before
their Creator. God, however, was not at all pleased to see Moses keep himself
aloof from the people, and said to him: “According to our agreement, I was to
propitiate thee every time thou wert angry with the people, and thou wert to propitiate
Me when My wrath was kindled against them. What is now to become of these poor
people, if we be both angry with them? Return, therefore, into the camp to the
people. But if thou wilt not obey, remember that Joshua is in the camp at the
sanctuary, and he can well fill thy place.” Moses replied: “It is for Thy sake
that I am angry with them, and now I see that still Thou canst not forsake them.”
“I have,” said God, “already told thee, that I shall send and angel before them.”
But Moses, by no means content with this assurance, continued to importune God
not to entrust Israel to an angel, but to conduct and guide them in person.

Forty days and forty nights, from the eighteenth day of Tammus to the twenty-eight
day of Ab, did Moses stay in heaven, beseeching and imploring God to restore Israel
once more entirely into His favor. But all his prayers and exhortations were in
vain, until at the end of forty days he implored God to set the pious deeds of
the three Patriarchs and of the twelve sons of Jacob to the account of their descendants;
and only then was his prayer answered. H said: “If Thou art angry with Israel
because they transgressed the Ten Commandments, be mindful for their sake of the
ten tests to which Thou didst subject Abraham, and through which he nobly passed.
If Israel deserves at Thy hands punishment by fire for their sin, remember the
fire of the limekiln into which Abraham let himself be cast for the glory of Thy
name. If Israel deserves death by sword, remember the readiness with which Isaac
laid down his neck upon the altar to be sacrificed to Thee. If they deserve punishment
by exile, remember for their sake how their father Jacob wandered into exile from
his paternal home to Haran.” Moses furthermore said to God: “Will the dead ever
be restored to life?” God in surprise retorted: “Hast thou become a heretic, Moses,
that thou dost doubt the resurrection?” “If,” said Moses, “the dead never awaken
to life, then truly Thou art right to wreak vengeance upon Israel; but if the
dead are to be restored to life hereafter, what wilt Thou then say to the fathers
of this nation, if they ask Thee what has become of the promise Thou hadst made
to them? I demand nothing more for Israel,” Moses continued, “than what Thou were
willing to grant Abraham when he pleaded for Sodom. Thou wert willing to let Sodom
survive if there were only ten just men therein, and I am now about to enumerate
to Thee ten just men among the Israelites: myself, Aaron, Eleazar, Ithamar, Phinehas,
Joshua, and Caleb.” “But that is only seven,” objected God. Moses, not at all
abashed, replied: “But Thou hast said that the dead will hereafter be restored
to life, so count with these the three Patriarchs to make the number ten complete.”
Moses’ mention of the names of the three Patriarchs was of more avail than all
else, and God granted his prayer, forgave Israel their transgression, and promised
to lead the people in person.

THE INSCRUTABLE WAYS OF THE LORD

Moses still cherished three other wishes: that the Shekinah might dwell with
Israel; that the Shekinah might not dwell with other nations; and lastly, that
he might learn to know the ways of the Lord whereby He ordained good and evil
in the world, sometimes causing suffering to the just and letting the unjust enjoy
happiness, whereas at other times both were happy, or both were destined to suffer.
Moses laid these wishes before God in the moment of His wrath, hence God bade
Moses wait until His wrath should have blown over, and then He granted him his
first two wishes in full, but his third in part only. God showed him the great
treasure troves in which are stored up the various rewards for the pious and the
just, explaining each separated one to him in detail: in this one were the rewards
of those who give alms; in that one, of those who bring up orphans. In this way
He showed him the destination of each one of the treasures, until at length they
came to one of gigantic size. “For whom is this treasure?” asked Moses, and God
answered: “Out of the treasures that I have shown thee I give rewards to those
who have deserved them by their deeds; but out of this treasure do I give to those
who are not deserving, for I am gracious to those also who may lay no claim to
My graciousness, and I am bountiful to those who are not deserving of My bounty.”

Moses now had to content himself with the certainty that the pious were sure
of their deserts; without, however, learning from God, how it sometimes comes
to pass that evil doers, too, are happy. For God merely stated that He also shows
Himself kind to those who do not deserve it, but without further assigning the
why and the wherefore. But the reward to the pious, too, was only in part revealed
to him, for he beheld the joys of Paradise of which they were to partake, but
not the real reward that is to follow the feast in Paradise; for truly “eye hath
not seen, beside the Lord, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him.”

By means of the following incident God showed Moses how little man is able
to fathom the inscrutable ways of the Lord. When Moses was on Sinai, he saw from
that station a man who betook himself to a river, stooped down to drink, lost
his purse, and without noticing it went his way. Shortly after, another man cam,
found the money, pocketed it, and took to his heels. When the owner of the purse
became aware of his loss, he returned to the river, where he did not find his
money, but saw a man, who came there by chance to fetch water. To him he said:
“Restore to me the money that a little while ago I left here, for none can have
taken it if not thou.” When the man declared that he had found none of the money
nor seen any of it, the owner slew him. Looking with horror and amazement on this
injustice on earth, Moses said to God: “I beseech Thee, show my Thy ways. Why
has this man, who was quite innocent, been slain, and why hath the true thief
gone unpunished?” God replied: “The man who found the money and kept it merely
recovered his own possession, for he who had lost the purse by the river, had
formerly stolen it from him; but the one who seemed to be innocently slain is
only making atonement for having at one time murdered the father of his slayer.”
In this way, God granted the request of Moses, “to show him His ways,” in part
only. He let him look into the future, and let him see every generation and it
sages, every generation and its prophets, every generation and its expounders
of the Scriptures, every generation and its leaders, ever generation and its pious
men. But when Moses said: “O Lord of the world! Let me see by what law Thou dost
govern the world; for I see that many a just man is lucky, but many a one is not;
many a wicked man is lucky, but many a one is not; many a rich man is happy, but
many a one is not; many a poor man is happy, but many a one is not;” then God
answered: “Thou canst not grasp all the principles which I apply to the government
of the world, but some of them shall I impart to thee. When I see human beings
who have no claim to expectations from Me either for their own deeds or for those
of their fathers, but who pray to Me and implore Me, then do I grant their prayers
and give them what they require from subsistence.”

Although God had now granted all of his wishes, still Moses received the following
answer to his prayer, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory”: “Thou mayest not behold
My glory, or else thou wouldst perish, but in consideration of My vow to grant
thee all thy wishes, and in view of the fact that thou are in possession of the
secret of My name, I will meet thee so far as to satisfy thy desire in part. Lift
the opening of the cave, and I will bid all the angels that serve Me pass in review
before thee; but as soon as thou hearest the Name, which I have revealed to thee,
know then that I am there, and bear thyself bravely and without fear.’

God has a reason for not showing His glory to Moses. He said to him: “When
I revealed Myself to thee in the burning bush, thou didst not want to look upon
Me; now thou are willing, but I am not.”

THE THIRTEEN ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

The cave in which Moses concealed himself while God passed in review before
him with His celestial retinue, was the same in which Elijah lodged when God revealed
Himself to him on Horeb. If there had been in it an opening even as tiny as a
needle’s point, both Moses and Elijah would have been consumed by the passing
Divine light, which was of an intensity so great that Moses, although quite shut
off in the cave, nevertheless caught the reflection of it, so that from its radiance
his face began to shine. Not without great danger, however, did Moses earn this
distinction; for as soon as the angels heard Moses request God to show him His
glory, they were greatly incensed against him, and said to God: “We, who serve
Thee night and day, may not see Thy glory, and he, who is born of woman, asks
to see it!” In their anger they made ready to kill Moses, who would certainly
have perished, had not God’s hand protected him from the angels. Then God appeared
in the cloud.

It was the seventh time that He appeared on earth, and taking the guise of
a precentor of a congregation, He said to Moses: “Whenever Israel hath sinned,
and calleth Me by the following thirteen attributes, I will forgive them their
sins. I am the Almighty God who provides for all creatures. I am the Merciful
One who restrains evil from human kind. I am the Gracious One who helps in time
of need. I am the Long-Suffering to the upright as well as to the wicked. I am
Bountiful to those whose own deed do not entitle them to lay claim to rewards.
I am Faithful to those who have a right to expect good from Me; and preserve graciousness
unto the two-thousandth generation. I forgive misdeeds and even atrocious actions,
in forgiving those who repent.” When Moses heard this, and particularly that God
is long-suffering with sinners, he prayed: “O forgive, then, Israel’s sin which
they committed in worshipping the Golden Calf.” Had Moses now prayed, “Forgive
the sins of Israel unto the end of all time,” God would have granted that too,
as it was a time of mercy; but as Moses asked forgiveness for this one sin only,
this one only was pardoned, and God said: “I have pardoned according to thy word.”

The day on which God showed Himself merciful to Moses and to His people, was
the tenth day of Tishri, the day on which Moses was to receive the tables of the
law from God for the second time, and all Israel spent it amid prayer and fasting,
that the evil spirit might not again lead them astray. Their ardent tears and
exhortations, joined with those of Moses, reached heaven, so that God took pity
upon them and said to them: “My children, I swear by my lofty Name that these
your tears shall be tears of rejoicing for you; that this day shall be a day of
pardon, of forgiveness, and of the canceling of sins for you, for your children,
and your children’s children to the end of all generations.”

This day was not set for the annual Day of Atonement, without which the world
could not exist, and which will continue even in the future world when all other
holy days will cease to be. The Day of Atonement, however, is not only a reminiscence
of the day on which God was reconciled to Israel and forgave them their sins,
but it is also the day on which Israel finally received the Torah. For after Moses
has spent forty days in prayer, until God finally forgave Israel their sins, he
began to reproach himself for having broken the tables of the law, saying” “Israel
asked me to intercede for them before God, but who will, on account of my sin,
intercede before God for my sake?” Then God said to him: “Grieve not for the loss
of the first two tables, which contained only the Ten Commandments. The second
tables that I am now ready to give thee, shall contain Halakot, Midrash, and Haggadot.”

At the new moon of the month Elul, Moses had the trumpet sounded throughout
the camp, announcing to the people that he would once more betake himself to God
for forty days to receive the second tables from Him, so that they might be alarmed
by his absence; and he stayed in heaven until the tenth day of Tishri, on which
day he returned with the Torah and delivered it to Israel.

THE SECOND TABLES

Whereas the first tables had been given on Mount Sinai amid great ceremonies,
the presentation of the second tables took place quietly, for God said: “There
is nothing lovelier than quiet humility. The great ceremonies on the occasion
of presenting the first tables had the evil effect of directing an evil eye toward
them, so that they were finally broken.” In this also were the second tables differentiated
from the first, that the former were the work of God, and the latter, the work
of man. God dealt with Israel like the king who took to himself to wife and drew
up the marriage contract with his own hand. One day the king noticed his wife
engaged in very intimate conversation with a slave; and enraged at her unworthy
conduct, he turned here out of his house. Then he who had given the bride away
at the wedding came before the king and said to him: “O sire, dost thou not know
whence thou didst take thy bride? She had been brought up among the slaves, and
hence is intimate with them.” The king allowed himself to be appeased, saying
to the other: “Take paper and let a scribe draw up a new marriage contract, and
here take my authorization, signed in my own hand.” Just so did Israel fare with
their God when Moses offered the following excuse for their worship of the Golden
Calf: “O Lord, dost Thou not know whence Thou hast brought Israel, out of a land
of idolaters?” God replied: “Thou desirest Me to forgive them. Well, then, I shall
do so, now fetch Me hither tables on which I may write the words that were written
on the first. But to reward thee for offering up thy life for their sake, I shall
in the future send thee along with Elijah, that both of you together may prepare
Israel for the final deliverance.”

Moses fetched the tables out of a diamond quarry which God pointed out to him,
and the chips that fell, during the hewing, from the precious stone made a rich
man of Moses, so that he now possessed all the qualifications of a prophet-wealth,
strength, humility, and wisdom. In regard to the last-named be it said, that God
given in Moses’ charge all the fifty gates of wisdom except one.

As the chips falling from the precious stone were designed for Moses alone,
so too had originally the Torah, written on these tables, been intended only Moses
and his descendants; but he was benevolent of spirit, and imparted the Torah to
Israel. The wealth that Moses procured for himself in fashioning the Torah, was
a reward for having taken charge of the corpse of Joseph while all the people
were appropriating to themselves the treasures of Egyptians. God now said: “Moses
deserves the chips from the tables. Israel, who did not occupy themselves with
labors of piety, carried off the best of Egypt at the time of their exodus. Shall
Moses, who saw to the corpse of Joseph, remain poor? Therefore will I make him
rich through these chips.”

During the forty days he spent in heaven, Moses received beside the two tables
all the Torah-the Bible, Mishnah, Talmud, and Haggadah, yea, even all that ever
clever scholars would ask their teacher was revealed to him. When he now received
the command from God to teach all this to Israel, he requested God to write down
all the Torah and to give it to Israel in that way. But God said: “Gladly would
I give them the whole in writing, but it is revealed before Me that the nations
of the world will hereafter read the Torah translated into Greek, and will say:
‘We are the true Israel, we are the children of God.’ Then I shall say to the
nations: ‘Ye claim to be MY children, do ye not know that those only are My children
to whom I have confided My secret, the oral teaching?'” This was the reason why
the Pentateuch only was given to Moses in writing, and the other parts of the
Torah by word of mouth. Hence the covenant God made with Israel reads: “I gave
ye a written and an oral Torah. My covenant with you says that ye shall study
the written Torah as a written thing, and the oral as an oral; but in case you
confound the one with the other you will not be rewarded. For the Torah’s sake
alone have I made a covenant with you; had ye not accepted the Torah, I should
not have acknowledged you before all other nations. Before you accepted the Torah,
you were just like all other nations, and for the Torah’s sake alone have I lifted
you above the others. Even your king, Moses, owes the distinction he enjoys in
this world and in the world hereafter to the Torah alone. Had you not accepted
the Torah, then should I have dissolved the upper and the under worlds into chaos.”

Forty days and forty nights Moses now devoted to the study of the Torah, and
in all the time he ate no bread and drank no water, acting in accordance with
the proverb, “If thou enterest a city, observe its laws.” The angels followed
this maxim when they visited Abraham, for they there ate like men; and so did
Moses, who being among angels, like the angels partook of no food. He received
nourishment from radiance of the Shekinah, which also sustains the holy Hayyot
that bear the Throne. Moses spent the day in learning the Torah from God, and
the night in repeating what he had learned. In this way he set an example for
Israel, that they might occupy themselves with the Torah by night and by day.

During this time Moses also wrote down the Torah, although the angels found
it strange that God should have given him the commission to write down the Torah,
and gave expression to their astonishment in the following words, that they addressed
to God: “How is it that Thou givest Moses permission to write, so that he may
write whatever he will, and say to Israel, ‘I gave you the Torah, I myself wrote
it, and then gave it to you?'” But God answered: “Far be it from Moses to do such
a thing, he is a faithful servant!”

When Moses had complete the writing of the Torah, he wiped his pen on the hair
of his forehead, and from this heavenly ink that cleaved to his forehead originated
the beams of light that radiated from it. In this way God fulfilled to Moses the
promise: “Before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done
in all the earth, nor in any nation.” On Moses’ return from heaven, the people
were greatly amazed to see his face shining, and there was fear, too, in their
amazement. This fear was a consequence of their sin, for formerly they had been
able to bear without fear the sight of “the glory of the Lord that was like devouring
fire,” although it consisted of seven sheaths of fire, laid one over another;
but after their transgression they could not even bear to look upon the countenance
of the man who had been the intermediator between themselves and God. But Moses
quieted them, and instantly set about imparting to the people the Torah he had
received from God.

His method of instruction was as follows: first came Aaron, to whom he imparted
the word of God, and as soon as he had finished with Aaron, came the sons of Aaron,
Eleazar and Ithamar, and he instructed them, while Aaron sat at his right hand,
listening. When he had finished with the sons of Aaron, the elders appeared to
receive instruction, while Eleazar sat at the right hand of his father, and Ithamar
at the left hand of Moses, and listened; and when he had finished with the elders,
the people came and received instruction, whereupon Moses withdrew. Then Aaron
went over what had been taught, and his sons likewise, and the elders, until every
one, from Aaron down to every man out of the people, had four times repeated what
he had learned, for in this way had God bidden Moses impress the Torah four times
upon Israel.

THE CENSUS OF THE PEOPLE

At sight of the rays that emanated from Moses’ face, the people said to him:
“We were humbled by God owing to that sin we had committed. God, thou sayest,
had forgiven us, and is reconciled to us. Thou, Moses, were include in our humiliation,
and we see that He has once more exalted thee, whereas, in spite of the reconciliation
with God, we remain humbled.” Hereupon Moses betook himself to God and said; “When
Thou didst humble them, Thou didst humble me also, hence shouldst Thou now raise
them too, if Thou has raised me.” God replied: “Truly, as I have exalted thee,
so will I exalt them also; record their number, and through this show the world
how near to My heart is the nation that before all others acknowledged Me as their
king, singing by the Red Sea: ‘This is my God, and I will exalt Him.'” Moses then
said to God: “O Lord of the world! Thou hast so many nation in Thy world, but
Thou carest nothing about recording their numbers, and only Israel dost Thou bid
me count.” God replied: “All these multitudes do not belong to Me, they are doomed
to the destruction of Gehenna, but Israel is My possession, and as a man most
prizes the possession he paid for most dearly, so is Israel most dear to Me, because
I have with great exertions made it My own.” Moses further said to God: “O Lord
of the world! To our father Abraham Thou made the following promises: ‘And I will
make thy seed as the stars in the heavens,’ but now Thou biddest me number Israel.
If their forefather Abraham could not count them, how, then, should I?” But God
quieted Moses, saying: “Thou needest not actually count them, but if thou wouldst
determine their number, add together the numerical value of the names of the tribes,
and the result will be their number.” And truly in this way did Moses procure
the sum total of the Jews, which amounted to sixty myriads less three thousand,
the three thousand having been swept away by the plague in punishment for their
worship of the Golden Calf. Hence the difference between the number at the exodus
from Egypt, when Moses had counted them for the first time, and the number at
the second census, after the losses incurred by the plague. God treated Israel
as did that king his herd, who ordered the shepherds tell the tale of the sheep
when he heard that wolves had been among them and had killed some, having this
reckoning made in order to determine the amount of his loss.

The occasions on which, in the course of history, Israel were numbered, are
as follows: Jacob counted his household upon entering Egypt; Moses counted Israel
upon the exodus from Egypt; after the worship of the Golden Calf; at the arrangement
into camp divisions; and at the distribution of the promised land. Saul twice
instituted a census of the people, the first time when he set out against Nahash,
the Ammonite, and the second time when he set out in war upon Amalek. It is significant
of the enormous turn in the prosperity of the Jews during Saul’s reign, that at
the first census every man put down a pebble, so that the pebbles might be counted,
but at the second census the people were so prosperous that instead of putting
down a pebble, every man brought a lamb. There was a census in the reign of David,
which, however, not having been ordered by God, had unfortunate consequences both
for the king and for the people. Ezra instituted the last census when the people
returned from Babylon to the Holy Land. Apart from these nine censuses, God will
Himself count His people in the future time when their number will be so great
that no mortal will be able to count them.

There was an offering to the sanctuary connected with the second census in
Moses’ time, when every one above twenty years of age had to offer up half a shekel.
For God said to Moses: “They indeed deserve death for having made the Golden Calf,
but let each one offer up to the Eternal atonement money for his soul, and in
this way redeem himself from capital punishment.” When the people heard this,
they grieved greatly, for they thought: “In vain did we exert ourselves in taking
booty from the Egyptians, if we are not to yield up our hard-earned possessions
as atonement money. The law prescribes that a man pay fifty shekels of silver
for dishonoring a woman, and we who have dishonored the word of God, should have
to pay at least an equal amount. The law furthermore decrees that if an ox kill
a servant, his owner shall pay thirty shekels of silver, hence every Israelite
should have to discharge such a sum, for ‘we changed our glory into the similitude
of an ox that eateth grass.’ But these two fines would not suffice, for we slandered
God, He who brought us out of Egypt, by calling out to the Calf, ‘This is thy
God, that brought thee up out of Egypt,’ and slander is punishable by law with
one hundred shekels of silver.” God who knew their thoughts, said to Moses: “Ask
them why they are afraid. I do not ask of them to pay as high a fine as he who
dishonors or seduces a woman, nor the penalty of a slanderer, nor that of the
owner of a goring ox, all that I ask of them is this,” and hereupon he showed
Moses at the fire a small coin that represented the value of half a shekel. This
coin each one of those who had passed through the Red Sea was to give as an offering.

There were several reasons why God asked particularly for the value of half
a shekel as a penalty. As they committed their sin, the worship of the Golden
Calf, in the middle, that is the half of the day, so they were to pay half of
a shekel; and, furthermore, as they committed their sin in the sixth hour of the
day, so were they to pay half a shekel, which is six grains of silver. This half
shekel, furthermore, contains ten gerahs, and is hence the corresponding fine
for those who trespassed the Ten Commandments. The half shekel was also to be
an atonement for the sin committed by the ten sons of Jacob, who sold their brother
Joseph as a slave, for whom each had received half a shekel as his share.

THE ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE COMMANDED

When, on that memorable Day of Atonement, God indicated His forgiveness to
Israel with the words, “I have forgiven them according as I have spoken,” Moses
said: “I now feel convinced that Thou hast forgiven Israel, but I wish Thou wouldst
show the nations also that Thou are reconciled with Israel.” For these were saying:
“How can a nation that heard God’s word on Sinai, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me,’ and that forty days later called out to the Calf, ‘This is thy god,
O Israel,’ expect that God would ever be reconciled to them?” God therefore said
to Moses: “As truly as thou livest, I will let My Shekinah dwell among them, so
that all my know that I have forgiven Israel. My sanctuary in their midst will
be a testimony of My forgiveness of their sins, and hence it may well be called
a ‘Tabernacle of Testimony.'”

The erection of a sanctuary among Israel was begun in answer to a direct appeal
from the people, who said to God: “O Lord of the world! The kings of the nations
have palaces in which are set a table, candlesticks, and other royal insignia,
that their king may be recognized as such. Shalt not Thou, too, our King, Redeemer,
and Helper, employ royal insignia, that all the dwellers of the earth may recognize
that Thou are their King?” God replied: “My children, the kings of the flesh and
blood need all these things, but I do not, for I need neither food nor drink;
nor is light necessary to Me, as can well be seen by this, that My servants, the
sun and the moon, illuminate all the world with the light they receive from Me;
hence ye need do none of these things for Me, for without these signs of honor
will I let all good things fall to your lot in recognition of the merits of your
fathers.” But Israel answered: “O Lord of the world! We do not want to depend
on our fathers. ‘Doubtless Thou are our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of
us, and Israel acknowledge us not.” God hereupon said: “If you now insist upon
carrying out your wish, do so, but do it in the way I command you. It is customary
in the world that whosoever had a little son, cares for him, anoints him, washes
him, feeds him, and carries him, but as soon as the son is come of age, he provides
for his father a beautiful dwelling, a table, and a candlestick. So long as you
were young, did I provide for you, washed you, fed you with bread and meat, gave
you water to drink, and bore you on eagles’ wings; but now that you are come of
age, I wish you to build a house for Me, set therein a table and a candlestick,
and make an altar of incense within it.” God then gave them detailed instruction
for furnishing the Tabernacle, saying to Moses; “Tell Israel that I order them
to build Me a tabernacle not because I lack a dwelling, for, even before the world
had been created, I had erected My temple in the heavens; but only as a token
of My affection for you will I leave My heavenly temple and dwell among you, ‘they
shall make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.'”

At these last words Moses seized by a great fear, such as had taken possession
of him only on two other occasions. Once, when God said to him, “Let each give
a ransom for his soul,” when, much alarmed, he said: “If a man were to give all
that he hath for his soul, it would not suffice.” God quieted him with the words,
“I do not ask what is due Me, but only what they can fulfil, half a shekel will
suffice.” Then again, fear stirred Moses when God said to him: “Speak to Israel
concerning My offering, and My bread for My sacrifices made by fire,” and he said
trembling, “Who can bring sufficient offerings to Thee? ‘Lebanon is not sufficient
to burn, nor the beast thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.'” Then again God
quieted him with the words, “I demand not according to what is due Me, but only
that which they can fulfil, one sheep as a morning sacrifice, and one sheep as
an evening sacrifice.” The third time, God was in the midst of giving Moses instructions
concerning the building of the sanctuary, when Moses exclaimed in fear: “Behold,
the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee, how much less this sanctuary
that we are to build Thee?” And this time also God quieted him with the words,
“I do not ask what is due Me, but only that which they can fulfil; twenty boards
to the north, as many to the south, eight in the west, and I shall then so draw
My Shekinah together that it may find room under them.” God was indeed anxious
to have a sanctuary erected to Him, it was the condition on which He led them
out of Egypt, yea, in a certain sense the existence of all the world depended
on the construction of the sanctuary, for when the sanctuary had been erected,
the world stood firmly founded, whereas until then it had always been swaying
hither and thither. Hence the Tabernacle in its separate parts also corresponded
to the heaven and the earth, that had been created on the first day. As the firmament
had been created on the second day to divide the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above, so there was a curtain in the Tabernacle to
divide between the holy and the most holy. As God created the great sea on the
third say, so did He appoint the laver in the sanctuary to symbolize it, and as
He had on that day destined the plant kingdom as nourishment for man, so did He
now require a table with bread in the Tabernacle. The candlestick in the Tabernacle
corresponded to the two luminous bodies, the sun and the moon, created on the
fourth day; and the seven branches of the candlestick corresponded to the seven
planets, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Corresponding
to the birds created on the fifth day, the Tabernacle contained the Cherubim,
that had wings like birds. On the sixth, the last day of creation, man had been
created in the image of God to glorify his Creator, and likewise was the high
priest anointed to minister in the Tabernacle before the Lord and Creator.