Sforno on Exodus

‫ספורנו על שמות‬
Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash
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Sforno on Exodus

Chapter 1

Verse 1

‫לאה‬, the ones mentioned here were deserving to be mentioned with their names. The
reason is that each one of them possessed sufficient individuality to give meaning
to his name. They were all of them an inspiration to their children as not one of
them abandoned his family tradition. However, after the death of that generation
even the relatively righteous ones among them did not rate so highly in the eyes of
G’d or man so that the Torah deemed it necessary to tell us their names.

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

‫וכל הדור ההוא‬, all of these 70 souls. None of the members of this group of migrants
had assimilated to the Egyptian culture during their lifetime.

Verse 7

‫פרו וישרצו‬, after the last of the original 70 migrants had died, their whole
lifestyle became more like that of creeping insects, creatures headed for
destruction. This is why when

Verse 8

‫ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף‬, although there can be no question that in
the annals of Egyptian history the 80 year reign of Joseph and his legislation
saving Egypt from the famine was duly recorded, as well as how he legislated that
the whole land would belong to Pharaoh and the farmers would become his tenants, it
did not occur to anyone to associate the Hebrews of his time with the family of
Joseph who had been so highly esteemed. The idea that the present day Hebrews
deserved special consideration on account of their illustrious forbears did not
occur to anyone observing the way these Hebrews behaved at that time.

Verse 9

Verse 10

‫הבה נתחכמה לו‬, let us not confront them frontally but let us outflank them.
‫ועלה מן הארץ‬, of their own volition, without our having to expel them. If we do not
have adequate reason to expel them we would become pariahs among our neighbours. If
we were to do that, ‫פן ירבה והיה כי תקראנה מלחמה‬, so that no additional problems
would beset us, such as a war (compare Samuel II 13,39 ‫ותכל דוד המלך‬, the king
pined away), These words should be understood as a parenthesis.
‫ונוסף גם הוא על שונאינו‬, at such a time they may display their hatred of us seeing
that they have remained culturally incompatible with us both in practicing
circumcision of their males, language, and in such practices as the way they eat
meat only after the blood has been removed, etc. (compare Genesis 43,32). Let us
therefore induce them to leave our country before it comes to this. In order to
achieve this end,

Verse 11

‫למען ענותו‬, so that as an alternative they will agree to emigrate from our land.
‫ויבן ערי מסכנות‬, they volunteered to accept as a form of taxation to build these
storage cities for Pharaoh to prove their loyalty to Egypt.

Verse 12

Verse 13

‫ויעבידו‬, once the Egyptians observed how the Israelites debased themselves by
performing menial labour they decided to enslave them. They did this by heaping sin
upon sin, thereby defeating their plan and they went from bad to worse.

Verse 14

‫וימררו את חייהם‬, they ruined their own lives not only by improper deeds, but also
by succumbing to alien philosophies. This is described in Ezekiel 20,8 “and they
rebelled against Me and did not want to listen to Me. No Man!- the idols of their
eyes they did not cast out and the idols of Egypt, they did not forsake.”

Verse 15

‫למילדות העבריות‬, to the midwives resident in the capital. It was obviously

impossible for such a large number of people residing in so many different parts of
Egypt, to all be serviced by only two midwives. However, after the midwives in the
capital, though Egyptian, betrayed the instructions by their king and explained to
their king why they had done so, the king did not bother to rely on midwives
anywhere else either, and the scheme was abandoned.

Verse 16

Verse 17
Verse 18

‫מדוע עשיתם‬, “why did you betray my trust?” After all, when I gave you these
instructions you did not refuse the task, making me believe that you would indeed
cause the death of these boy babies. “My trust has been betrayed.”
‫ותחיינה את הילדים‬, not only did you not kill these babies, but you were actively
involved in ensuring their survival!

Verse 19

‫כי חיות הנה‬, they themselves are expert in the art of midwifery. If we were to
attempt to do anything contrary to accepted practice or even to speak to them in a
suspicious manner they would notice this immediately and would not ask any of us
again to assist when they were due to give birth. They argued that it is not worth
the king’s while to have only a few babies killed.

Chapter 2

Verse 1

Verse 2

‫כי טוב הוא‬, The word ‫ טוב‬may be understood as meaning the same as “handsome,
beautiful,” the same meaning as in Genesis 6,2 ‫כי טובות הנה‬, “that they were
beautiful.” The word describes something unusually handsome, beautiful. Yocheved
thought that this was an omen, a sign from the Creator, telling her that a
beautiful exterior encloses an equally beautiful personality.

Verse 3

‫ותשם בסוף‬, a place where the people passing would not see her deposit the basket;
in spite of this, the reason why she chose the reeds was that she thought the
decree of babies having to be thrown into the river had been fulfilled by placing
him within the river’s domain.

Verse 4

‫לדעת מה יעשה לו‬. She thought that some Egyptian would pick up the baby as a
foundling. There were no doubt many such illegitimate babies in Egypt who had been
abandoned by their unwed mothers. The prophet Ezekiel 23,20 speaks about the sexual
licentiousness in Egypt that would make such incidents nothing out of the ordinary.

Verse 5

‫לרחוץ על היאור‬. She had a view of the river, her room in the palace bordering on
the embankment. No doubt, royal etiquette would not permit an Egyptian princess to
actually bathe in the river. [the author was alerted by the preposition ‫ על‬instead
of ‫ב‬, “in,” in front of the word ‫יאור‬. Ed.]
‫ונערותיה הולכות‬, this is the reason why she did not command one of them to bring
the basket to her as they were not with her at that time.
‫ותשלח את אמתה‬, the servant who was attending her at the time when she bathed
herself. All of this happened at the instigation of G’d so that she would not
dispatch one of her regular attendants as she might mistakenly place her trust in
them and such an attendant would throw the baby in the river.

Verse 6

‫ותפתח‬, she then saw that this was an exceptionally beautiful baby.
‫ בוכה‬,‫את הילד‬, she noticed that though his size was that of an infant, when he
cried he sounded like a far older child, a lad. Actually, from birth until maturity
a child is still called ‫ילד‬. The best proof of this is found in Kings I 12,10 where
the advisors of Rechavam, the son of king Solomon who ascended the throne after
him, is described as listening to his youthful advisors who are called ‫הילדים אשר‬
‫“ גדלו עמו‬the children who had grown up with him.” [Rechavam was 41 years of age at
the time. Ed.] Also in Daniel 1,4 youngsters at least in their teens are referred
to as ‫ילדים‬. The term ‫ נער‬is applied to someone who no longer enjoys the perfection
of early youth. According to our author perfect co-ordination of one’s limbs
results in one’s making wrong moves on occasion. The reason why servants are
referred to as ‫ נער‬is that they frequently are inept in their movements to the
annoyance of their masters. The daughter of Pharaoh recognised in this baby that
though this child had only recently been born it already showed signs of physical
maturity as she could hear by the manner in which it cried. ‫נער בוכה‬, awakening,
shaking himself like a child of this age.
‫ותחמול עליו‬, seeing that he was such a beautiful baby, far too perfect a creature
to simply throw into the river.
‫ותאמר מילדי העברים זה‬, this is not an illegitimate baby, abandoned by its mother.
Such a baby, when it grew up was likely to become a criminal, as we know from
Isaiah 57,4 ‫ילדי פשע זרע שקר‬, “children born in sin, offspring of treachery.”

Verse 7

‫מינקת מן העבריות‬, whose milk would be more compatible to its constitution.

‫ותיניק לך‬, so he will be capable to stand in your presence (not to make you ashamed
of him) seeing that his beauty is such that he can take his place with royalty.

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

‫ותקרא שמו משה‬, someone who will save others by pulling them out of their calamity.
‫ותאמר כי מן המים משיתהו‬, the reason why I called him thus is so that he in turn
would rescue others from their problems, just as I have pulled him out of the water
(in which he would have drowned.) She considered the find as decreed by a higher
power (compare Daniel, 4,14) Moses was saved only so that in his life he would
become the instrument of saving others.

Verse 11

‫וירא בסבלותם‬. He made it his concern to take a benevolent interest in the

afflictions suffered by his brethren.
‫וירא איש מצרי מכה איש עברי מאחיו‬. He was aroused to avenge his death because of
this feeling of brotherliness to the victim.
Verse 12

Verse 13

‫ויאמר לרשע‬, seeing that each one of them was one of his brethren he did not act as
avenger but intervened with words rebuking the aggressor.

Verse 14

‫ ?הלהרגני אתה אומר‬Are you stirring up a quarrel to get me killed?

‫ויירא משה‬, as a result Moses became careful and fled.
‫ויאמר אכן נודע הדבר‬, when the snitch said these words to him, in the presence of
others, he did not kill him seeing there would be no point in doing this, seeing he
had already reported what Moses had done to the authorities.

Verse 15

. ‫וישב בארץ מדין‬. He had decided to remain for a while in that country.
‫וישב על הבאר‬. While Moses was traveling through the land of Midian it happened once
that he settled near a certain (well known) well. The construction here is similar
to Genesis 28,11) which describes Yaakov as encountering a certain place, also
described with the preposition ‫ ה‬i.e. ‫ המקום‬instead of simply ‫מקום‬, to show that
the site had been known already.

Verse 16

Verse 17

‫ויקם משה ויושיען‬, seeing that both parties to this argument were well known, Moses
did not intervene by avenging the wronged party but only made sure that he would
redress the injustice done to the innocent party.

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

‫?למה זה עזבתן‬, since he is a guest, and a person who has demonstrated kindness you
should at least have reciprocated by showing him a measure of hospitality.

Verse 21

‫לשבת את האיש‬, to tend his flocks, a similar construction to Lavan inviting Yaakov
to stay with him in Genesis 29,19.

Verse 22
‫גר הייתי בארץ נכריה‬. A stranger in a land which is not my birthplace.

Verse 23

‫בימים הרבים ההם‬, from the day Moses had fled from Egypt in his youth until Gershom
had been born when he was close to 80 years of age. We are assuming that Eliezer
was not much younger, and we know that he was only born when Moses was already on
his way back to Egypt. We know that that Moses was 80 years of age t that time.
‫וימת מלך מצרים‬, the same Pharaoh who had been pursuing Moses wanting to execute
him. This is why he called his second son Eliezer, as then he realised that he had
finally been saved by G’d from the sword of Pharaoh.
‫ויזעקו‬, they cried out of frustration about their miserable fate and their
enslavement. A similar expression for venting such feelings of frustration occurs
in Isaiah 14,31‫הלילי שער זעקי העיר‬, “Howl, o gate! Cry out, o city!”
‫ותעל שועתם לא הלאוקים מן העובדה‬. G’d’s response was not due to their repenting and
praying, but He simply was angry over the excessive cruelty with which the
Egyptians treated the Jewish people This is why He added (when He spoke to Moses in
3,9) ‫וגם ראיתי את הלחץ אשר מצרים לוחצים אותם‬, “and I have also seen the pressure
that the Egyptians keep imposing on them. [perhaps the reason why our author does
not consider the Jews’ repentance and prayer being a factor is the fact that the
attribute with which G’d responded was still the attribute of Justice, ‫ לאוקים‬and
not the attribute Hashem as he explained to Moses in 3,9 Ed.]

Verse 24

‫וישמע לאוקים את נאקתם‬, a reference to the prayer of a few of them, [as Moses recalls
in Numbers 20,16 ‫'ונצעק לא ה‬, i.e. the prayer by the righteous few. Seeing that
Moses speaks in the plural and he had not been in Egypt at the time, he must have
paraphrased why the few righteous people of the time had done at the time before
G’d’s response came. Ed.]
‫ויזכר לאוקים את בריתו‬, for He had said: in Genesis 17,7: “I will maintain My
covenant between Me and you and between your descendants after you to be (remain)
your G’d also for your descendants after you.” This promise remains valid whatever
may happen to us, as pointed out in Exodus 6,5 .. ‫וגם אני שמעתי את נאקת בני ישרלא‬
‫ואזכור את בריתי‬, “and I have also heard the groanings of the Children of Israel….
And I remembered My covenant.”

Verse 25

‫וירא לאוקים את בני ישרלא‬, He now took a personal interest in their fate and no longer
hid His countenance from them. This is perceived as similar to Samuel I 9,16: ‫כי‬
‫ כי באה צעקתו לאי‬,‫ראיתי את עמי‬, “for I have seen My people, for its outcry has come
to Me.” G’d Himself said this later in 3,7 ‫ראה ראיתי את עני אשר במצרים‬, “for I have
seen My people, the suffering they are in Egypt.”
‫וידע לאוקים‬, and that the prayer and outcry were totally genuine. This is why He
Himself speaks later of ‫“ כי ידעתיו את מכאוביו‬for I am aware of its pains.” This
was in contrast with Psalms 78,36-37 where the Jewish people were described as
paying only lip-service to their G’d and continued to be disloyal to heir covenant
with G’d.

Chapter 3

Verse 1

‫ויבא לא הר הלאוקים חורבה‬. Moses, all by himself; he wanted to pray and meditate there
in complete isolation and concentration. The phrase is similar to Numbers 13,22
‫ויבא עד חברון‬, where we find that one of the spies, Calev, reportedly, came to
Chevron. [the sudden singular ‫ ויבא‬instead of ‫ויבואו‬, there prompted the sages to
say that Calev went to pray at the graves of the patriarchs. Ed.]

Verse 2

‫וירא מלאך ה' לאיו‬, in a prophetic vision. When angels appear to humans in human
garb this is not considered a prophetic vision, i.e. it is something of a lower
order of Divine manifestation. Divine communications to Avraham, Lot, Bileam, and
others like them are not described as ‫וירא‬, vayeyrah, “it appeared.” However, the
recipient is described as ‫וירא‬, “he saw,” i.e. he is described only in his active
role, not his role as receptacle of G’d’s communication. Examples of the latter
kind of communication occur in Genesis 18,2 as well as in Genesis 19,1 and in
Numbers 22,31.
‫וירא והנה הסנה בוער באש‬, it kept burning; This phenomenon indicated the prophetic
nature of the experience. Unless the angel had been within the bush, this could not
have happened as something natural. The fire Moses saw burning enveloped the angel.
The implied message was that the righteous members of the Jewish people, who are
themselves angels of G’d, i.e. His messengers on earth, and who are surrounded by
the Egyptian nation who treated them as burning thistles or less, would themselves
become subject to this fire when enduring the ten plagues, but would remain
unharmed by all those plagues. This is what Moses was taught when he saw ‫והסנה‬
‫איננו אוכל‬. it was not consumed by the flames which kept burning. The level of
Moses’ prophecy at that time was not yet at the level it would be later on. The
very fact that the Torah describes Moses as being even afraid to look at the
spectacle before his eyes is proof of this (compare verse 6). From the day the
Torah was given, as the Torah testifies in Numbers 12,8 ‫ותמונת ה' יביט‬, G’d
extended the power of Moses’ prophetic visions so that He shows him a visual image
of G’d. The entire Jewish people had had a brief revelation of G’d’s glory at Mont
Sinai only. Their power of endurance was so limited even at that time that the
Torah reports them as saying that they could not even endure hearing the voice of
the Lord, not to speak of enduring a visual image. Only Moses was able to retain
the level of prophecy which the entire nation experienced during the revelation at
Mount Sinai. This is the meaning of Deuteronomy 5,27-28 ‫שובו לכם לאהליכם ואתה פה‬
‫עמוד עמדי‬, “you (pl.) go back to your tents, and you (sing.) remain standing here
beside Me.” This is also borne out by Exodus 20,18 ‫ויעמוד העם מרחוק‬, “the people
stood at a distance,” followed by ‫ומשה נגש‬, “whereas Moses approached.” (to the
cloud within which the glory of G’d was enveloped). Moses’ level of prophecy from
that time on remained on the level known as ‫פנים לא פנים‬, “face to face,” i.e.
direct, not indirect. G’d told Miriam and Aaron there that He does not speak to
Moses in riddles but by showing him a visual image (Numbers 12,8)

Verse 3

‫ ;אסורה נא ואראה‬I will try and understand the phenomenon by looking at it more
closely. ‫מדוע לא יבער הסנה‬. Why the Egyptians do not perish from the many plagues
they have to endure. The normal reaction to burning is that the object afire is
consumed by the fire, as mentioned in Ovadiah 18.

Verse 4

‫וירא ה' כי סר לראות‬, When G’d saw that Moses took a deeper interest in the
phenomenon,
‫ויקרא לאיו לאוקים‬, to explain the phenomenon to him, in accordance with the well
known principle of‫הבא לטהר מסיין אותו‬, “when someone wants to purify something
impure one extends a helping hand to him “ A well known example of this is Exodus
19,3 where we find that as soon as Moses ascended the mountain G’d descended toward
him.
Verse 5

‫של נעליך‬, even on the spot you are standing on now.

Verse 6

Verse 7

‫ראה ראיתי את עני עמי‬, “I have indeed seen the plight of My people.” A reference to
the righteous ones among them who groaned and sighed over the sins of their
generation and their resulting plight, praying. In response to the prayer of these
righteous people the angel answered out of the burning bush. The meaning of the
words ‫ ראה ראיתי‬is “indeed I have seen, taken notice.” This construction is normal
wherever the Torah employs a dual, duplicate construction. The reason for the
duplication is as if to contradict someone who denies that G’d has seen what goes
on. It is as if saying: ‘in spite of anything you think or say, I insist that you
are wrong and I am right.” It is similar to Yaakov negating Joseph’s trying go
correct the position of his hands when he was blessing Ephrayim and Menashe. At
that time Yaakov simply said: “I know my son, I know.” (Genesis 48,19) The angel
confirmed to Moses that in spite of G’d being aware of the Israelite’s problems and
the fact that He was going to inflict numerous plagues on the Egyptians, the latter
would not simply collapse in spite of all the plagues. My intention with the
plagues is not to destroy the Egyptians and to leave the Israelites in their place,
on their land, but I want to save the Israelites and to take them out of Egypt in
order to settle them elsewhere.

Verse 8

‫ולהעלותו מן הארץ ההיא לא ארץ‬...‫וארד להצילו‬, I revealed Myself to you in this

manifestation only to acquaint you with the fact that I will save the Israelite
nation and lead them out of Egypt, not in order to destroy Egypt.
‫זבת חלב ודבש‬, a land with much livestock and abundant food of good quality and of
nourishing properties (honey). These terms are used in this sense in Proverbs 24,13
‫אכול בני דבש כי טוב ונפת מתוק‬. “My son, eat honey for it is good, and the honeycomb
for it is sweet on your palate.”

Verse 9

‫ועתה‬, seeing that all this is true. This is the meaning of the word ‫ ועתה‬wherever
it appears. G’d said: in view of the fact that the Israelites’ complaints are
justified, that they are entitled to complain, and I am aware of their pain, etc.,
‫הנה צעקת בני ישרלא באה לאי‬, I have accepted their prayer after they truly called on
Me, [aware that I could help them. Ed.] They did not merely mouth these prayers to
give themselves the illusion of having vented their frustrations (compare Psalms
27,36).
‫וגם ראיתי את הלחץ‬, in view of the excessive pressure brought to bear on them, the
ones applying the pressure deserve to be punished. We find a similar construction
in Zecharyah 1,15: ‫וקצף גדול אני קוצף על הגוים השאננים אשר אני קצפתי מעט והם עזרו‬
‫לרעה‬, “and I am very angry with those nations that are at ease; for I was only
angry a little; but they overdid the punishment.”

Verse 10

‫ועתה לכה ואשלחך‬, to them, to warn them before I have to resort to punishing them.
Verse 11

‫?מי אנכי כי לאך‬, how will my warning be effective?

‫וכי אוציא את בני ישרלא‬, that I will have the merit to take out the Jewish people who
are at this time not deserving of this?

Verse 12

‫כי אהיה עמך וזה לך האות‬, that you will not only issue decrees but will carry them
out successfully wherever you turn. Your very success will convince everyone that I
must be the One who has sent you. They will therefore take you and your words very
seriously. We find that this did indeed come true in Exodus 11,3 ‫והאיש משה גדול מאד‬
‫בכל ארץ מצרים‬, “the man Moses was very great in the whole land of Egypt.”
‫בהוציאך את העם ממצרים תעבדון את הלאוקים על ההר הזה‬.. even though they are not worthy
of redemption at this time, but they are worthy of serving the Lord at this
mountain when you take them out from among these professional sinners.

Verse 13

"‫?ואמרו לי "מה שמו‬, a name describes the individual features of a person, Being, or
what makes him distinctive. The people could therefore be expected to ask Moses in
what manner this G’d whose messenger he claimed to be had distinguished Himself as
being special, different from other gods.

Verse 14

‫אהיה אשר אהיה‬. I am an independent existence, not subject to influences by other

phenomena or even caused by them. Seeing that this is so it follows that I love
existing, and beings that exist. As a corollary to this love of Mine for existence,
it follows that I deeply resent anything or anyone who tries to terminate such an
existing being from continuing to do so. The prophet Ezekiel 18,32 phrased this
thought as “for I do not desire the death of him that dies.” From this it follows
that I must love righteousness and justice the objective of both virtues being the
continued existence of all who deserve it. At the same time, it follows that I must
hate injustice and cruelty as these vices are apt to terminate the existence of the
victims of these vices. Clearly, then, this G’d must hate the violence and cruelty
perpetrated on you by the Egyptians.

Verse 15

‫ויאמר עוד לאוקים לא משה כה תאמר לא בני ישרלא‬, the Beney Yisrael that G’d refers to here
are the elders of the people. (according to Rashi the people at large would not
understand such thoughts.)
‫ה' לאוקיכם‬, this is also the G’d of your patriarchs in addition to being the G’d
possessing these virtues just mentioned. He had concluded a covenant with your
patriarchs including all their offspring, so that this is part of My definition
(name) ‫זה שמי לעולם‬, forever as well as the name He already was known by previously
before this additional attribute through the covenant with the patriarchs.
‫זכרי לדור ודור‬, this is what wise men have figured out for themselves already since
time immemorial that there must be a prime Cause, an eternal Being, not subject to
change, i.e, to aging, weakening.

Verse 16

‫פקד פקדתי אתכם‬, seeing that you are their descendants.

‫ואת העשוי לכם במצרים‬, seeing that I hate violence and cruelty.
Verse 17

Verse 18

‫ושמעו לקולך‬, in all that you will command them.

‫לאוקי העבריים‬, the G’d of those who follow the teachings of Ever. (grandson of Shem)
‫נקרה עלינו‬, at a time when we had not expected any divine prophecy, and had not
asked anything of Him. He commanded us to bring offerings to satisfy His own will,
not ours. [the author justifies the use of the root ‫ קרה‬which describes things
which happen without one knowing the cause for these happenings. Ed.]

Verse 19

‫כי לא יתן אתכם מלך מצרים להלוך‬. He will not agree to do this from his own free
volition at My request.
‫ולא ביד חזקה‬, I will see to it that he will not even allow you to depart as a
result of the plagues I shall inflict on Egypt. I will arrange that as soon as a
plague has ceased he will change his mind in order to give Me a chance to inflict
further plagues on him as chastisement.

Verse 20

‫והכיתי את מצרים בכל נפלאותי‬, in a manner which will make everyone who hears about
these plagues sit up and take notice. Many of those who will hear about this will
perhaps repent and abandon idolatry. [the author does not view the plagues as a
punishment but as G’d’s educational tool. Ed.]

Verse 21

Verse 22

‫ונצלתם את מצרים‬. Even though all that they will give you will be on loan and you
will be obligated to return these items. The status of these “borrowed” articles
underwent a legal change when these same Egyptians turned into pursuers of the
departing Israelites with intent to kill them. From that moment on what had
previously been on loan now became legitimate booty of war. Not only that, but the
previous owners had died in a war fought against them by G’d Himself when the
pursuers had become the pursued, something which happens in many wars.

Chapter 4

Verse 1

‫והן לא יאמינו לי ולא ישמעו בקולי‬, once the people will see that Pharaoh will refuse
to let them go, they will lose faith in me and will not listen to my promises. ' ‫כי‬
‫יאמרו לא נראה לאיך ה‬, for they know that when G’d says something it will be so. They
will not be able to account for my failure except by claiming that I am an
impostor.

Verse 2

‫?מה זה בידך‬, here is a staff which is an inert object, and the hand which is
something very much alive. I will demonstrate that I can kill that which is alive
and bring to life that which is dead. I will make your hand useless and your staff
will suddenly come alive.

Verse 3

‫וינס משה מפניו‬, for the staff had become a real snake and had assumed a threatening
posture. This was totally different from the “snakes” produced by Pharaoh’s
magicians that were unable to move. They only looked like the real thing, but were
totally harmless. None of these sorcerers can produce something that is really
alive, i.e. becomes part of nature. Our sages in Sanhedrin 67 commented on this
phenomenon by saying: “not only can the sorcerers not produce small creatures, they
cannot even produce big creatures such as a camel” This is why in the case of
Moses, the Torah speaks of “the staff which had turned into a ‫נחש‬, serpent,”
whereas when the sorcerers’ work is described the Torah speaks of ‫תנין‬. [at that
point Aaron’s staff also turned into a ‫תנין‬, not ‫נחש‬, as G’d was not yet ready to
demonstrate the superior magic Moses was capable of. Only when Aaron’s staff
swallowed the “taninim” of the sorcerers was that point brought home to Pharaoh.]

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

‫והאמינו לקול האות האחרון‬, from a medical science point of view the ability to heal
tzoraat was a far greater miracle as it meant bringing back to life a limb which
had already died ‫ולקחת ממימי היאור‬, seeing that water is a basic liquid, one of the
four basic raw materials earth is constructed of, converting this into blood
without adding any additional ingredient to it was a most remarkable miracle.

Verse 9

Verse 10

‫ ;לא איש דברים אנכי‬I am not experienced in knowing how to address people in
authority, such as kings.
‫ גם משלשום‬,‫גם מתמול‬, neither when I was a stranger in a foreign land, nor when I
grew up in Pharaoh’s palace, nor since You have spoken to me and I have responded.

‫כי כבד פה וכבד לשון אנכי‬, the reason why I do not possess this facility is because
the physical tools with which to express my thoughts are defective. I have
therefore never even made the effort to develop this facility (compare Isaiah 50,4)
‫לדעת לעות את יעף דבר‬, “to know how to speak timely words to the weary.”
Verse 11

‫?מי שם פה לאדם‬, Who provided the natural infrastructure for nature to be able to
provide the body’s equipment?

Verse 12

‫ואנכי אהיה עם פיך‬. To enable you to make full use of man’s tools to deliver words
by mouth.
‫והוריתיך‬, I will also teach you how to effectively address people of Pharaoh’s
standing.

Verse 13

‫שלח נא ביד תשלח‬. Use someone who is already naturally gifted for such an
assignment, instead of someone like me whom You first have to train for the task,
so that in effect You would do the talking.

Verse 14

‫ ?הלא אהרן אחיך‬If it had been My intention to appoint someone naturally suited for
the task, there is your brother Aaron, the Levite, undoubtedly a wise man as are
all his brothers the Levites.
‫כי ידעתיו כי דבר ידבר הוא‬, for I am well aware that he is an excellent speaker
without needing training, ‫וגם הנה הוא יוצא לקראתך וראך ושמח בלבו‬, and although he
is on the way to meet you out of respect for you and your elevation to an even
higher status than his own, he will undoubtedly be happy to serve as your
interpreter full-heartedly.

Verse 15

‫ושמת את הדברים בפיו ואנכי אהיה עם פיך ועם פיהו‬, even though I could put all these
words in his mouth this is not sufficient; it is necessary that I personally,
assist both you and him to make sure that Pharaoh will absorb the words with his
heart. Otherwise, he might deal with you from a position of autocratic arrogance
and simply expel you from his presence.

Verse 16

‫ללאוהים‬, so that he will perform miracles at your behest.

Verse 17

‫ואת המטה הזה‬, even though this staff is not made from a particularly valuable type
of wood I have sanctified it to serve as a sign for you. ‫תקח בידך‬, as a symbol of
authority to demonstrate that I have appointed you to change the rules of nature at
your command.
‫אשר תעשה בו את האותות‬, which you will command nature at My command, seeing that you
have been appointed by Me for this task.

Verse 18

‫לאכה נא ואשובה‬, in the interval I will leave my wife and children in your care.
‫לך לשלום‬, go ahead without worry, I will do what you asked.

Verse 19
‫ כי מתו כל האנשים‬, both the king and his servants who tried to kill you. We
explained this already in connection with 2,23 when Pharaoh’s death was reported.

Verse 20

‫וירכיבם על החמור‬, to let them travel from the desert where Moses tended the sheep
to Midian, i.e. to her father’s home.
‫וישב ארצה מצרים‬, while Moses went on his way back to the land of Egypt.

Verse 21

‫בלכתך לשוב מצרימה‬, every time I tell you to leave your tent which is outside the
boundary of the Egyptian capital, etc., do precisely what I command you. The nature
of the capital, with all its abominations prevented prayer offered in that city to
G’d to become effective, as we know from 9,29 where Moses explains this to Pharaoh.
G’d says: “I will command you from time to time to enter the capital in order to
speak to Pharaoh.”
‫ראה כל המופתים אשר שמתי בידך‬, pay careful attention each time you go to Pharaoh
when you will be equipped with the power to perform all the miracles which I have
placed at your disposal. You must perform these in exactly the manner I have
instructed you.
‫ועשיתם לפני פרעה‬, you will be successful in this only if you proceed exactly in
the manner in which I instruct you, and in the presence of Pharaoh. When a creature
sins against his Creator by doing either less or more than instructed to do, he
will fail in what he set out to do. This rule did not only apply to Moses and Aaron
when they set out to perform miracles, but it is a general rule applicable to all
of G’d’s commandments, and this is why the Torah spelled this out in Deuteronomy
4,2 writing “do not add or subtract from all the commandments which I have
commanded you.”
‫ואני אחזק את לבו‬, for if he could not endure the plagues he would let the
Israelites go, not because he was finally humbling himself before the Lord and do
His will, but only in order to get relief from the plagues. This was not a good
enough reason to grant him relief; therefore G’d reinforced his natural obstinacy.

Verse 22

‫בני בכורי ישרלא‬, even though when it comes to the period known as ‫קץ הימים‬, the end
of the days of this planet, G’d will cause the kind of upheaval which will result
in all the nations calling G’d by His chosen name and they will all serve Him
without reservations, (Tzefaniah 3,9) even then Israel will still be special
inasmuch as it is “My son.” I relate to Israel as a father relates to his son, not
as a master relates to his servant, even the most benign of masters. A servant’s
loyalty or “love” for his master is based on his expectations of reward, or his
fear of punishment, not so a son’s loyalty and love. An additional reason for My
preference for Israel is the fact that it is My firstborn son, i.e. it is the first
nation to accept My position as Creator, King, Master in this universe. At a time
when all the other nations were still following their misguided theologies, only
the Jewish people proclaimed Me exclusively as their G’d and lawgiver. (compare
Micah 4,5).

Verse 23

‫הנה אנכי הורג את בנך בכורכך‬, even though when it comes to the period known as ‫קץ‬
‫הימים‬, the end of the days of this planet, G’d will cause the kind of upheaval
which will result in all the nations calling G’d by His chosen name and they will
all serve Him without reservations, (Tzefaniah 3,9) even then Israel will still be
special inasmuch as it is “My son.” I relate to Israel as a father relates to his
son, not as a master relates to his servant, even the most benign of masters. A
servant’s loyalty or “love” for his master is based on his expectations of reward,
or his fear of punishment, not so a son’s loyalty and love. An additional reason
for My preference for Israel is the fact that it is My firstborn son, i.e. it is
the first nation to accept My position as Creator, King, Master in this universe.
At a time when all the other nations were still following their misguided
theologies, only the Jewish people proclaimed Me exclusively as their G’d and
lawgiver. (compare Micah 4,5).

Verse 24

‫ויהי בדרך במלון‬, when he was on the way from the desert to Midian with his wife and
children. The Torah tells of this incident after concluding the report of how G’d
appointed Moses as the leader of the Jewish people.
‫'ויפגשהו ה‬, the 8th day on which he should have circumcised his son occurred [the
word is derived from ‫פגש‬, occurred, happened. Ed.] When the baby is circumcised the
presence of the Lord, ‫ שכינה‬is perceived as being present waiting to induct the new
member of the Jewish faith. Perhaps this is even the source of the practice to
place a chair for the prophet Elijah at the circumcision ceremony.
When the time passed without Eliezer being circumcised, the Shechinah or the angel
in charge of circumcision was ready to kill Moses for having been so remiss in
fulfilling this commandment.

Verse 25

‫ותאמר כי חתן דמים אתה לי‬. I have done this seeing that when I became married to you
and you were my bridegroom you stipulated that our sons would have to be
circumcised and that we would extract a certain amount of blood as the mark of the
covenant with G’d. Tzipporah said all this to the angel who wanted to kill her
husband in his defence i.e. the angel must know that there was no deliberate
negligence in performing the rite of circumcision.

Verse 26

‫וירף ממנו‬, he released him partially, but not totally, as until the second part of
the circumcision, the ‫פריעה‬, the uncovering of the corona, had been performed the
ritual is considered incomplete, and not valid.
‫אז אמרה חתן דמים למולות‬, when you were a bridegroom you said that the circumcision
involves the removal of some blood during two stages of the circumcision, first the
cutting off of the foreskin, then the severing of membrane over the corona.

Verse 27

‫לך לקראת משה המדברה‬, like a student who walks some distance to welcome his teacher
even before he arrives in town. The student is what we call the “reception
committee.” Aaron being a student of Moses although he was his senior has been
confirmed already in verse 16 when G’d told Moses concerning his brother: “you will
be his prophet, i.e. mentor.”
‫ויפגשהו בהר הלאוקים‬. while Moses was already on his way back to Midian from his
encounter at the burning bush, at the mountain of the Lord, all set to go to Egypt.
‫וישק לו‬, as one kisses a sacred object. We find the term used in this sense in
Samuel I 10,1 ‫ ויאמר הלא כי משחך ה' על נחלתו לנגיד‬,‫וישקהו‬, ”he kissed him and said:
‘the Lord herewith anoints you ruler over His own people.”

Chapter 5
Verse 1

Verse 2

'‫ ;לא ידעתי את ה‬I have never heard of any Being which created something tangible
out of an absolute nothing.
‫וגם את ישרלא לא אשלח‬, even if it could be proved that this Being you speak about
does in fact exist, I will not release the Israelites on account of that new found
wisdom.

Verse 3

‫לאוקי העברים‬, concerning your statement that you never heard of such a Being, He is
the G’d of the Hebrews, the ones who cleave to the religious teachings of ‫עבר‬, the
grandson of Shem, son of Noach. Concerning your statement that you will not release
the Israelites, you would do well to listen to His instructions ‫פן יפגענו‬, as He
would punish both us and you.

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫הן רבים עתה עם הארץ‬, the really smart Hebrews would not listen to your words.

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13
Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

‫והנה עבדיך מוכים וחטאת עמך‬, we are the ones who are being beaten and the sinful
people beating us are all we who are members of your people. It is up to you to
take note of this and to intervene.

Verse 17

‫נרפים אתם נרפים‬, you are the ones who are lazy and delinquent in carrying out your
duties. This is why I decided to make things harder so that you will be more
energetic in performing your duties.
‫על כן אתם אומרים נלכה נזבחה‬, the fact that you dream about such things shows that
you are lazy. This pretext of “we want to offer meat offerings” is clear evidence
that you want to simply take a holiday.

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

‫?למה זה שלחתני‬, if they were guilty of suffering such problems why did You make me
the one to be the immediate cause of it?

Verse 23

‫והצל לא הצלת‬, the overseers of the Israelites who are being beaten for showing
empathy with the people.

Chapter 6

Verse 1

. ‫עתה תראה‬, now that you have seen yourself the sin of Pharaoh who has the nerve to
hold on to the Israelites with the authority of his office, you will see that he
will not only release them voluntarily, but ‫ביד חזקה ישלחם‬, not only will he
release them, but he will be forced to get rid of them post haste due to the
problems he will have while they are still in his country.
‫וביד חזקה יגרשם מראצו‬, in contrast with his keeping the Israelites enslaved in his
country at this time, he will eventually be forced to expel them by force so that
not a single one of them will remain behind.

Verse 2

'‫אני ה‬, the One Who maintains the entire universe all alone. I have not only called
it into existence, but I also maintain it, and there is no other prime cause which
exercises any independent influence on any part of My universe. Compare Nechemyah
9,6 ‫“ ואתה מחיה את כולם‬and You alone provide the nourishment to keep all creatures
alive.” Unless I had given My consent no creature could continue to exist.

Verse 3

‫וארא‬, in a vision, a communication by G’d just below that of the level we know as
‫נבואה‬, prophecy. Genesis 18,1 was one such example of G’d “appearing” to Avraham
after his circumcision.
‫ל שדי‬-‫בא‬, by the attribute which demonstrates that I have created existence as
such, as was pointed out in Genesis 17,1.
‫ושמי ה' לא נודעתי להם‬, the letter ‫ ב‬in the expression ‫ל שדי‬-‫ בא‬applies to the word
‫ושמי‬. In effect what G’d is saying is that He has not made a point of becoming
familiar to the patriarchs by His attribute Hashem when appearing to them, such as
in the example mentioned. This was because He never experienced the need to change
the laws of nature on their behalf. Seeing that the patriarchs could not have
passed on knowledge about Me which I had not revealed to them, they in turn had not
been able to pass on such knowledge to their children. I have to do this now in
order to ensure that I can preserve the Children of Israel as My people.

Verse 4

‫וגם הקימותי‬, I have also sworn, as per Onkelos in Genesis 31,53 on the word ‫וישבע‬
which he renders as ‫וקיים‬. “G’d swore to keep His promise.” Compare a similar
phrase but worded differently in Psalms 106, 44-45. “When He saw that they were in
distress, when He heard their cry, He was mindful of His covenant and in His great
faithfulness He relented.”

Verse 5

Verse 6

'‫לכן אמור לבני ישרלא אני ה‬. The Torah speaks of three reasons (stages of the
redemption) why G’d at this time reveals knowledge about Himself which He had not
revealed previously.
1) ‫ והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים‬there will be an immediate cessation of the
Israelites performing slave labour for the Egyptians.
2) ‫והצלתי‬, on the day the Israelites would depart from Ramses, when they would
cross the border out of the land of Egypt.
3) ‫וגלאתי‬, on the day the pursuing Egyptians would be drowned in the sea, as
testified in Exodus 14,30 ‫ויושע ה' ביום ההוא‬, “on that day the Lord orchestrated
salvation, etc.” After the death of the ones who enslaved, the enslaved are
obviously free.

Verse 7

‫ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם‬, this will occur at the revelation at Mount Sinai.
‫וידעתם‬, then the Israelites will realise that all of G’d’s promises have indeed
come true. We find a similar verse in Deuteronomy 11,2 ‫וידעתם היום כי לא את בניכם‬
‫אשר לא ידעו‬, “you will know this day, that not with your children who did not know,
etc.” but
‫כי אני ה' לאוקיכם המוציא‬, that inasmuch as it is I, the Lord your G’d Who leads you
out and watches over you very closely, AM THE ONE who will do everything that I
promised.

Verse 8

‫והבאתי אתכם לא‬, once they would mentally digest all this you would be worthy of My
bringing you to the land, and I will give it to you.

Verse 9

‫ולא שמעו לא משה‬, to mentally absorb all this, so that they would have full trust in
the salvation of G’d and give Him credit for this. This is where they were
different from Avraham in his time, who believed implicitly in an impossible-
sounding promise, and who gave credit to G’d for making such a promise. This was
eventually the reason why this part of G’d’s promise was not fulfilled in the
lifetime of the people who were being addressed at this time.
‫מקצר רוח‬, for it did not appear believable to their present state of mind, so that
their heart could not assimilate such a promise.
‫ומעבודה קשה‬, if it had not been for the heavy labour which they had to perform they
would have paid much more attention to Moses’ words, and they would have understood
that Moses’ arguments made what he said very believable.

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

‫הן בני ישרלא לא שמעו לאי‬, he believed that this was due to the fact that from the
moment he had started speaking to Pharaoh the latter had become worse in his
attitude and the people, putting two and two together, had concluded that his
mission had failed. If he felt that way, Pharaoh would certainly not pay any heed
to him and continue doing what he liked.
This was especially so, seeing that he was also an ‫ערל שפתים‬, afflicted with a
speech handicap. He mentioned this as he did not believe that Aaron would accompany
him other than for the time he identified himself as G’d’s emissary when he spoke
to the people.

Verse 13

‫ויצום‬, He appointed them as ministers. We find something parallel in Numbers 27,23

when ‫ ויצוהו‬means that Moses appointed Joshua as his successor with the same
authority as he had possessed during the previous 40 years. Also in Samuel I 25,30
the words ‫וצוך לנגיד‬, refer to David being appointed the supreme authority over the
Jewish people. There are more similar examples in Scripture.
‫לא בני ישרלא‬, the same as ‫על בני ישרלא‬, “over the Children of Israel,” i.e. to be in
charge of them. Compare Ezekiel 18,6 ‫ לא ההרים לא אכל‬which means: “he did not eat
on the mountains.”
‫ולא פרעה מלך מצרים להוציא‬, as well as in charge of Pharaoh the King of Egypt, for
the purpose of leading the Jews out, etc.. Concerning this topic both Pharaoh and
the people of Israel were placed under the direction of Moses and Aaron.

Verse 14

‫לאה ראשי בית אבותם‬, Moses and Aaron were justifiably referred to as the heads of the
various tribal groups of Israel, as they were the most respected and most honoured.
‫ראובן בכור ישרלא‬, seeing that none of his descendants were particularly noteworthy
except his sons who had been part of the original 70 persons who had come to the
land of Egypt from Canaan, none other are mentioned. All those 70 persons had
already died as we know from Exodus 1,6. The same consideration held true for the
descendants of Shimon. On the other hand, Levi, the longest surviving member of the
original 70 Hebrews who migrated to Egypt, managed to raise even his grandchildren
to become leaders of the people in their own right. Amram produced three
outstanding children in the persons of Aaron, Moses and Miriam, all of whom
attained prophetic stature. Aaron married a sister of Nachshon who had been
considered the most notable member of the nation in his time. He begat leaders of
the generation who were later on appointed as priests. Eleazar, son of Aaron took
as a wife one of the daughters of Putiel who was also considered outstanding in his
generation (compare Nachmanides). This union produced Pinchas who was granted a
covenant of “peace” by G’d as a reward for spontaneously slaying a high ranking
Israelite prince who flagrantly engaged in forbidden sex with a Midianite princess
and had challenged Moses to do something about it. (Numbers 25,12) ‫לאה ראשי אבות‬
‫הלוים‬, just to tell us that Moses and Aaron were the respective heads of the
Levites.

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22
Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

‫לאה ראשי אבות‬, just to tell us that Moses and Aaron were the respective heads of the
Levites.

Verse 26

‫הוא אהרן ומשה‬, repeated, seeing these two were the most honoured of their families
and it was therefore they who were fit to be entrusted by G’d with the command:
‫הוציאו את בני ישרלא‬, seeing that their voices would be heeded by their compatriots,
of all the various tribes.
‫על צבאותם‬, the entire community including all their respective members,
simultaneously.

Verse 27

‫הם המדברים‬, they were fit to be the spokesmen to Pharaoh and to be listened to by
him with respect.

Verse 28

‫ויהי ביום דבר ה 'לא משה‬, when G’d spoke to Moses that he should speak to Pharaoh
and he answered G’d that Pharaoh would not listen to him, i.e. after G’d had
already appointed Moses and Aaron as the leading authorities over Israel as well as
over Pharaoh, as reported, G’d explained that He had not intended to give both
Moses and Aaron equal status, but that Moses would be an authority, G’d like, for
Pharaoh, whereas Aaron would be his mouthpiece, his interpreter.

Chapter 7

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

‫ואני אקשה‬, seeing that G’d is interested in the sinner’s repentance rather than his
death (as we know from Ezekiel 33,11 ‫ אם אחפוץ במות הרשע כי אם‬,'‫ נאום ה‬,‫חי אני‬
‫בשובו מדרכו וחיה‬, “by My life, I do not want the death of the wicked but that he
return from his wicked path and live”), G’d told Moses that He would bring on
numerous plagues, all in order to increase the chances that Pharaoh would finally
see the light and become a genuine penitent. He hoped that by demonstrating His
greatness and His power this would eventually cause the Egyptians to recognise all
this. At the same time, G’d also spelled out a similar thought in 9,16 but aimed at
the Israelites, when He said: “that the only reason He had not yet killed Pharaoh
was so that in the course of more plagues you, the Jewish people, would come to
recognise both G’d’s greatness and His patience.“ He also wanted the Jewish people
to learn how to both love and revere Him when they witnessed and thought about the
meaning of all these plagues. There can be no question that without G’d stiffening
Pharaoh’s attitude from time to time, he would have collapsed much sooner and would
have sent the Israelites on their desired journey. However, this would not have
been the result of his repentance and humbling himself before the Lord, involving
genuine regret about his previous errors, but the result of his impotence to
withstand the pressure applied to him. He would have acted out of terror of what
the next plague would do to him and to his country. If we needed confirmation of
this, all we have to do is look at what his servants said to him when Moses
threatened with the plague of locust. They said to him: “how long will you be
obstinate, do you not see that Egypt will go down the drain?!” There was not a
single word of regret of past errors, no word of recognition that G’d could have
killed them all long before this and that He must therefore be very patient, and
kind, but mere terror forced them to utter these words. (10,7) Keeping all this in
mind, it is foolish to ask how G’d could punish Pharaoh after he Himself had
interfered with his decision-making process by “stiffening his heart,” ‫ואני אקשה את‬
‫לב פרעה‬, I will stiffen the heart of Pharaoh, etc.” not in order to punish him but
in order to finally trigger repentance in his heart. The operative clause is “in
order that I can demonstrate all these miracles of Mine in his midst” (10,1), the
purpose being to bring about his humbling himself in repentance and genuine
contrition. If that wish of G’d would indeed materialise, the Jewish people also
would tell of G’d’s greatness, (‫למען ספר את שמי‬, having observed at first hand how
the mightiest secular power on earth turned into G’d fearing human beings.) They
would tell their children and children’s children the lesson they had learned that
G’d’s apparent cruelty is actually an act of loving kindness as it results in His
creatures coming to love and to revere Him. [Noach, who had survived the
destruction of mankind by a deliberate act of G’d’s kindness to him and his family,
had not been able to relate to his children what G’d hoped that the Israelites
would be able to relate to their children. Ed.] The basic lesson in ethics we
derive from all this is that when suffering an affliction we must first and
foremost examine our past actions to find out where we went wrong, and try to find
out what these afflictions are intended to trigger in our memory so that we can
improve our conduct both vis-à-vis G’d and our fellow man.

Verse 4

‫ ;ולא ישמע לאיכם פרעה‬not before the plague materialises after the warning, nor even
after the plague did come to pass. He will not listen to you even after having
endured many such plagues. Seeing that this is so, I will be forced to bring
retribution upon them. This retribution will take the form of the killing of the
firstborn as well as the drowning of all the military might of Egypt in the sea.
The retribution will be seen as a punishment to fit their crimes. All the other
plagues are only designed to encourage repentance, not as a form of retribution.
Four times the Torah introduces this objective of the plagues. In 7,17 the Torah
writes ‫'למען תדע כי אני ה‬, “so that you will know that I am the Lord.” In 8,18 the
Torah writes: ‫בעבור תדע כי אני ה' בקרב הארץ‬, “so that you will know that I am the
Lord in the midst of the earth (not only in heaven).” In 9,29 the Torah writes:
‫וידעתם‬...‫למען שיתי אותותי לאה בקרבו ולמען תספר‬, “this is why I perform all these
miracles of Mine right in its midst, so that you will tell…. and finally realise
that there is no one like Me anywhere (9,14).”

Verse 5

Verse 6
‫ויעש משה ואהרן כאשר צוה ה' אותם‬, after every instruction from G’d they followed the
same procedure. Moses used to announce beforehand what would happen, seeing that he
was G’d’s emissary. After that Aaron would translate what Moses had said into
diplomatic language.
‫כן עשו‬, they would do exactly this, not adding or subtracting anything of their
own.

Verse 7

‫ומשה בן שמונים שנה‬, even though he was an aged man both he and his brother rose
early in the morning to do their Creator’s bidding. Although some people lived to a
ripe old age in those days, eighty was an age which was considered as very much
part of what we call “old age.” We know from David in Psalms 90,10 that reaching
the age of 80 was considered an exceptional feat, i.e. kindness of G’d.

Verse 8

Verse 9

‫תנו לכם מופת‬, “identify yourselves by means of a miracle which shows that the One
Who has sent you is capable of carrying out what He promises so that we should obey
Him. The expression ‫ אות‬as opposed to ‫ מופת‬is meant to identify the messenger, i.e.
to prove that he is not a pretender, a charlatan. This was the reason why Moses
performed ‫ אותות‬before the Israelites so that they should not entertain any doubt
as to his being an authentic messenger from G’d to them. Pharaoh, whose doubts did
not relate to the authenticity of Moses as the people’s representative, had to be
convinced of the identity of the G’d who Moses claimed had sent him. It was he who
had said that he did not recognise even the existence of such a G’d. Hence Moses
had to perform miracles proving that such a G’d did in fact exist. The fact that
the same miracle could help establish two separate facts is no hindrance to Moses
performing the same miracle in two locations for two different audiences.

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

‫ויהיו לתנינים‬, they looked and felt like these kinds of monsters. They were not
able to move like these monsters move, or even not at all.
‫ויבלע מטה אהרן את מטותם‬, this would demonstrate that only the G’d in heaven can
grant life to inert phenomena, something Pharaoh’s sorcerers were unable to do.

Verse 13

Verse 14

‫כבד לב פרעה‬, even though Pharaoh could not help but notice the qualitative
difference between what the sorcerers had done and what Moses and Aaron had
accomplished.
Verse 15

‫נהפך לנחש‬, not only in appearance but also in its movements. This is implied by the
word ‫ויבלע‬, “it swallowed” (verse 12). We encountered this phenomenon already in
4,3 when Moses himself fled from the serpent his staff had turned into.

Verse 16

Verse 17

'‫ ;בזאת תדע כי אני ה‬I will turn something that never changes in nature and never
ceases to flow, into something else. This will demonstrate My power over natural
law.

Verse 18

‫והדגה אשר ביאור תמות‬, the river will not retain the appearance of a river, part of
it has been turned into blood; but the entire river bed will be filled with blood
so that the fish have no habitat in which to survive.
‫ונלאו מצרים‬, digging around the river bed trying to find water. This referred to
what the Torah described in verse 24 ‫ויחפרו כל מצרים סביבות היאור‬, “all the
Egyptians dug all around the river.”

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

‫ולא שת לבו גם לזאת‬, to recognise the difference between what G’d had done and what
his sorcerers had done. G’d’s activity had produced a total change in the nature of
the river Nile, a phenomenon which had been considered as inviolate, constant,
incapable of being abolished. It had now been turned into “real blood,” so much so
that all the fish had died. The changes effected by the tricks of the sorcerers
were performed on phenomena that were unstable to begin with. Possibly, all the
sorcerers produced was make believe, an illusion of blood.

Chapter 8

Verse 1
Verse 2

Verse 3

‫ויעלו את הצפרדעים‬, the ones produced by the sorcerers were unable to reproduce
themselves, as were those that Aaron had produced. The sorcerers were never able to
produce any creature that could move on its own. [It is important to realise that
our author considers the ‫ צפרדע‬as a type of crocodile, the major danger to humans
and fish inhabiting the Nile. Ed.]

Verse 4

'‫העתירו לא ה‬, he did pay attention to the aspect of getting rid of this plague,
recognising that there was some use in calling on the G’d of the Israelites to
remove the plague.

Verse 5

‫?למתי אעתיר לך‬. In order that you will recognise the difference between what your
sorcerers are able to do and what G’d is capable of doing. When Moses offered two
scenarios to Pharaoh, i.e. when the crocodiles would die, and henceforth
restricting them to the river Nile, he also had in mind that whatever the sorcerers
had done would be strictly limited in duration, and things would return to normal,
whereas G’d could maintain the changes He had effected in nature indefinitely,
totally or partially as He wished.

Verse 6

‫כדברך‬, in accordance with your wish. You had stipulated that the crocodiles should
be removed from yourself, and from your people,” (verse 4) you did not ask for them
to be eliminated from nature as a species.
‫למען תדע כי אין כה' לאוקנו‬, that there is no power in the universe other than the
G’d of the Israelites who possesses the power to fundamentally effect changes in
natural law. At that time, consigning crocodiles exclusively to the river Nile was
a fundamental change in the habitat of this species. This species is different from
all other known species in that instead of moving its lower jaw when eating, it
moves its upper jaw. It also ingests food without excreting waste products. G’d
will banish the species only from you and your houses, as this is all you asked
for.

Verse 7

‫וסרו הצפרדעים‬, G’d will not only remove the ones which have already bothered you,
but He will ensure that they will not again afflict you.
‫ממך ומבתיך‬, but not from the whole country; on the contrary, they will die in the
land and cause a stench, but in the future they will not leave their habitat in or
near the river.

Verse 8

‫ויצעק משה לא ה' על דבר הצפרדעים אשר שם לפרעה‬, Moses prayed that G’d remove only the
crocodiles which had been sent against Pharaoh and his people, whereas any others
should remain in the river. It required a special prayer, here described as an
outcry, to ask G’d how to arrange the removal of this plague.
Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

‫כי היתה הרוחה‬, even though the evil had not been removed totally, seeing that the
stench of the dead beasts remained and putrefied the atmosphere, and these beasts
remained in the river as a possible threat in the future.
‫והכבד את לבו‬, He reinforced his natural courage not to be frightened of a re-
emergence of the crocodiles that had remained alive. He was also willing to put up
with the stench of the decaying beasts. All of this rather than to admit his
impotence vis-à-vis the G’d of the Israelites.

Verse 12

‫והך את עפר הארץ‬, they did not warn Pharaoh of the advent of this plague. Neither
did they warn him before the onset of the ‫שחין‬, the boils and blisters, nor before
the darkness. The nine plagues, exclusive of the killing of the firstborn, were
intended to serve as demonstrations of G’d’s power to change the laws of nature.
Although the simultaneous dying of the firstborn was also a powerful such
demonstration, it was intended as retribution for refusal to heed all the warnings
G’d had extended to Pharaoh and his people. The first 3 plagues ‫דצ'ך‬, demonstrated
mastery of G’d over the two “heavy” components of the four basic elements the
universe is made of, i.e. water and earth, The three plagues, abbreviated under the
heading of ‫ עד'ש‬by Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi, demonstrates G’d’s control not only over
inert parts of nature but also over living creatures. The third category ‫בא'ח‬,
demonstrated G’d complete control of the air, the atmosphere including the other
two basic elements known as ‫ רוח‬and ‫אש‬, air, wind, and fire. In each group the
first two plagues were preceded by warnings, whereas the third was not. The matter
has been alluded to in Job 33,29 ‫ פעמים שלוש עם גבר‬,‫ל‬-‫הן כל לאה יפעל א‬. “Truly, G’d
does all these things, two or three times to a man.”

Verse 13

Verse 14

‫ולא יכולו‬. They were unable to produce anything which could truly move on its own.

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

‫וגם האדמה אשר הם עליה‬, a reference to the soil on which the houses stood which
would become full of snakes and other creepers of the kind that inhabit the lower
levels of the earth beneath its surface. The plague would result in the Egyptians
feeling insecure in their homes even when they had shut every exit tightly.
Verse 18

Verse 19

‫ושמתי פדות בין עמי ובין עמך‬, so that even the few members of my people who might be
in an area infested by the arov would not be molested by these beasts. The same
beasts would harm your people on the same spot.

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

‫ויעתר‬, in order for G’d to remove the wild beasts at the time which Pharaoh had
requested and in the manner he had asked for. We know that this time Pharaoh did
not want to have to contend with the stench of the dead animals as he had had to
when the crocodiles died on his territory, but that G’d made all these beasts
retreat to where they had been before they had invaded the urban areas of Egypt.
(compare verse 27)

Verse 27

Verse 28

‫גם בפעם הזאת‬, as he had done after the plague of the crocodiles had been removed.
Seeing that the wild beasts had only retreated to their lairs and had not died, so
that they still represented a potential threat, Pharaoh toughened his resolve and
refused to send off the people.

Chapter 9
Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

‫לעיני פרעה‬. In order that he would see that the plague was not the result of mixing
something moist with something else, i.e. something subject to the influence of the
sun or the atmosphere. Both of these phenomena sometimes produce what are known as
“natural disasters.”

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

.'‫ויחזק ה‬, G’d needed to reinforce Pharaoh’s heart as without this he would not
have been able to endure this plague without his resistance collapsing. We know how
Satan expected Job to react to the same affliction, from Job 2,5 “if You lay a hand
on his bones and flesh he will surely blaspheme.”

Verse 13

Verse 14
‫כי בפעם הזאת‬, this time when I demonstrate My power over the third category of
phenomena, the atmosphere and what it contains, ‫אני שולח את כל מגפותי לא לבך ובעבדיך‬
‫ובעמך‬, every plague which I am about to send will affect each one of you even after
the plague itself departs. The damage caused by the plague while it was active will
be felt long after the plague has departed. The after-effect could be felt because
of the vegetables remaining having suffered damage from the hail. The unnatural
type of darkness would also leave behind it unpleasant after-effects, as the whole
atmosphere would have been affected during the period of no light. If we consider
that for three days running no one could even rise from his chair or bed, we can
imagine that this was not merely an absence of daylight. The plagues that had
preceded the hail had not left behind them permanent after-effects.
‫בעבור תדע כי אין כמוני בכל הארץ‬, this realisation will come to you when you
observe how I enjoy complete mastery of the atmosphere. G’d reserved the
demonstration that He also had complete control of all the phenomena in outer
space, or in extra terrestrial regions for the time when He split the Sea of Reeds.
When the Egyptians observed the movements of the pillars of fire and the columns of
cloud, all of which moved in a manner which reflected that they were being directed
by a higher power.

Verse 15

Verse 16

‫בעבור הראותך את כחי‬, so that you may finally display repentance. In the final
analysis, I am not interested in the death of the sinner but in his rehabilitation
through his own efforts. (Ezekiel 18,31)
‫ולמען ספר שמי‬, which will result in repentance by the multitude.

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

‫ועתה שלח העז את מקנך‬, in order that also the servants supervising the cattle would
escape the hail together with their herds.. If G’d cared about the beasts, He most
certainly cared about the human beings, as we know from Avot 3,18 ‫חביב אדם כי נברא‬
‫בצלם‬, “man is beloved as he (alone) has been created in G’d’s image.”

Verse 20

‫הירא את דבר ה' הניס‬, G’d continues explaining to Moses that the reason He had told
Moses to advise the Egyptians to bring their cattle under cover was that he knew
that anyone genuinely afraid of G’d’s warnings would avail himself of this warning
and save himself and his herds.

Verse 21

‫ואשר לא שם לבו חטא ויעזוב‬, it would become clear that he who sinned paid with his
life. This is why I warn you now to save your lives.

Verse 22
Verse 23

‫ותהלך אש ארצה‬, the atmosphere which had already been heated descended earthward
with the same speed as the hail. [Normally, fire has a tendency to rise into higher
levels of the atmosphere. Here, the reverse happened. Ed.]

Verse 24

‫ואש מתלקחת בתוך הברד‬. Driven by the immense velocity and pressure of the descending
hailstones. The heat generated in the atmosphere resulted in unnatural sounds being
heard everywhere. Both hard and soft plants were destroyed by the hail. Verse 25
spells all this out in detail.

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

‫כצאתי את העיר‬, even though you have said to me that you have endured already enough
of this the plague will not cease until I have left the boundaries of the capital
and only then ‫הקולות יחדלון והברד לא יהיה עוד למען תדע כי לה' הארץ‬, all of these
phenomena will occur simultaneously, in contrast to the natural order of things.
This will not happen as a result of My thinking that you have already become a
penitent, regretting his sins; on the contrary your education has not yet been
completed, ‫ידעתי כי טרם תיראון‬, I am fully aware that you still do not relate to
the Creator with reverence and awe.

Verse 30

Verse 31

‫והפשתה והשעורה‬, even though both the flax crop and the barley crop had been wiped
out by the hail, something which caused tremendous damage to the Egyptian economy.

Verse 32

‫והחטה והכסמת‬, take note of the extent of the wickedness of Pharaoh and his
servants. Even though the wheat and the spelt had not yet been destroyed, and Moses
had prayed for the removal of the plague of hail, and Pharaoh had observed that all
the destructive forces had ceased to be active as an immediate result of Moses’
prayer, something which made plain that but for Moses’ prayer the destruction would
have continued, Pharaoh heaped more sins on top of the ones already committed, so
as to make the ultimate retribution he would suffer even more terrible.

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 35

‫ויחזק לב פרעה‬, not without an assist from external forces. What happened was
precisely as G’d had told Moses and Aaron at the time when G’d appointed Aaron as
Moses’ helper; “and I know that the King of Egypt will not voluntarily allow you to
leave Egypt.” G’d had even added: “‫ולא ביד חזקה‬, I do not want him to give his
consent as a sign of his impotence against My strong hand.” G’d wanted Pharaoh to
become a penitent while believing he could still offer resistance if he chose.
Pharaoh had convinced himself after every plague that G’d had already exhausted the
punitive means at His disposal, and that He could do no more to him. [When
Maimonides in the third chapter of hilchot Teshuvah enumerates 24 categories of
sins which result in the sinners either being unable to do teshuvah, or to face
almost insurmountable obstacles in doing so, one of them is this belief that if G’d
instead of liquidating them had stopped short of that, this is proof that He could
not do any more than He had already done. Pharaoh made this fatal mistake out of
his arrogance. Ed.]

Chapter 10

Verse 1

‫כי אני הכבדתי‬, even though Moses had said; “I know that you do not yet relate with
awe and reverence to G’d,” (9,30) he thought that even if he does not humble
himself to G’d because of G’d’s greatness, at least he should do what G’d says
seeing that he has no choice, and can no longer withstand the cumulative effect of
the plagues. He had arrived at this conclusion when he noted the words ‫ה' הצדיק‬,
“the Lord is the Just One.” However, when he found out that all these pious words
notwithstanding Pharaoh continued to oppose G’d’s will in spite of the fact that he
found it impossible to cope with the plagues, Moses had come to the conclusion that
warning Pharaoh of an impending plague was an exercise in futility. This is why G’d
had to tell him at this stage that already during the sixth plague (9,12) He had
stiffened Pharaoh’s heart so that ordinary rules of psychology could no longer be
applied to this man. The purpose was to enable G’d to demonstrate more miracles so
that maybe some Egyptians would be moved by what they experienced to become
penitents. If so, the Israelites in the future would be able to tell their children
of the greatness of G’d’s miracles. This in turn would convince mankind that G’d
loved His creatures and was very patient with them, giving them opportunities to
mend their ways. This is why the warning to Pharaoh was in place although it would
prove ineffectual. G’d’s plan was
‫למען שיתי אותותי לאה לאה בקרבו‬, so that I can demonstrate these miracles of Mine in
its midst, so that the people realise My greatness and return in contriteness.

Verse 2

‫ולמען תספר‬, and so that you Israelites will be able to tell about My attributes and
remember this throughout future generations.
Verse 3

‫עד מתי מענת‬, seeing that in the meantime I have demonstrated to you My dominance
even in the atmosphere, how much longer will you refuse to humble yourself seeing
that I control the very air you need to breathe? Seeing that you were not
impressed, there is no sense in hoping that you will be impressed by the
overwhelming show of strength represented by the plagues. However, perhaps if the
impact of the miracle itself did not make an impression on you, perhaps the drawn
out duration of the effect of the plagues may finally have the desired effect. This
is why the question “how long must a plague continue before it will have the
desired effect?” is not out of place.

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫ואכל את כל העץ‬, it will destroy it. The word ‫ אכל‬here is used in the same sense as
in Psalms 79,7 ‫כי אכל את יעקב‬, “for he has consumed Yaakov,” i.e. destroyed him.
Deuteronomy 31,17 ‫ והיה לאכול‬also means “that it may be destroyed.”

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

‫כאשר אשלח אתכם ואת טפכם‬, even less your livestock.

‫ראו כי רעה נגד פניכם‬. I warn you that what you have in mind will boomerang on you
and instead of improving your lot will worsen it. Pharaoh used this expression in a
sense similar to Esau rejecting his birthright saying ‫הנה אנכי הולך למות‬, “I am
pursuing a path which will lead to my premature death, anyway” (Genesis 25,32). A
similar meaning is Solomon saying in Proverbs 5,5 of the immoral woman: ‫רגליה‬
‫“ יורדות מות‬her feet go down to death.” Our sages in Berachot 28 described the same
thought as ‫והם רצים לבאר שחת‬.

Verse 11

Verse 12

‫על ארץ מצרים בארבה‬. A reference to the region from which the locusts generally
came, i.e from the southern part of the continent. We have references of this kind
in Isaiah 5,26 describing that these locusts traveled long distances before
arriving in Egypt.

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

‫על ארץ מצרים בארבה‬, before the locust could destroy also the roots of the wheat and
spelt and other plants they had been devouring. 10,20-23. ‫נטה ידך על השמים‬, “in the
direction of the atmosphere referred to as “heaven.” We have explained this in
connection with Genesis 1,7.

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

‫נטה ידך על השמים‬, “in the direction of the atmosphere referred to as “heaven.” We
have explained this in connection with Genesis 1,7.
‫וימש חשך‬, this will remove the normal darkness called “night.” The reason this was
necessary was that the night consists of air ready and capable to absorb light in
the morning. The darkness that would occur now was something unable to interact
with light at all. The reason for this inability to interact with light was the
density of the texture of this darkness. As a result of this totally different kind
of darkness ‫לא ראו איש את אחיו‬, for even a lit up flare would not be able to make a
“dent” in that darkness.

Verse 22

Verse 23

‫לא ראו איש את אחיו‬, for even a lit up flare would not be able to make a “dent” in
that darkness.

Verse 24
Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

Chapter 11

Verse 1

‫ישלח אתכם מזה כשלחו‬, in the same manner as he has already expelled both you and
Aaron from his presence when he had lost his cool. (compare 10,11). When he will
send the whole people of Israel from his land, he will act under a similar type of
stress.
‫כלה גרש יגרש אתכם‬, at that time he had only expelled the two of you. This time he
will expel all of you from this entire country. This is the attribute of G’d’s
justice at work. When a person obstinately insists on not performing the expressed
will of his Creator, (owner) he will ultimately have to do what he tried to avoid
doing under infinitely worse circumstances. The Torah had warned us in Deuteronomy
in Moses’ famous speech of admonition that because the Jewish people had refused to
observe G’d’s commandments joyfully, out of a feeling of gratitude for their
success in the Holy Land, they would ultimately still have to do what G’d wanted
them to do, and what they had contracted to do, by serving G’d’s servants [host
nations in the land of our exile. Ed.] instead of Him directly. (Deut. 28,47-48).
Our sages phrase it thus: “everyone who ignores and fails to observe Torah pleading
his wealth as his excuse, will ultimately keep the Torah because he has become
impoverished.” (Avot 4,10) He will then be so preoccupied with keeping body and
soul together that he has no time to devote to Torah study and observance. Numbers
14,28 also outlines the principle of retribution matching the nature of the sin.

Verse 2

‫דבר נא באזני העם וישלאו‬, they needed to be encouraged to ask for this as they might
have worried about the Egyptians pursuing them in order to retrieve their riches.
It worked in reverse; the very fact that the Egyptians chased after the Israelites,
i.e. reneged, was the immediate reason G’d came to the Israelites’ assistance and
drowned their pursuers. That is what made them absolutely free.

Verse 3
‫גם האיש משה גדול‬, in his honour the Egyptians gave the Israelites generously.

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫מבכור פרעה עד בכור השפחה‬, from the highest layer of Egyptian society to the most
lowly. When we read a similar line in 12,19 the meaning is “from the most severe
sinner to the relatively least guilty sinner.”

Verse 6

‫אשר כמוהו לא נהיתה‬, never had there been such an outcry in any of the nights the
Egyptians had known. The reason was that this was not a night during which a battle
was being waged against the enemies of the Egyptians, an occasion when there are
many outcries in the city, as we know from Tzefaniah 1,10 “a loud outcry from the
fish gate and howling from the Mishneh, and a great sound of anguish from the
hills. The dwellers of the Machtesh howl.” This was a night during which Egypt was
at peace. Never again would there be such an outcry in the midst of peace.

Verse 7

Verse 8

‫ואחרי כן אצא‬, I will not leave Egypt at once, as you have requested from me, but
afterwards, in the morning.

Verse 9

‫ויאמר ה 'לא משה לא ישמע לאיכם פרעה‬, G’d told him that the reason why Pharaoh would
not react positively to Moses’ warning was simply that He, G’d, had stiffened his
heart in order to be able to demonstrate more miracles. This was designed to teach
both the Egyptians and the Israelites the multi-faceted power of G’d, as well as
His goodness, as He had said: “you will know that I am Hashem.” (10,2) Moses and
Aaron performed all these miracles in order to fulfill what G’d had wanted to
demonstrate through human messengers. Now, that the time had come to punish the
Egyptians, not to demonstrate miracles, and to save the Israelites, i.e. at least
the ones that deserved being saved, and also to destroy the Egyptian deities, G’d
introduces the part the Passover was to play in this end-game. This portion
commences with 12,12-13. G’d wanted that the command-ment of the Passover be
communicated to the people by both Moses and Aaron so that just as Moses and Aaron
both had had a part to play in their confrontation with Pharaoh, they should also
have a similar part to play in getting the Israelites to perform the two
commandments which would qualify them to take advantage of Pharaoh’s downfall, i.e.
their own salvation, the Exodus. Only in this way would Moses and Aaron reap the
reward of all their efforts so far.

Chapter 12

Verse 1
Verse 2

‫החודש הזה לכם ראש חדשים‬, from now on these months will be yours, to do with as you
like. [you have My authority to organise your own calendar. Ed.] This is by way of
contrast to the years when you were enslaved when you had no control over your time
or timetable at all. [Freedom, i.e. retirement from the “rat race,” means being
able to formulate one’s own timetable. Ed.] While you were enslaved, your days,
hours, minutes even, were always at the beck and call of your taskmasters.

Verse 3

Verse 4

‫ושכנו הקרוב לא ביתו‬. Even though numerous Egyptian families might have lived between
the house of the Israelite and the nearest house occupied by another Israelite,
such an Israelite is described by the Torah as “his neighbour,” seeing that he is
closer to his house than the houses of other Jews.

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

‫מתניכם חגורים‬, ready to commence marching. We find a similar expression in

connection with the prophet Elijah in Kings I 18,46 where he is described as ‫וישנס‬
‫מתניו‬, “he bound up his loins.” The expression reflects absolute confidence in
G’d’s assistance of the undertaking one is about to embark on. This is displayed
while the prisoner is still inside the walls of his jail, the door not having
opened yet to let him out.

Verse 12

‫ועברתי‬, in the sense of Psalms 78,50 ‫יפלס נתיב לאפו‬, “He cleared a path for His
anger;” something an agent, i.e. angel could not do. [once the agent has been given
permission to wreak havoc, he cannot distinguish between the innocent and the
guilty in that domain. Ed.]
‫והכיתי כל בכור‬, “I, personally, seeing I can distinguish between the drops of semen
which become a firstborn and those that do not.”
‫ובכל לאוהי מצרים אעשה שפטים‬, I will humble the celestial representatives of the
nation of Egypt. Once I have neutralised them, I can apply My retribution to their
protégées with increased force.
'‫אני ה‬. This is something reserved for G’d personally, exclusively. The author of
the Haggadah shel Pessach paraphrases this by writing ‫אני הוא ולא אחר‬, “I alone and
no one else.” This expression explains all that has been written before, i.e. why
in this instance G’d personally had to mete out the retribution as opposed to the
angel who killed 185,000 men of Sancheriv’s army all in the same night without
assistance. (Kings II 19,35) There the angel did not have to divine who was a
firstborn and who was not.

Verse 13

‫ולא יהיה בכם נגף למשחית‬, so you will not be struck with a plague as a corollary to
the retributive action I am taking against Egypt.
‫בהכותי‬, G’d caused other harm to the Egyptians during that night, in addition to
killing all their firstborn. Had it not been for the “passing over” He had
performed as an act of pity for the Israelites, they would not have escaped that
judgment even if their firstborn had not been killed. The matter is similar to what
the angel had told Lot concerning his not turning around, when he warned ‫פן תספה‬
‫בעון העיר‬, “lest you will be wiped out on account of the guilt of the people inside
the city.” (Genesis 19,15) G’d commanded the Israelites to smear the blood as a
sign so that they would escape. This was for the sake of His great name, as we know
from Ezekiel 20,9 when the prophet reminded the people that G’d had said ,‫בדמיך חיי‬
‫בדמיך חיי‬, ”by your blood you shall live, by your blood you shall live.”(Ezekiel
16,6) [both the blood of the circumcision and that of the Passover lamb. Ed.]

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

‫ושמרתם את המצות‬, which are called such to reflect the speed with which they have
been baked without giving the dough a chance to ferment and rise.
‫כי בעצם היום הזה‬, “on this self-same day;” for on the same day they were all being
gathered. They were not being given time to assemble over a period of a few days
and nights (seeing that we are speaking of between 2-3 million people)
‫הוצאתי את צבאותיכם‬, the entire community of Israel including their flocks and herds
all simultaneously.

Verse 18

Verse 19
Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

‫מן הדם אשר בסף‬, so that every sprinkling be preceded by immersion of the hyssop in
the blood, in accordance with G’d’s instructions in verse 6 “on the two upright
posts and the lintel.” The sprinkling of the upright posts with the blood had to
precede that of the lintel. This could not be accomplished unless there had been
three separate sprinklings to reflect the three letters ‫ י‬which served G’d as a
means with which to create the universe. This is based on the saying in Menachot 29
that the world of the future (or the world in which we spend our afterlife) was
created with the letter ‫י‬, as opposed to the material universe we live in now,
which was created with the letter ‫ה‬. The other two occasions when the letter ‫י‬
symbolised a world in a state of perfection was before Adam had sinned in Gan Eden,
and on the day the Jewish people accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai until the day
they sinned with the golden calf (40 days) All this is based on Isaiah 26,4 ‫ה‬-‫כי בי‬
‫ה' צור עולמים‬. The reason why the letter ‫ י‬is presumed to symbolise this kind of
perfection is that it is a mere dot (when written) and requires no physical
outline, ‫צורה‬, as do all the other letters. Not only that, the uniqueness of that
letter symbolises the uniqueness of the Creator Who presides over two universes
both of infinite duration, or over heaven and earth (one single universe consisting
of two parts both parts of which are eternal).
‫ואתם לא תצאו‬, from the house which has been marked with blood. ‫ופסח‬, and in this
fashion G’d will skip, pass-over. The meaning of the words is similar to Ezekiel
9,4 ‫והתוית תו על מצחות האנשים‬, “you will mark the foreheads of these men with a
sign, etc.”

Verse 23

‫לנגוף‬, to afflict them with the afflictions G’d will visit on the Egyptian people
other than deadly plagues. Whenever the expression ‫ נגף‬is used it refers to
afflictions that do not result in death. A well known example of this is found in
Exodus 21,22 ‫ונגפו אשה הרה ולא יהיה אסון‬, “and he pushes a pregnant woman without
causing any death, etc.”
‫המשחית‬, the Egyptian people by one of G’d’s other attributes expressing His anger.

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

‫?מה העבודה הזאת לכם‬, which is performed on a day that does not even bear the
appellation ‫מקרא קודש‬, “holy convocation? All the other mandatory communal
offerings are offered on days designated as festivals. Not only that, but the whole
day is available for slaughtering those offerings whereas the offering known as
Passover is only accepted from noon until sunset [roughly, in fact even less time
than that. Ed.] Besides, why does not a single communal offering serve as this
memorial of the Exodus? Other public offerings serve each for the whole community.
Verse 27

‫זבח פסח הוא‬, this offering commemorates the skipping over by G’d of each individual
Jewish home, something that occurred at midnight. Accordingly, the offering should
really have been brought after midnight when the Jewish firstborn had already
experienced that G’d saved him. As a result it really would have been at night.
However, since we have a rule that offerings must not be brought on the altar at
night, it had to be brought at a time which is closely associated with the
impending night, i.e. the period described here as ‫בין הערבים‬.

Verse 28

Verse 29

‫וה' הכה‬, while the Jews were busy with preparing and eating the Passover offering,
G’d was busy with killing the firstborn of Egypt and orchestrating the redemption
of His people.

Verse 30

Verse 31

Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 35

Verse 36

Verse 37

Verse 38

‫וצאן ובקר‬, of the mixed multitude who were leaving Egypt with the Israelites to
take up residence among them together with all their belongings.

Verse 39
‫כי לא חמץ‬, it had not had time to rise and ferment due to the short period of time
it took to get from Ramses which was still part of Egypt to Sukkot which was
already beyond the boundary of Egypt. Our sages in the Haggadah shel Pessach
described the experience in the following words: “the dough of our forefathers did
not have time to rise and become leavened during the brief time it took for the
Lord our G’d to manifest Himself and to redeem them.” The reference of the author
of the Haggadah is to the appearance of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire
as soon as the Israelites had reached Sukkot and left Egyptian soil behind the,
This was the manifestation of the Lord G’d of whom he speaks. The Torah there
begins to speak of G’d walking in front of the Israelites (Exodus 13,21).

Verse 40

‫אשר ישבו במצרים שלושים שנה וארבע מאות שנה‬, the sum of 430 is arrived at by
commencing the count from the time G’d took Avraham out of Ur Casdim in order to
conclude the covenant of the pieces with him. During that conversation with
Avraham, G’d had specifically taken credit for taking Avraham out of Ur Casdim,
(generally understood as saving him from the fire of Nimrod’s furnace when Avraham
had been a voluntary martyr for his belief in the G’d of heaven. Genesis 15,7) This
is the reason why the author of Seder Olam, an ancient historical text, describes
Avraham as having been 70 years old at that time.

Verse 41

Verse 42

‫ליל שמורים הוא לה' להוציאם‬, the night G’d had been looking forward to, to take the
Jews out from there. G’d had not caused the Israelites all this suffering in Egypt
out of caprice, just in order to keep to a timetable of His, but He simply had not
found them ready and worthy of redemption until that particular night. He had
reserved this night for that event because He is so full of loving kindness. This
is what our sages meant when they stated that G’d was ‫מחשב את הקץ‬, He had
manipulated history in order to bring about the redemption so much earlier than
even the Israelites had thought it would come, based on the prophecy to Avraham.
(Haggadah shel Pessach.)
‫הוא הלילה הזה לה' שמורים‬, just as G’d had looked for ways and means to bring the
redemption to the Jewish people from their suffering in Egypt, so He is looking for
legal ways and means to redeem us from the present exile and to bring on the final
redemption. Isaiah phrased this as‫ולכן יחכה ה' לחננכם‬, “Truly, the Lord is waiting
to show you grace.” (Isaiah 3018)
‫לכל בני ישרלא לדורותיכם‬, in accordance with the statement of our sages in Rosh
Hashanah 11 “just as the Israelites have been redeemed from Egypt in the month of
Nissan, so the final redemption will also occur during the month of Nissan.”

Verse 43

‫זאת חקת הפסח‬, for the generations following the Exodus. The Torah legislates where
it is to be eaten, by whom, how, when, etc. Only the requirement to put the blood
of the sacrificial animal on the doorposts and to eat it in haste, ready for
marching, were commandments applicable to the first such offering. All the other
ordinances would apply for all future times. (compare Pessachim 96)

Chapter 13
Verse 1

Verse 2

‫קדש לי כל בכור‬, they all have to be redeemed just as other sanctified items which
cannot be used for their designated purpose can be redeemed; otherwise they are
forbidden for secular use. This prohibition is spelled out in Deuteronomy 15,19 in
the words ‫לא תעבוד בבכור שורך‬, “you are not allowed to perform work with your
firstborn ox.” The amount designated here by the Torah for redeeming a human being
is the minimum applicable mentioned in connection with this legislation in chapter
27 in Leviticus. Whereas a fully mature male over 20 is valued at 50 shekel, the 30
day old infant is valued at 5 shekel.

Verse 3

Verse 4

‫בחודש האביב‬, the reason that the Passover festival is to be observed in spring is
so that it will coincide with the legislation of marking the lunar new year with
the month of spring, the month of rejuvenation. Our sages have been very careful
when calculating a permanent calendar to ensure that Passover never occurs before
the spring equinox.

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

‫כי ביד חזקה הוציאך‬, by changing the rules governing the inert, eternal components
of nature. This point was spelled out in Joshua 4,24 when he referred to G’d having
split the waters of the Jordan to enable the people to wade across. The verse there
reads: “so that all the nations of the earth will know that the hand of the Lord is
very powerful.”

Verse 10

Verse 11
Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

‫?מה זאת‬, a reference to the unusual legislation of having to redeem the firstborn
impure animal donkey seeing that its body could not have been sanctified due to its
inherent impurity. Similarly, the need to break this animal’s neck as an
alternative to redeeming it sounds peculiar to the son who is asking.
‫בחוזק יד הוציאנו ה' ממצרים‬, due to the urgency with which the Egyptians wanted to
get rid of us (12,33) we left Egypt traveling in coaches, just as the family of
Yaakov had arrived in Egypt hundreds of years ago in coaches supplied by Pharaoh
himself. Both the coaches materialised miraculously, as well as the many donkeys
needed to transport the new found riches of the people. Seeing that the donkeys had
therefore had a constructive part to play in the redemption of the Israelites, this
is reflected in their not being treated like all other impure beasts. This degree
of minor sanctity accorded the firstborn donkey may be redeemed in exchange for a
pure animal, so that the donkey can then be used in the regular way.

Verse 15

‫ויהי כי בקשה פרעה‬, seeing that Pharaoh had put so many obstacles in the path of our
eventual liberation he is himself compared to a donkey as we know from Ezekiel
23,20, the prophet describing the flesh of the Egyptians as similar to donkeys.
Pharaoh could have easily redeemed himself by releasing the Israelites, i.e. the
Israelites are compared to the ‫שה‬, the lamb. As a result of failing to do so, G’d
chose to kill the firstborn instead.

‫כל בכור בארץ מצרים‬, the fact that the Torah does not speak about “every Egyptian
firstborn,” but about “every firstborn in Egypt,” shows that basically, the
Israelites, i.e. their firstborn were also guilty of death at the hands of G’d. He
saved them by sanctifying them as His personal property.
‫על כן אני זובח‬, this act of grace by G’d at the time is the reason that I annually
express my gratitude by slaughtering the firstborn male of any pure animal. [after
giving it to the priest. Ed.] Seeing that the firstborn donkeys or any other impure
animal are unfit as offerings on the altar, I redeem them in order to be able to
make secular use of these animals as beasts of burden, etc. As far as the firstborn
of my own sons are concerned, seeing that they were sanctified from birth, I redeem
them in order that they can lead regular lives, as the priesthood is no longer an
option for such firstborn ever since the sin of the golden calf.

Verse 16

Verse 17

‫ולא נחם לאוקים דרך ארץ פלשתים‬...‫ויהי בשלח‬, even though it had been G’d’s plan to
lead the Israelites to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah there, and only from there
to the land of Israel, as He stated Himself in Exodus 6,7-8 :”I will take you as My
people, and I will bring you to the land, etc.,” at this point, G’d’s plan was to
lead them to the Sea of Reeds, which was neither the route to the land of the
Philistines, nor the route that led to Mount Sinai. [we must remember that Moses
had stood at Chorev=Mt Sinai at the burning bush and he did not have to cross the
sea to do this. Ed.] The major reason for this was to bring about the drowning of
Pharaoh and his army in the sea. [it is important to always remember that due to
man’s free will, G’d cannot deal with man in the way He deals with inert objects or
even animals, none of which could oppose Him. G’d needs to create a scenario which
gives man a chance to delude himself, thus bringing him to act in a manner enabling
G’d to insure that His design will be carried out. Ed.] An example of G’d acting in
this manner is described in Judges 4,7 where G’d Himself speaks about how He
“dragged” Sisera and his army and 900 armoured vehicles across the river Kishon to
face Barak. The simplest route to get to the Sea of Reeds was by traversing the
land of the Philistines. ‫דרך ארץ פלשתים‬, G’d did not want them to travel this route
‫ כי קרוב הוא‬because this route was too close to Egypt, afforded too easy a way to
return to Egypt. Also, seeing it was a much traveled route, too many travelers
would be able to report to Pharaoh about the Israelites and also too many Egyptians
could keep the Israelites informed of what transpired in their country. If the
Israelites would have to face combat
‫בראותם מלחמה‬, when they would hear that the Egyptians were mobilizing for war
preparatory to chasing after the Israelites, the latter would no doubt return to
Egypt out of fear of being killed. This is why G’d decided to lead them on a route
not frequented by travelers at all.

Verse 18

‫דרך המדבר ים סוף‬, that they should march to the Sea of Reeds via the desert. On
that route they would neither encounter travelers headed in the direction of Egypt,
nor would they encounter travelers who had come from Egypt who could report that
Pharaoh was going to chase them, until Pharaoh would actually catch up with them by
which time a “voluntary” return to Egypt and slavery would not be of any advantage
to them anymore, as their surrender would not then be acceptable to Pharaoh.
‫וחמושים עלו‬, although they had left Egypt fully armed. They did not have the
courage to face the Egyptians in combat in spite of their being armed. They felt
too inexperienced to face trained warriors.

Verse 19

‫ויקח משה את עצמות יוסף עמו‬, seeing that he was now the leader of the nation it was
up to him to make good on the oath Joseph
‫השבע השביע את בני ישרלא‬, any obligation undertaken communally must be honoured by
the leader of that community when the time and opportunity presents itself to
discharge that obligation.

Verse 20

Verse 21

‫וה' הולך לפניהם‬, from the time the Israelites had reached Sukkot, at the border of
Egypt, just beyond, G’d’s presence had manifested itself the moment they entered
the desert.

Chapter 14

Verse 1

Verse 2
Verse 3

‫סגר עליהם המדבר‬. A reference to the Egyptian deity Baal Tzefon whom Pharaoh
credited with this accomplish- ment of halting the Israelites.

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫כי ברח העם‬, they had not marched straight into the desert as they had maintained
they would. In 8,23 all they had asked for was to be allowed to march into the
desert a distance of three days’ journey. They had now departed from their planned
route so that this could be interpreted as an attempt to flee. The new route made
no sense, showing they did not know where they were headed, just as one would
expect of a fugitive.
‫ויהפך לבב פרעה‬, Pharaoh had concluded that the Baal Tzefon was an equal to G’d and
could frustrate His designs.
‫מה זאת עשינו כי שלחנו‬, what (a foolish thing) have we done in dismissing the
Israelites, etc.! We should have consulted Baal Tzefon who would have helped us so
that we would have had no need to let the Israelites depart.

Verse 6

‫ואת עמו לקח עמו‬, the choicest of his cavalry and chariots.

Verse 7

‫וכל רכב מצרים‬, the chariots of average quality of which there were many.
‫ושלישים על כלו‬, Pharaoh appointed experienced officers even for the chariots of
this second cadre. ‫ שלישים‬are officers who have battle experience to their credit.
The aggressive ability of any army depends on its officer corps and the
intelligence of the generals to devise schemes and battle plans which will lead to
victory.

Verse 8

‫ובני ישרלא יוצאים ביד רמה‬, the meaning of the word ‫ רמה‬here is similar to the
meaning of the same word in Deuteronomy 32,27 ‫ידינו רמה‬, where it means: “our own
hand has prevailed.” At the time of their departure they had been confident of
their ability to defeat Pharaoh and his military machine as they were much stronger
in numbers. The verse teaches that they were relying on their numbers instead of
considering their total lack of experience in the art of war. They would have had
every reason to fear the numerically inferior Egyptians who had all this experience
going for them.

Verse 9

‫וירדפו מצרים‬, after the ones who had departed with such high regard for their
superiority.

Verse 10

‫ופרעה הקריב‬, he had brought the entire Egyptian army right up close to the
Israelites.

Verse 11

‫לקחתנו למות במדבר‬, even if Pharaoh and his army will not provoke a battle the mere
fact that they block our path will result in our death in the desert from thirst
and starvation.

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

‫ ;?מה תצעק לאי‬G’d’s question seems at first glance redundant, seeing that Moses’
outcry could have been perceived as part of the nation’s outcry in verse 10, i.e.
‫'ויצעקו בני ישרלא וגו‬.However, Moses’ outcry had nothing to do with being afraid of
the pursuing Egyptians. He had already predicted the downfall and death of Pharaoh
and his army as being so decisive that Egypt as a world power would never again
pose a serious threat to the Jews. (verse 13-14) He had also told the people that
G’d would do the fighting for them and that all they had to do was to remain
silent. Moses’ outcry was one of concern with the rebellious attitude of the people
who not only were afraid, something that could be forgiven, but who had dared to be
sarcastic in their hour of danger, ridiculing Moses’ leadership to the point where
he was afraid that they would refuse to enter the sea when told to. G’d told Moses
that he had no right to assume such a thing, that in fact he was suspecting
innocent people of lack of faith.
‫דבר לא בני ישרלא ויסעו‬, G’d is challenging Moses to issue the order to move forward,
assuring him that he will see immediately that the people will respond positively.

Verse 16

‫הרם את מטך‬, in the direction of the east wind so that it will cause the sea bed to
dry out.
‫ונטה את ידך על הים‬, so that the waters will split to the two opposite sides of the
shore, similar to what the prophet Elijah would do in Kings II 2,8.

Verse 17

Verse 18

‫וידעו מצרים‬, the Egyptians who had remained at home, mostly the women and children
and the aged, and they would practice penitence, seeing G’d is not interested in
the sinner’s death but in his rehabilitation.

Verse 19

‫ההולך לפני מחנה‬, in the column of fire.

‫וילך מאחריהם‬, in order to (melt) dissolve the very chunks of water which had frozen
in order to enable the Israelites to cross on a dry seabed, and to turn the seabed
into a slimy mass which would spell doom for the Egyptians. At this juncture there
was no need for the pillar of cloud to be at the head of the marching Israelites.
The dry path in the water was their guide
‫ויעמד מאחריהם‬. behind the Israelites and behind the column of fire.

Verse 20

‫ ;ויבא (המלאך) בין מחנה מצרים ובין ישרלא‬in order to guide the two pillars.
‫ויהי הענן והחשך‬, the darkness of night together with the cloud was positioned
behind Israel and the column of fire.
‫ויאר את הלילה‬, and the angel illuminated the night by means of the column of fire.
By removing the darkness in that spot and forward only, the pillar of cloud still
shielded the Israelites from being seen by the Egyptians.
‫ולא קרב זה לא זה כל הלילה‬. This was because the Egyptians who had previously had the
advantage of speed over the Israelites who traveled only on foot, now were slowed
down by having to move in darkness.

Verse 21

‫וישם את הים לחרבה‬, the east wind had frozen the mud on the bottom of the sea.
‫ויבקעו המים‬, when Moses inclined his hand at G’d’s command.

Verse 22

‫הלכו ביבשה‬, seeing the deep parts under the sea had all become frozen from the east
wind so that the Israelites were crossing on frozen mud.

Verse 23

Verse 24

‫וישקף ה 'לא מחנה מצרים בעמוד אש וענן‬, the two pillars which were moving halfway
between the Egyptians and the Israelites, He now brought much closer to the
Egyptian camp.
‫ויהם‬, by means of a variety of diseases, similar to what G’d did to the Philistines
who had captured the Holy Ark in Samuel I 5,9 where these afflictions, especially
painful hemorrhoids are detailed. These afflictions are referred to in the Torah as
‫מדוי מצרים הרעים‬, the terrible sicknesses of Egypt (Deut. 7,15). This was part of
the ‫היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים‬, “the great hand which G’d employed against
Egypt.” (verse 31 our chapter). In Deuteronomy 28,60 Moses recalls that the
Israelites dreaded these illnesses. However, during the 10 plagues the details of
which have been listed by the Torah, we find only a single such affliction
infecting the bodies of the people seriously, i.e the 6th plague, ‫שחין‬. The Torah
refers separately to ‫ שחין מצרים‬and to ‫מדוי מצרים‬.

Verse 25

‫ויסר את אופן‬, by means of the column of fire.

‫בכבדות‬, due to the heavy mud in which they were sunk.
‫כי ה' נלחם להם‬, they were hoping that once G’d saw them fleeing He would desist
from fighting them.

Verse 26
Verse 27

‫לאיתנו‬, the waves returning into the trough created by the waters having been
split.
‫ומצרים נסים לקראתו‬, since the morning watch of the day the hand of G’d had been
actively deployed against them to confuse them. That is when they first articulated
the decision to flee. (verse 28) They kept fleeing along the trough created by the
splitting of the waters until morning. At that time the waters began to reverse
themselves meeting the Egyptians who were now near the wrong end of this trough,
head on.
‫וינער ה' את מצרים‬, G’d tossed Egypt, King and all from all the chariots to the
bottom of the sea. The verb ‫ נער‬occurs in the same sense as here in Nechemyah 5,13
‫חצני נערתי‬, “I shook out my garment.” We also find this term used in this sense in
Isaiah 52,2: ‫התנערי מעפר‬, “arise and shake off the dust!”

Verse 28

‫ וישובו המים‬in great waves to the newly created trough,

‫ויכסו את הרכב‬, after having shaken off the riders who had been driving these
chariots.
‫ואת הפרשים‬, the riders of the cavalry.
‫לכל חיל פרעה הבאים אחריהם‬, the main body of chariots, foot- soldiers, etc, all who
were not the elite but who had taken part in this war.

Verse 29

‫ובני ישרלא הלכו ביבשה‬, all the while the Egyptians experienced all these problems
and were drowning, the Israelites had been walking trough the sea as if it were dry
land. The areas still being traversed by Israelites were not affected by the sea
reverting to its originals state.

Verse 30

‫ויושע ה' ביום ההוא את ישרלא‬, by the death of those who had cruelly abused them.
Those who had previously been in bondage to the Egyptians were now free. Until the
Egyptians died they had been comparable to slaves running away from their masters.

Verse 31

‫ ;היד הגדולה אשר עשה ה' במצרים‬a reference to the ‫ מדוי מצרים‬in Deuteronomy 7,15
which described afflictions suffered by the Egyptians while at the Sea of Reeds.
‫וייראו העם‬, describing a feeling of immediate fear as in Deuteronomy 28,60 ‫אשר‬
‫יגורת מפניהם‬, “of which you were very much afraid.”

Chapter 15

Verse 1

‫אז ישיר‬, he agreed to sing this song.

‫כי גאה גאה‬, He alone is entitled to feel this sense of superiority seeing He is the
source of all goodness in the universe. This is in contrast to Pharaoh who boasts
about having created the Nile as the source of Egypt’s affluence, (Ezekiel 29.3) a
totally spurious claim.
‫סוס ורוכבו רמה בים‬, a reference to Pharaoh and his horse. Compare Psalms 136,15
‫ונער פרעה וחילו בים‬, “He tossed Pharaoh and his armed might into the Sea.”

Verse 2
‫ה‬-‫עזי וזמרת י‬, It is G’d’s glory that He flung Pharaoh’s might into the Sea. By
doing this He demonstrated that He is the King of kings, and that it is appropriate
that those who have been saved by Him praise Him in poem and song. They should
demonstrate their joy at having been elevated to being servants of the true master,
the King of the universe.
‫ויהי לי לישועה‬, my salvation consisted in the fact that He flung the enemy into the
Sea. (compare Isaiah 66,14 “The power of the Lord will be revealed on behalf of His
servants; but He shall rage against His foes.”)
‫לי‬-‫זה א‬, He is the eternal original Being as far as I am concerned. He invented or
called into existence all perishable phenomena. Any and all phenomena which will
endure have been enabled to do so only by His will.
‫ואנוהו‬, I will erect a suitable residence for Him in our midst. Within that
residence I shall pray to Him exclusively and I will serve Him as is befitting to
the One Who bestows both goodness and punishes the derelict. (compare Isaiah 44,17.
‫לי אתה‬-‫ויתפלל לאיו ויאמר הצילני נא כי א‬, “He prayed to Him, saying: ‘save me for You
are my G’d.’”) Both prayer and service (sacrifices, etc.) have as their purpose to
find favour in the eyes of the Lord.
‫לאוקי אבי‬, a reference to the “G’d of Yaakov” who had spoken of ‫ל לאוקי ישרלא‬-‫א‬, in
Genesis 33,20. Yaakov had meant that G’d is great in His awesomeness, His
supervision of the individual fates of His creatures. He had named G’d thus to
indicate that G’d combines within Himself both the attribute of love and the
attribute of Justice.
‫וארוממנהו‬, I elevate Him by my prostrating myself and humbling myself before Him,
as well as by making it known that the purpose of everyone of my endeavours in this
life to carry out His will to the best of my ability, consistent with the
intellectual faculties granted to me. I acknowledge that His will is always
superior and ultimately of the most benefit to His creatures. This is why in the
final analysis He is beyond even our best efforts to praise Him and exalt Him.
(Nechemyah 9,6).

Verse 3

‫ ה' שמו‬,‫ה' איש מלחמה‬, even though He at times appears as the ‫איש מלחמה‬, the “Man”
of war who destroys His foes by invoking the attribute of Justice, He is yet
predominantly Hashem, the G’d Who practices mercy. It is this attribute of His
which is responsible for the continued existence of all His creatures. When He
destroys His foes, He is in effect removing weeds from the garden in order to
enable the useful plants to survive and develop. The wicked are like the thorns and
thistles in a vineyard.

Verse 4

‫מרכבות פרעה וחילו‬, after giving thanks to G’d for the destruction of Pharaoh and
his horse, Moses refers to G’d’s fight against the army and his elite corps of
officers which constituted the backbone of his army.

Verse 5

Verse 6

‫ימינך ה' נאדרי בכח‬, Moses emphasises that it is not the mighty military machine of
Pharaoh which glorifies in power but the right hand of the Lord; (this was already
the second “war” against the Egyptians G’d conducted, i.e. a separate war against
part of the power of Egypt). The first time Moses mentioned G’d’s ‫ ימין‬this is a
grateful acknowledgment of G’d’s war against Pharaoh; the repetition of the words
'‫ ימינך ה‬are a prayer for G’d to manifest this power against evil again at the time
of the final redemption, may it come about soon in our days. We find a similar
repetition in Devorah’s song of thanksgiving for Barak’s victory against Siserah in
Judges 5,31.

Verse 7

Verse 8

‫וברוח אפיך נערמו מים‬, now Moses speaks of the third war G’d conducted against the
multitudes of Egypt; (not the elite) Moses recapitulates the phenomena faced by the
Egyptian hordes when the waters which had previously been normal became like towers
of frozen water in the midst of the sea.

Verse 9

Verse 10

‫נשפת ברוחך‬, You used the very same wind You had used to dry out the sea bed after
splitting it to now turn against the pursuers and to turned into overwhelming and
turbulent waters.
‫אדירים‬, not a reference to the waters but to the men who had been considered
mighty, invincible, etc. [I suppose the unusual exegesis is based on the dividing
tone sign tipcha under the word ‫במים‬, which indicates that it belongs to the
preceding words. Ed.] The people to whom Moses refers are the ones who had been
described in 14,7 as ‫שלישים על כולו‬.

Verse 11

‫לים‬-‫ ;מי כמוכה בא‬Moses praised the Lord for His third war, the one against the
Egyptian cavalry of the second quality. G’d’s incomparable stature consists in His
ability to change the nature of phenomena in the universe which had previously been
considered as indestructible, inviolate, impervious to any attempt by man to
influence their nature in any way.
‫נאדר בקודש‬, that which is ‫קודש‬, holy, is by definition something indestructible.
This is what our sages meant (Sanhedrin 92) when they stated that the righteous
people who will be resurrected in the future will never again return to their dust.
They based this on Isaiah 4,3 ‫ קרוש יאמר להם‬........‫הנשאר בציון והנותר בירושלים‬,
“and those who remain in Zion and are left in Jerusalem, all who are inscribed for
life in Jerusalem, shall be called holy.” The Talmud concludes: “what is the
meaning of the word ‫ נאדר‬used here by Moses? There is none such as the Lord Who is
known to be eternal, King over even all other holy beings, the ones that are also
of an enduring nature, not mortal or subject to decay. This is the reason why there
is no one else who is entitled to be worshipped, exalted, obeyed, etc. Anything
that is infinite had its origin in the Lord, Who is not only infinite but also
eternal.
‫נורא תהלות‬, anyone aware of the marvelous attributes of His cannot fail but recite
these praises in awe, not because he is afraid of being punished but because the
very nature of G’d inspires awe and reverence.
‫עושה פלא‬. He accomplishes marvelous, supernatural results, such as the type of
pillar of cloud and pillar of fire which were tailored to fit the needs of the
Jewish people at that time.

Verse 12
Verse 13

‫נחית בחסדך עם זו גלאת‬, ever since You redeemed them and took over their leadership
at the boundary of Egypt at Sukkot, as we know from 13,20-21.
‫נהלת בעזך‬, You guided them across the dry seabed in a leisurely fashion. (compare
Isaiah 63,13 “Who led them through the depths so that they did not stumble-- as a
horse in a desert.”)
‫לא נוה קדשך‬, on the proper way in order to arrive at a place where they will
sanctify Your holy Name.

Verse 14

Verse 15

‫ אילי מואב‬,‫אז נבהלו לאופי אדום‬, when they saw all these miracles; even though they
knew that Israel would not make war against them. They were still frightened by the
mere spectacle even if it was not directed at them.
‫יאחזמו רעד‬, they were gripped by fear praying that the Israelites would never rise
to attack them.
‫נמוגו כל יושבי כנען‬, there can be no question that the hearts of all the
inhabitants of the land of Canaan melted at the manifestation of these miracles as
they knew that the Israelites were marching in order to drive them out of their
land. Rachav testifies even 40 years later when their worst fears had not yet been
realised, that the population of Canaan had completely lost confidence in the
outcome of a confrontation with Israel (Joshua 2,11).

Verse 16

‫תפול עליהם אימתה ופחד בגדול זרועך‬, may it be Your will that fear will overcome them
in a manner which will make them flee because they are afraid of Your arm. Moses
refers to what the Torah described in 14,25 when the Egyptians announced that they
would flee as they realised that G’d was fighting on behalf of Israel.
‫ידמו כאבן עד יעבור עמך הן‬, may it also be Your will that they will not launch an
attack against us until we have crossed the rivers still in front of us, i.e. the
Arnon and the Jordan, seeing that the battles are always more difficult at river
crossings, and we would need greater miracles in order to become victorious. We
might not be deserving of such miracles.

Verse 17

‫תביאמו ותטעמו‬, in a manner that will ensure that they will never be exiled from
there.
‫בהר נחלתך‬, on the Temple Mount, of which it has been said in Genesis 22,14 '‫בהר ה‬
‫יראה‬, “on the Mountain of the Lord He manifests Himself.”
'‫מכון לשבתך פעלת ה‬, similar to what David, quoting G’d, said in Psalms 132,14 ‫פה‬
‫אשב כי אויתיה‬, “here I shall dwell for I have yearned for it.”
‫מקדש ה' כוננו ידיך‬, a veiled reference to the sanctuary which G’d would instruct
the Jewish people to build for His Presence in Exodus 25,8-9. [G’d’s stating the
sizes, furnishings, and materials this Sanctuary would be made of makes it
equivalent to He Himself having constructed it. Ed.] Also David, in Chronicles I
28,19 spoke about his having received the details of the blueprint of the Temple to
be built by his son Solomon from G’d, proving that G’d Himself considered this as
His permanent residence on earth.

Verse 18
‫ה' ימלוך לעולם ועד‬, this too is a prayer by Moses who expresses the hope that G’d,
exclusively, will reign forever, and that He will not have to share power with
anyone else claiming divine authority on earth.

Verse 19

‫כי בא סוס פרעה‬, the opening words of this song,‫ אז ישיר משה‬had been inspired by the
spectacle of Pharaoh with his chariot, his horses and its riders drowning in the
sea at the time when the Israelites, by contrast, were taking their time walking
through the same sea on dry ground. ‫ביבשה בתוך הים‬, they began the song of
thanksgiving even before all had emerged from the sea to the shore.

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

‫ושם נסהו‬, to find out if they would be willing to accept statutes (laws not given
to our intelligence to understand,) as well as social legislation and they would
not ignore it when they were not in a state of crisis as now when they needed water
through a miracle.‫אם שמוע תשמע לקול ה' לאוקיך‬, to accept the statutes which would
follow as a way of life, not merely as emergency regulation in the desert, and if
from now on they would ‫ וגו‬,‫הישר בעיניו תעשה והאזנת למצותיו‬, carefully observe
G’d’s commandments endeavouring to live according to their understanding of what is
pleasing to Him, then they would be permanently spared any of the afflictions that
G’d had brought upon the Egyptians. The implication was that betraying G’d’s trust
would have painful consequences. The entire experience is a reminder of the manner
in which the Rabbis relate to a potential convert to Judaism. One does not present
Judaism in rosy attractive colours so as to encourage him to convert, but on the
contrary, one apprises him first and foremost of the ‫עול המצות‬, “the yoke of the
commandments,” telling him of all the things he would have to forego by joining the
Jewish people, i.e. the Jewish religion. Moreover, one advises him that whereas up
until now he was able to eat certain foods, such as chelev, not only would he no
longer be able to eat these foods, but violation of the commandment would carry the
penalty of karet, loss of entitlement to his afterlife, etc. Only after he has duly
absorbed this information does one proceed with teaching him the intricacies of
Judaism. What happened at Marah was preparatory to accepting Judaism at Mount
Sinai. If the people had not gone through this process it is doubtful that they
would have said ‫נעשה ונשמע‬, “we will do, now let us learn G’d’s Torah,” when the
time came for this a few weeks later.
‫כי אני ה' רופאך‬, the point of all this is that once you have accepted the statutes
and then fail to honour your commitment you will be subject to punishment by G’d.
These punishments will be in the nature of being self-inflicted as all of G’d’s
commandments are designed to make your life on earth and beyond a healthy life.
Failure to honour your commitment will expose you to all the negative influences
which abound on earth. I have shown you that I can cure harmful waters, waters
which humans cannot drink. This is only a sample of what My commandments and
observing them can do for you. We, today, do not know what kind of wood or tree G’d
told Moses to throw into these waters. The Torah deliberately did not reveal this
information. Even if all the trees in the world would be the kind that G’d told
Moses to throw into the water, and even if we would throw all this wood into only a
minute quantity of water the result would be nil. On the other hand, if, by the
grace of G’d, one throws even a minute quantity of such wood into even an entire
ocean, the waters of the ocean would suddenly become drinking water. [my addition.
Ed.] Leviticus 20,26 states clearly that G’d separates the Jewish people from the
surrounding nations. Failure to honour commitments results in “disease,” i.e. the
defilement of one’s soul. As a result, such a person deserves his punishment.

Verse 26

Verse 27

‫שתים עשרה עינות מים‬, in spite of this, the people moved on from there.

Chapter 16

Verse 1

... ‫ויסעו מלאים‬, this is what Jeremiah had in mind when he spoke of G’d
‫לא מדבר סין‬
remembering fondly how Israel had followed Him into the inhospitable desert
(Jeremiah 2,2).

Verse 2

Verse 3

‫בשבתנו על סיר הבשר‬...‫מי יתן מותנו‬, they did not want to die. What they said was
that if it had been G’d’s plan all along to let them die, why had He not arranged
for them to die while they were still satiated from their last meal? A similar
thought is expressed in Lamentations 4,9‫טובים היו חללי חרב מחללי רעב‬, “the ones
killed by the sword were better off than the ones who died from hunger.”

Verse 4

‫והכינו את אשר יביאו והיה משנה‬, not literally: “bread,” but ‫מזון‬, “food.”
‫למען אנסנו הילך בתורתי‬, if when receiving their food without effort they will take
care to keep My commandments, seeing they will then not have any excuses not to.
This idea has been formulated in the classic statement by our sages in the
Mechilta, section ‫ ויסע‬chapter 2 “the Torah, as an instrument of profound study,
has been given only to the generation who ate the manna.” [no other generation had
so little to distract it from devoting time to Torah study. Ed.]

Verse 5

‫והכינו את אשר‬, even after having prepared the food from the raw manna it will still
be twice the quantity it had been on the previous days. It will not shrink in the
course of preparation. The reason G’d speaks of ‫והכינו‬, “they will prepare it,” is
to encourage the people to prepare for the Sabbath by observing it with delicacies,
especially tasty food. They should concentrate on all this on the Sabbath eve.

Verse 6

‫ערב וידעתם‬, may it be G’d’s will that what He said about giving you food will be
such that in the evening you will receive enough for that evening so that you will
all know that He has taken you out of Egypt, totally and irrevocably. You have also
exited from the political leaders of that country. True, you had been sitting near
the fleshpots there, but you had never been given enough time to enjoy any of the
meat in these pots. You had been treated like animals which have no fixed times
when they eat. This is the meaning of the passage in Yuma 75 in which we are told
that at the beginning of your history (of the enslavement) you were like hens that
are only able to hastily pick at the kernels given them as food. They even had to
look for it in the refuse heaps. Only after Moses, their redeemer, took over their
affairs did they begin to enjoy regular meals at regular times.

Verse 7

‫ובוקר‬, in the morning you will have bread,

'‫וראיתם את כבוד ה‬, and may it be G’d’s will that you will see Hashem’s glory when
He will set limits to various times of the day, so that you will know that your
complaints addressed to Aaron and myself should really have been addressed to Him,
seeing it is He who will remove the cause of these complaints.

Verse 8

‫ויאמר משה בתת ה' לכם‬, Moses said: as far as your prayer to G’d to give you food in
the evening in a way which makes it plain that that G’d took you out of Egypt and
not we, is that we had in mind ‫בערב בשר לאכול‬, He will give you meat to eat in the
evening; to eat, but not to satiate yourself on; unlike the Egyptians who are only
concerned with the cravings of their bodies; therefore only ‫ בבקר לשובע‬only in the
morning will G’d give you bread to satiate your body’s requirements. As to our
having prayed that G’d would show you His glory, this referred to His answering
your complaints.
‫בשמוע ה' את תלונותיכם‬, concerning our prayer that you will be able to see the glory
of Hashem our intention was that you will realise from His reaction that your
complaints were not addressed to us, or should not have been addressed to us, but
to Him. Moreover, by providing, He has demonstrated that He has heard your
complaints.

Verse 9

‫אמור לא כל עדת‬, seeing that Moses knew that their prayer had been accepted, as in
the case of Rabbi Chanina who claimed that while praying for the sick he could feel
if G’d responded positively.(Berachot 34).
'‫קרבו לפני ה‬, “come close to the proximity of Hashem,” Moses referred to the pillar
of cloud which traveled in front of the Israelites and represented the presence of
G’d.

Verse 10

‫ויפנו לא המדבר‬, seeing that the direction of that pillar was toward the desert, the
direction in which the people had been marching.

Verse 11
Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

‫והנה על פני המדבר‬, kernels in the shape and texture of very fine crystals as
described in Numbers 11,7 ‫כזרע גז הוא‬, similar to the seeds of Gad.

Verse 15

Verse 16

'‫זה הדבר אשר צוה ה‬, and in the morning you will eat bread (food) to satisfy
yourselves. (compare verse 12)
‫לקטו ממנו‬, everyone to his heart’s desire. Some would take more, others less but
‫ מספר נפשותיכם איש לאשר באהלו תקחו‬,‫איש לפי אכלו עומר לגלגלת‬, it would not matter
how much they would collect, for when they would measure it they would find that
each one had exactly one omer per family member in his tent. Every Israelite would
receive (ultimately) an equal share of the heavenly food G’d would provide. It
would satisfy him in accordance with the amount of food he was used to consume
regularly. If someone was in the habit of eating relatively little, he would not
now be able to change his eating habits and gorge himself. On the other hand, if
someone was a glutton, receiving heavenly food would not require him to downsize
his appetite.

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

‫ויקצף עליהם משה‬, the reason that Moses was angry was that the leftover manna was
not the result of it being more than the people could eat, but because it
represented an attempt by the people to find out if what they had been warned of
would really happen.

Verse 21

‫בבקר בבקר‬, each morning; the syntax is similar to that in Genesis 39,10 where the
words ‫ כדברה לא יוסף יום יום‬mean: “when she spoke to him (thus) each and every day.”
We also have a similar line in Exodus 30,7 when the Torah speaks about the daily
procedure of cleaning the candelabra, writing ‫בבקר בבקר בהיטיבו את הנרות‬, “every
morning when he would clean out the lamps, etc.”
‫וחם השמש ונמס‬, this was the reason that the people would gather it up early in the
morning so that it did not yet have a chance to melt from the heat.

Verse 22

Verse 23

‫את אשר תאפו‬, the portion of each day’s ration which they would bake in an oven. The
subject has been referred to again in Numbers 11,8 as ‫“ ועשו אותו עוגות‬they would
make it into cakes.”
‫!אפו‬, now, on the Sabbath eve.
‫ואת אשר תבשלו‬, and the portion of it which you want to prepare boiled, parallel to
what is described in the corresponding chapter in Numbers as ‫ובשלו בפרד‬, “they
boiled it in a pot.”

Verse 24

Verse 25

‫אכלוהו היום‬, at fixed times, from this date onward.

'‫כי שבת היום לה‬, this entire day is a Sabbath in honour of G’d. It was permitted to
eat any manna left over from Friday on the entire Sabbath. However, if any was left
over after the Sabbath it could not be eaten anymore.
‫היום לא תמצאוהו‬, on the entire Sabbath you will not find any manna on the ground
anywhere just as you did not on this Sabbath.

Verse 26

Verse 27

‫יצאו מן העם‬, from their camp to the area where during the week the manna had been
falling. These people thought that they would find some manna, possibly outside the
usual parameter. This was a demonstration of lack of faith in the word of G’d.
‫ללקוט‬, this would have been an outright desecration of the Sabbath. Even carrying
their containers was a desecration of the Sabbath. The Talmud Shabbat 107 states
that even something only peripherally attached to the ground, i.e. something which
had not actually had grown in the earth, had roots, is nonetheless considered
halachically as if it had been uprooted from the soil.

Verse 28

‫עד אנה מאנתם לשמור‬, the rebuke included Moses; although Moses, of course, had not
gone out to look for manna on the Sabbbath, who is held co-responsible for the
people going out as he had withheld information concerning the Sabbath given to him
already at the beginning of the week. During the intervening days Moses should have
used the time to teach the people the laws concerning the Sabbath. Moses’ specific
error is recorded by the Torah in verse 26 when he told the people “you will gather
it for six days and on the seventh day there will not be any.” He had not told the
people that they must not go out looking for it. The people did not so much rebel
against G’d as against the instructions they had received from Moses, when they did
not believe him, assuming that he merely did not want them to waste their time
looking for something that was not there. Moses should have taught the people that
even gathering up manna was considered a forbidden activity on the Sabbath, that
the one doing this was considered as if he had harvested it, cut it, on the
Sabbath. Not only that, he would also become guilty for transporting it from the
public domain to the private domain, another one of the 39 categories of activities
on the Sabbath which are disallowed.
‫ותורותי‬, the general tenor of Sabbath observance and the reward and punishment
associated with proper Sabbath observance.

Verse 29

‫!ראו‬, “try and understand!”

‫כי ה' נתן לכם השבת‬, the Sabbath regulations are not merely prohibitions, etc, but
first and foremost the Sabbath is a gift from G’d to you, a gift for you
exclusively, something G’d did not give to any other nation. The Talmud Shabbat 10
phrases it thus: “I have a precious gift in my treasure chamber, its name is
“Sabbath.” I want to give it to the people of Israel.” Based on this concept of
what the Sabbath is all about, the sages who formulated the Sabbath morning prayer,
‫עמידה‬, emphasised that “You did not give it to the nations of the world, in fact
they are not even allowed, being uncircumcised, to partake in the ‫מנוחה‬, “the
constructive rest, which is so characteristic of the Sabbath.” This is also echoed
in Exodus 31,16 ‫ושמרו בני ישרל את השבת לעשות את השבת לדוררותם‬. “The Children of
Israel are to observe the Sabbath to constructively make of it the Sabbath
throughout their generations.” The implication is that proper observance of the
Sabbath, its concept, will ensure that we will be around throughout the
generations, will partake in the redemption.

Verse 30

Verse 31

Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 35

‫אכלו את המן‬, in lieu of bread made from wheat or other cereals. The Israelites
themselves testified to this in Numbers 11,6 when they said (complainingly) ‫בלתי לא‬
‫המן עינינו‬, “all we have to look at is the manna.”
‫עד בואם לא ארץ נושבת‬, inhabited countries, i.e. the lands conquered from Sichon and
Og on the east bank of the Jordan river. Once they had taken over these lands they
also ate regular bread. [a period of possibly six months before they crossed the
Jordan. Ed.]
‫את המן אכלו עד בואם לא קצה ארץ כנען‬, the word ‫את‬, meaning “with, in addition,”
alludes to the fact that they no longer ate manna exclusively. We find further
confirmation of this in Joshua 5,11-12 ‫וישבות המן‬...‫ויאכלו מעבור הארץ ממחרת הפסח‬
‫ממחרת‬, “they ate from the produce of the land, etc.,…the manna stopped on the
morrow after the Passover.”

Chapter 17

Verse 1

‫לשתות העם‬, that the people could drink. The unusual construction is similar to
Genesis 16,3 ‫לשבת אברהם‬.

Verse 2

‫ ;?מה תריבון עמדי‬do you not know that I do not act arbitrarily but only carry out
G’d’s orders?
'‫ ;?מה תנסון את ה‬if you really quarrel with me, this is equivalent to your
quarrelling and testing the One whose agent I am. You are only endangering your own
lives if you quarrel with G’d! If He becomes angry He will consider that He has to
destroy you, seeing that He had demonstrated His power to you in deeds. We find
Moses repeating this thought in Psalms 95,9 ‫אשר נסוני אבותיכם בחנוני גן ראו פעלי‬,
“when your fathers put Me to the test, tried Me, though they had seen My deeds.”
[when someone who had never had a manifestation of G’d’s power “tests” Him, this is
far less serious than when the Jewish people who had ample proof of G’d’s power
would do the same. Ed]

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫עבור לפני העם‬, and their complaints will cease when they see that you are making an
effort to provide their needs.
‫ומטך אשר הכית בו את היאור‬, your staff with which you had smitten the river so that
the Egyptians had given up looking for water to drink, will now perform the
opposite function and provide you with drinking water.
‫והלכת‬. from the camp to the rock.

Verse 6

‫והכית בצור ושתה העם‬, this will teach them that the staff is not an instrument which
performs certain functions naturally, being unable to change its functions. It will
show you that the staff is an instrument carrying out the will of its owner. This
is why it can be used to perform opposing functions on different occasions.

Verse 7

Verse 8

‫ויבא עמלק‬, at the sound of the people’s being frustrated with thirst. This is what
Moses meant when he recalled the incident 40 years later in Deuteronomy 25,18
describing the Israelites’ state of mind at the time as ‫ואתה עיף ויגע‬, “you were
tired and worn out.” We find the expression ‫ עיף‬linked to water also in Job 22,7 ‫לא‬
‫מים עייף תשקה‬, “You do not give the thirsty water to drink.” (Eliphaz accusing Job)
We also find the word applied to earth itself in Isaiah 32,2 ‫בארץ עיפה‬, “in a
languishing land.”

Verse 9

‫ומטה הלאוקים בידי‬, to show the people at what time he would be praying in order that
they too would coordinate the time they offered their own prayers with that of
Moses. The importance of this harmonising of prayers is demonstrated when the
Talmud tells us that in the large synagogue of Alexandria they waved flags so that
the people who could not hear the cantor could pray in harmony with him,
nonetheless. (Sukkah 51).

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

‫את עמלק ואת עמו‬, fellow travelers from other nations who had joined Amalek in his
attack against the Israelites.

Verse 14

‫כתוב זאת זכרון בספר‬, a reference to the portion in Deuteronomy 25,17-19.

‫ושים באזני יהושע‬, make sure that Joshua remembers all this. Moses carried out this
command by building the altar and offering up the prayer declaring G’d as his flag.
‫מחה אמחה את זכר עמלק‬, not only the people but even their livestock. We know this
from the instructions given by the prophet Samuel to King Sha-ul in Samuel 15,3
where the king is ordered to destroy utterly all the possessions of Amalek.

Verse 15

‫ויקרא שמו‬, he called the name of G’d in his prayer ‫ה' ניסי‬. The matter is similar
to the prophet Jeremiah saying in Lamentations 3,25: ‫'קראתי שמך ה‬. Surely, there
was nothing new in Jeremiah knowing the name of G’d. The point is that he addressed
this attribute of G’d in that prayer. Moses addressed the attribute of G’d as the
flag-bearer in Israel’s wars.
‫ה' נסי‬, “G’d is my exaltation.” The meaning is similar to Psalms 60,6 ‫נתת ליראיך נס‬
‫להתנוסס מפני קשט סלה‬, “You have given a banner to them that fear You, to raise
themselves to its height before the might of wisdom.” In other words, the psalmist
says that G’d will lend him the strength to cope with anyone trying to attack him
and to overcome him. The same thought is expressed in Psalms 44,6 ‫בשמך נבוס קמינו‬,
“with the help of Your name we will vanquish those who rise up against us.”

Verse 16

‫ה‬-‫ויאמר כי יד על כס י‬, Moses explains the reason and purpose of his prayer being
the fact that G’d Himself had sworn an oath to remain at war with Amalek from
generation to generation. If G’d is at war with that nation, we as G’d’s
representative on earth, must certainly also be at war with that nation. It is what
our sages referred to when they said that three commandments cannot be fulfilled
until the Jewish people are securely settled in the land of Israel, 1) appointment
of a king; 2) destroying the last vestiges of Amalek; 3) the building of a
permanent Temple. Moses therefore had prayed for the time when these three
hallmarks of Jewish history could be attained. (Sanhedrin 20)

Chapter 18

Verse 1

‫וישמע יתרו‬, the word ‫ שמיעה‬for hearing is used when recording or referring to
something which did not occur at the time it is being reported. When one hears of
something which is just happening, the Torah uses the term ‫ראיה‬, “seeing,” i.e.
first hand knowledge of something. It does not matter whether the sound of the
happening comes from a distant location or is nearby within one’s eyesight.
Examples of the use of the word ‫“ ראיה‬seeing” being used for matters which were
heard second hand, not seen, are found in Genesis 42,1 where Yaakov, resident in
the land of Canaan, is reported as “seeing” that there was grain for sale in Egypt.
Clearly, the Torah refers to Yaakov having heard about it. Seeing the matter was
not near at hand nor had occurred just then, the Torah used the words ‫וירא יעקב‬,
“Jacob saw.” A similar use of the word “seeing,” ‫ וירא‬for something not actually
seen is Numbers 22,2 where Bileam is reported as “seeing” all that Israel had done
to the Emorite kings. Bileam had not seen any of it, but had heard that the
Israelites had defeated the two most powerful Emorite kings Sichon and Og. A third
example confirming our theory would be Deuteronomy 28,10 where the people of the
globe are reported as expressing their conviction that the Jewish people are G’d’s
darlings and that they would therefore be in awe of them. Clearly, the people of
the globe could not have “seen” this, but they had heard about the success of the
Jewish nation. The events inspiring such feelings among the nations of the globe
had occurred over a period of time, not all at once. However, if we understand the
words ‫ כי הוציא‬as meaning ‫כאשר הוציא‬, “when He took out,” we must understand Yitro
as saying that he had heard all that G’d had done for Israel at the time when He
took them out of Egypt. This would include a reference to all the plagues, the
drowning of the Egyptians army, etc. It was this information which had prompted him
to journey into the desert himself instead of sending a messenger who would
accompany Tzipporah and her children so that they would be reunited with their
husband/father. He was primarily motivated by his quest for G’d. This is similar to
Chronicles II 32,31 where the king of Babylon wanted to have evidence of the
reports he had received about the miraculous recovery from his illness which King
Chizkiyah had experienced.

Verse 2

‫אחר שלוחיה‬. After she (Tzipporah) had sent a message to him to find out where they
were encamped. Moses had informed her that the Israelites would not stop anywhere
for any length of time until they would reach the mountain of G’d, Mount Chorev,
where they would serve the Lord. She must have known about this as Moses must have
told her of G’d’s prediction in Exodus 3,12 that once out of Egypt the Jewish
people would serve the Lord there at that mountain. This is the reason why it took
Yitro so long before he came as he had to wait until the Jewish people would make
camp for longer than one night.

Verse 3
Verse 4

‫ויצילני מחרב פרעה‬. At the time Eliezer was born the old king who had wanted to
execute Moses had already been dead for a while. This is one of the reasons why the
Torah mentioned this death in Exodus 2,23. At that time Moses felt secure from
further attempts on his life. Pharaoh’s international police had an exceedingly
long reach, just as that of Achav, King of Israel, who had been hunting for the
prophet Elijah all over the neighbouring countries of Israel as documented in Kings
I 18,10 “is there any kingdom to which the king (Achav) has not sent emissaries to
arrange to have to you captured?”

Verse 5

Verse 6

‫אני חותנך יתרו‬, Yitro sent this message as a matter of courtesy so that Moses would
not be taken unawares by his sudden arrival. He complied with the sages’ warning
“do not enter your own house without advance notice, how much more so the house of
your friend.” (Pessachim 112).

Verse 7

‫ויצא משה‬, Moses did not stand on ceremony, using his position to await the arrival
of his father-in-law at home, but he went some distance to meet the man in whose
house he had received so many favours. We find that Queen Esther, similarly, did
not use her elevation to Royalty as an excuse to no longer defer to Mordechai who
had raised her. (Esther 2,20 “Esther continued to carry out Mordechai’s
instructions as she had done when she lived under his roof.”) Joseph also did not
use his exalted position to look down on his brothers. The Chief of the butlers,
who had reason to be grateful to Joseph, is an example of ingratitude, as we know
from Genesis 40,23, “he did not remember Joseph, in fact he erased him from his
memory.”

Verse 8

‫את אשר עשה ה' לפרעה ולמצרים על אודות ישרלא‬. A reference to G’d performing vengeance
as the avenger of His people. Compare Deuteronomy 32,41 for similar syntax used by
Moses. when he quotes G’d as saying ‫אשיב נקם לצרי‬, “vengeance will I wreak on My
foes.” This referred to the Egyptians experiencing G’d’s retribution on their own
bodies when they drowned in the sea. In Psalms 78,49 the psalmist describes 4,
resp. 5 stages of G’d’s anger which the Egyptians had to experience before they
died. Tthat verse is the subject of detailed analysis in the Haggadah shel Pessach.
These events proved that G’d had chosen the Jewish people as His most treasured
possession among the nations.
‫את כל התלאה אשר מצאתם בדרך‬, hunger, thirst, and the unprovoked attack by Amalek.
'‫ויצילם ה‬, this demonstrated G’d’s personal concern and involvement in the fate of
the Jewish nation. The reason for this could only be that the religious principles
as well as their deeds found favour in G’d’s eyes, preparing the way for all of
them to serve Him in unison.

Verse 9

‫ויחד יתרו‬, he did not rejoice over the destruction of Egypt as a major power. This
is what he should have done if he had been truly concerned with the honour and
glory due to his Creator. We know this from Psalms 58,11. However, he did rejoice
over the well being of the Israelites. He behaved like someone whose heart is moved
by the tears of the oppressed.
Verse 10

‫אשר הציל אתכם‬, you, Moses, and Aaron,

‫מיד מצרים‬, by smiting the Egyptians.
‫ומיד פרעה‬, every time you came to warn him, i.e. to threaten him.
‫אשר הציל את העם‬, the oppressed and enslaved ones.

Verse 11

‫כי בדבר אשר זדו עליהם‬. G’d saved the people by using the very means the Egyptians
had used to harm them to harm their oppressors. The word ‫זדו‬, past tense, occurs as
future tense, ‫ יזיד‬in Exodus 21,14 describing the deliberate commission of a crime,
a sin. The sin Yitro had in mind was that G’d had killed the Egyptian firstborn as
a retribution for the male babies of the Jewish people having been thrown into the
river to drown. (Exodus 1,22). The Egyptians died by drowning just as their victims
the Jewish babies had died by drowning. Yitro recognised that the ability to make
the punishment fit the crime is what put our G’d in a class all by Himself,
unparalleled in any other religion. None of G’d’s agents in the celestial spheres,
even, would be able to do this.

Verse 12

‫עולה וזבחים ללאוקים‬. This was intended as a symbol of Yitro’s acceptance of the yoke
of Heaven. A similar symbolic acceptance is found in Kings II 5,17 when the general
Naaman undertakes never again to offer such sacrifices as ‫ עולה וזבחים‬to any
deities other than the G’d in heaven.
‫לאכול לחם עם חותן משה‬, to rejoice with him on his entry into the select circle of
those who serve the only true G’d, the Creator of the universe. He joined the ranks
of those who are described by David in Psalms 149 as ‫ישמח ישרלא בעושיו‬, “Israel
rejoices in Him Who has proved to be its Creator.”
‫לפני הלאוקים‬. in front of the altar on which they offered these sacrifices. It is
not clear if this was the altar Moses had built after the victory over Amalek (in
the event Yitro had arrived before the revelation at Mount Sinai) or if it had been
another altar whose erection had not been especially mentioned by the Torah. At any
rate, the consuming of the offerings known as ‫זבחים‬, “meat-offerings,” took place
within view of the altar.

Verse 13

‫ויעמוד העם על משה‬, waiting till he would find time to address their individual
problems after he had finished dealing with the collective problems pertaining to
the whole community and had finished listening to the people’s dignitaries.

Verse 14

‫?מדוע אתה יושב לבדך‬, why are only you dealing with public affairs?
‫וכל העם‬, and all the people who for whatever reason need your private services have
to wait in line from morning to night?

Verse 15

‫לדרוש לאוקים‬, the princes and leaders of the community who come to me to consult me
on matters of public concern, come to seek out the word of G’d because only after
getting such a ruling will the people be able to come to rest.

Verse 16

‫כי יהיה להם דבר‬, when someone among these people who hold positions of public trust
has a disagreement with one of his colleagues he brings it to me,
‫בא לאי ושפטתי בין איש ובין רעהו‬, between these leaders of the community who come to
me about matters of public concern.
‫והודעתי את חקי הלאוקים ואת תורותיו‬, to these highly placed individuals who approach
me with the concerns of the public. We encounter similar occurrences described in
slightly different words, such as in Exodus 34,31-32 “Moses called to them and
Aaron and all the chieftains in the assembly returned to him, and Moses spoke to
them.” Our sages in Eyruvin 54 describe the hierarchy of transmitting G’d’s word to
the people. Moses learned the Torah directly from G’d; when Aaron entered his tent
he told him what he had learned. Aaron would move over and take his seat on Moses’
left. After that Aaron’s sons would enter and Moses would instruct them in what G’d
had taught him. This continued until Moses had taught the same lesson no fewer than
4 times. We can see that all this took time, and as a result the ordinary people
had to stand in line for a long time.

Verse 17

Verse 18

‫גם העם הזה אשר עמך‬, the member of your court.

‫לא תוכל עשוהו לבדך‬, you cannot all by yourself listen to the problems of all the
leaders and subsequently to all the problems of the individuals who feel they need
your personal attention, believing that no one but you can deal with their specific
problems.

Verse 19

‫היה אתה לעם מול הלאוקים‬, be their intermediary to
commandments G’d wants them to perform.
‫והבאת אתה את הדברים לא הלאוקים‬, An example of such
as well as in Numbers 27,5 where Moses submitted
answer to G’d before communicating the answer he
advise the people of the various
a case is presented in Numbers 9,8
a problem to which he did know the
received to the people afterwards.

Verse 20

Verse 21

‫ואתה תחזה מכל העם‬, select, and then appoint. The only area in which you alone are
competent is the choosing of suitably qualified helpers, in accordance with the
guidelines Yitro outlined. When it came to handing down judicial decisions,
however, there would be 78660 appointees of four different levels of competence who
would deal with all but the most perplexing problems without having to come to
Moses for approval of their rulings. Initially a problem would be submitted to one
of the 60000 men appointed as “chief” of ten. If such a man did not know the answer
he would refer it to one of the 12000 chiefs of 50, and so on in an ascending
order. The different levels of judges would in effect act as appellate judges,
reviewing if judgments made by the lower ranking judges and appealed should be
changed.

Verse 22

‫והקל מעליך‬, the many minor disputes which do not need to be adjudged by you,
personally.
‫ונשאו אתך‬, they will give you the chance to give your full attention to those
problems that are complicated by sharing the burden of leadership with you. They
will also dispense knowledge to the people.

Verse 23

‫על מקומו יבא בשלום‬, seeing that the knowledge of the law will be widespread in so
many lower courts, every litigant will know that the judgment he received was true
and impartial. They will therefore not continue to constantly appeal such
judgments.

Verse 24

Verse 25

‫ויבחר משה אנשי חיל‬, after he had looked in vain to find men with all the
qualifications Yitro had suggested. These men were experienced in ferreting out the
truth so that they could bring litigation to a speedy conclusion. Men of this
caliber were more important in such positions than men who could truthfully be
described as G’d-fearing, but naïve and inexperienced in the ways of the world. Our
sages in Shabbat 63 have said: “if a scholar is in the habit of taking revenge and
holding grudges, gird him around your loins, whereas if an ignoramus is very pious
do not live in his proximity.”

Verse 26

Verse 27

‫וישלח משה את חותנו‬, for he did not want to join the fate of the Jewish people by
going with them to the land of Canaan. He had said clearly: ‫לא לאך‬, “I am not going,
for I am going back to my own country to my birthplace.” (Numbers 10,30) Perhaps
this was due to his being of advanced age; we encounter such reticence to move to a
better place when David offered Barzilai a home in Jerusalem and he declined,
citing that at his age he would not enjoy what Jerusalem had to offer anyway.
(Samuel II 19,38) He preferred to be buried with his father and mother. Yitro’s
sons (and daughters?) however definitely joined the Jewish people in their journey
to the Holy Land, as we know from Judges 1,16 where they are described as the
children of the Keyni, the father-in-law of Moses. Bileam also prophesied
concerning their future in Numbers 24,21.

Chapter 19

Verse 1

‫ביום הזה‬, on the first day of the month.

Verse 2

‫ויסעו מרפידים ויבאו מדבר סיני‬. The departure from Refidim was for the express
purpose of getting to the desert of Sinai where the mountain of G’d (Chorev) was
located. The people knew that once they would arrive there they would worship the
Lord there (Exodus 3,12).

Verse 3
Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

‫ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים‬, this will make you special for only you will be a kingdom
of priests, something that will be understood by all of mankind. This is because
all of you will call on the holy name of G’d and serve Him simultaneously. This was
to be a forerunner of what will happen in the distant future as predicted by the
prophet Isaiah 61,6 “and you will be proclaimed ‘priests’ of the Lord.” This is
also the true meaning of ‫כי מציון תצא תורה‬, “the Torah emanates from Zion.” (Isaiah
2,3) [This statement is attributed to the nations of the world at that time.
‫וגוי קדוש‬, never to disappear from the stage of history. You will continue forever
to exist as one man, as it will be in the distant future of which the prophet
Isaiah 4,3 said “those who survive in Zion and those who will be left over in
Jerusalem, all those who are inscribed for life in Jerusalem- shall be called
‘holy’.” [the author is making the point that somebody called ‫ קדוש‬is by definition
immortal. Ed.] Our sages in Sanhedrin 92 describe this concept in the following
words: “just as He, the Holy One, is forever, so the Jewish people are forever.” It
had been G’d’s intention to make the Jewish people immortal at the time of the
revelation at Mount Sinai, giving them the status that Adam had enjoyed before he
sinned. Alas, just as Adam had sinned and had become mortal in Gan Eden, the Jewish
people sinned with the golden calf and suffered the same fate as first man. The
disaster is documented in Exodus 33,6 “the Children of Israel had to divest
themselves of their jewelry which had been given them at Mount Chorev.”

Verse 7

Verse 8

‫וישב משה את דברי העם‬, Moses relayed to G’d what he had understood as being the
people’s reactions. What he had understood was that they did not doubt his status
as a prophet at all.

Verse 9

‫בעב הענן‬, even though all of Moses’ prophetic stature underwent a drastic change on
the occasion of the revelation at Mount Sinai, and he now received “clear”
messages, something described in Numbers 12,8 as ‫ותמונת ה' יביט‬, “he sees the
message from G’d as a clear picture” (not merely as a reflection by a mirror) he
was not to behold the Shechinah, but it was shrouded in thick cloud. The present
communication with G’d which Moses used was not of the ‫אספקלריא מאירה‬, “clear view”
type.
‫בעבור ישמע העם וגם בך יאמינו לעולם‬, they will believe in the possibility of this
“face to face” communication between man and G’d, and the fact that you have been
granted this level of prophecy by Me. (compare Deut.5,4 concerning the expression
“face to face.”) One of the principal ingredients of this level of prophecy is that
the prophet remains in full control of all his faculties including all parts of his
body, something no one had been able to credit until they saw that Moses possessed
such a capability.The Israelites commented on this in Deuteronomy 5,21 when Moses
quoted them as having said: “this day we have seen that G’d can speak directly to
man and man can survive such an encounter.” [In other words, it took the revelation
at Mount Sinai, experienced by all the people, to teach them that Moses could enjoy
such a relationship with G’d on an ongoing basis. Ed.] It is not that the people
needed convincing that there were people who enjoyed prophetic stature and
communicated with G’d and He with them. After all, they knew about all the
patriarchs, Aaron and Miriam as well as Moses being prophets. However, up until
this time all prophetic messages from G’d had been communicated either in a dream
or in a vision involving the prophet losing touch with his surroundings at the time
of such communication by G’d. [at the very least, if such a communication had been
received while the recipient was awake he would have to sit down, as he would be
unable to stand. [Avraham’s being able to run to welcome the angels, (his vision)
was a sign of a higher than usual level of prophecy. Ed.] Now, for the first time,
did the people witness that the recipient of such communications need not
necessarily have to temporarily forego being in touch with all that goes on in our
terrestrial world. You will understand this better in light of how G’d Himself
explained to Miriam and Aaron in Numbers 12,7 the difference between their level of
communication with G’d and that of their brother Moses, whom G’d described as
thoroughly “at home” in all sections of “His house.” Only after having themselves
experienced what this kind of prophetic level meant could they credit Moses as
possessing it. Now they also understood that no other prophet, even a legitimate
one, could challenge Moses, seeing that his stature as prophet was so superior to
any other prophet.
'‫ויגד משה את דברי העם לא ה‬, when he heard that his Creator had told him that G’d
wanted the people to have absolute faith in the supremacy of his prophecy, Moses
understood suddenly that the people had entertained some doubts about the nature of
his prophetical powers. He conveyed the people’s words to G’d to show that they had
unreservedly undertaken to accept everything G’d wanted from them as conveyed to
them from him as G’d’s word. He emphasized that the people had not only said: ‫כן‬
‫נעשה‬, “so we shall do,” but had said ‫כל אשר דבר ה' נעשה‬, “everything that G’d has
said we shall do.” This was in fact a restrictive comment, meaning that if what
they heard was G’d’s command they would do it, not if it was only the command of an
angel. We know already from Exodus 23,21 that an angel is not empowered to forgive
any errors committed by the people, ‫כי לא ישא לפשעכם‬, and therefore Moses himself
rejected the idea that the people be under the protection of an angel instead of
under G’d’s personal supervision. The people were aware of this distinction. This
is why they had committed themselves to obey only commands issued by G’d directly.

Verse 10

Verse 11

‫והיו נכונים‬, that not only the mind, the spirit, be in readiness for the revelation
but also the body that houses the spirit. This was necessary because the level of
prophecy they would experience at the revelation would far surpass anything an
ordinary prophet experiences, something for which he does not have to prepare his
body by ritual immersion, and loss of any residue of seminal fluids the body
ejaculated during the days immediately preceding the prophetic vision. Moses was
not forbidden physical contact with his own wife until he had attained this level
of prophetic stature. This would commence from the time of the revelation and
onwards. At that time he released the other Israelites from the restriction of
carrying on marital relations with their wives by saying to them: “return to your
tents” (Deuteronomy 5,27-28). Moses himself had been told by G’d at that time: “you
remain standing here with Me.” This is what our sages explained in Shabbat 87.

Verse 12
‫כל הנוגע בהר מות ימות‬, a warning to deter the people from being harmed in the event
they would trample the boundary markers around the mountain in their eagerness to
catch a glimpse of G’d. Such people, if they were to become victims of their own
folly, would mar the entire joyful experience of the giving of the Torah by
defiling the earth around them with their carcasses. They would cause their
relatives to become mourners on what should have been the most auspicious
experience of their lives. The presence of G’d, the Shechinah, does not manifest
itself to people in mourning, or even to someone simply in a state of mental
depression.

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

‫ויהי קולות וברקים‬. The spectacle was similar to that experienced by the prophet
Elijah at the same mountain in Kings I 19,11-12. David, in Psalms 68,9, also
describes what happened at Sinai in similar terms.

Verse 17

‫לקראת הלאוקים‬, toward the army of angels forming the entourage of the Divine
presence, in anticipation of the descent of the Shechinah on the mountain in verse
20.

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

‫רד העד בעם פן יהרסו‬, when I will be speaking to them. Perhaps they will think that
because they have been found worthy to have prophetic insights that they have
attained the level of “face to face” prophecy as had Moses their leader. This could
prove fatal if they tried to cross the boundary separating Me from them. Your
presence down below will act as additional safeguard.

Verse 22
Verse 23

‫וקדשתו‬, the term is used here as in Exodus 3,5 when Moses was warned not to step on
“holy” ground with his sandals as this might prove fatal. Similarly, here; the
people had been told that neither man nor beast would survive touching the
mountain. [during this period. Ed.]

Verse 24

‫לך רד‬, now, when I am speaking with you, be with them at the bottom of the
mountain.
‫ועלית אתה ואהרן‬, at the conclusion of the Ten Commandments and the portion
Mishpatim as we read in Exodus 24,1. The Torah writes there: ‫עלה לא ה' אתה ואהרן‬
“ascend to G’d, you and Aaron.” [the elders and Aaron there are bidden to prostrate
themselves from a distance. Ed.]

Verse 25

‫ויאמר לאהם‬, he conveyed G’d’s warning to them as well as the penalty for violating
G’d’s command. (verse 21)

Chapter 20

Verse 1

‫וידבר לאוקים‬, after Moses had completed warning the people G’d proceeded to utter
all these commandments, as we know from the testimony of Moses in Deuteronomy 5,18
‫את כל הדברים הלאה דבר ה 'לא כל קהלכם בהר‬, “all these words the Lord spoke to your
assembled ranks from the Mountain.”

Verse 2

‫אנכי‬, “I alone am the Lord; I am the One responsible for creating the material
world, for creating egos. Individuals. I am known to you by tradition.”
‫לאוקיך‬, “I keep My promise to be and remain your G’d, I am not to be worshipped
through intermediaries, I am to be prayed to directly.”
‫אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים‬, in doing so I had to overcome all the obstacles that
intermediaries (forces of nature, also My creatures and appointed by Me to perform
My will) had tried to use to block My efforts. I am the One Whom you accepted as
such when you said (Exodus 15,2) “this is My G’d and I want to glorify Him.”
‫מבית עבדים‬, from all exterior coercion in order for you to be free to worship Me,
exclusively.

Verse 3

‫לא יהיה לך לאוהים‬, even though you accepted My Kingdom, you must not at the same
time also attribute divine qualities to any other servant of Mine. A violation of
this commandment is cited in Kings II 17,33 (the subject being the Samarians, a
people transplanted by the king of Assyria from Babylon, Chamass, etc., to where
the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom had lived before being exiled by the
Assyrians under Tiglat Pilesser. These people are reported as “worshipping the G’d
of Israel (as they now were within what they considered to be His domain.) But at
the same time they also worshipped other deities. The priest sent by the king of
Assyria to teach these Samarians the Jewish religion considered their worshipping
the G’d of Israel as quite useless. He told them that unless they worshipped the
G’d of Israel exclusively they would likely continue to suffer the incursions of
lions, etc.
‫על פני‬. It is intolerable to honour the servant in the presence of the Master. If
that is so with masters and servants that are mortal, how much more so is it true
of Eternal G’d and His underlings.

Verse 4

‫לא תעשה לך פסל‬, even if you do not mean to use it as an object of worship.

Verse 5

‫לא תשתחוה להם‬, to any phenomena in the universe not man-made.

‫ל קנא‬-‫א‬, I cannot tolerate that someone who worships Me worships also someone
beside Me. The reason is that there is absolutely no comparison between Me and any
other phenomenon in the universe. I am therefore entitled to stand on My dignity by
refusing to be compared.
‫פוקד עון אבות‬, the reason why I sometimes wait so long before punishing some of the
wicked in this life is that by waiting and noticing that their offspring, i.e.
second and third generation continue in their wicked ways their measure of guilt
will become so full that I will exterminate that whole family from life in this
world. [this is what happened to the family of Jerobam for instance, and that of
Omri, his son Achav, etc. ] This was possible only by adding the unrequited sins of
the fathers to those of the sons, or even subsequent generations, so that when
finally, retribution did come, it wiped out the family completely. This happened in
the third generation of the original sinner such as Omri’s grandchildren. It also
happened to the fourth generation after Yehu (who himself had been G’d’s instrument
for wiping out the family of Omri/Achav) when his great grandson Zecharyah was
murdered after reigning only 6 months. (Kings II 15,9) We know about this method
G’d employs sometimes already since Genesis chapter 15 when G’d explained to
Avraham that his descendants could not expect to take possession of the land of
Canaan until the fourth generation, as the sins of the Emorite would not be
irrevocable until then. (Genesis 15,16)

Verse 6

‫ועושה חסד ללאפים‬, on other occasions the reason why retribution is so long delayed
is due to the good deeds of someone’s forbears which I have sworn to requite by
extending such patience in tolerating the errors of their offspring. [some of our
sages attribute the continued existence of the Ishmaelites and their enmity to the
Jews to the merit their founding father acquired when voluntarily submitting to
circumcision at the tender age of 13. Ed.]

Verse 7

‫לא תשא‬, invoking the name of G’d when swearing an oath. The word ‫ נשא‬is used in
this sense in Kings I 8,31 ‫ונשא בו לאה ללאותו‬, “when someone utters a curse against
another in retaliation, using the curse to make his adversary swear an oath,”
‫לשוא‬, committing perjury thereby; without doubt this oath will backfire on the one
uttering it; ‫כי לא ינקה ה' את אשר ישא את שמו לשוא‬, for having used His holy name to
utterly no purpose. Even if the person swearing such an oath had spoken the truth
he will not be free from this sin, how much more so if someone used G’d’s name to
swear falsely. It is not compatible with G’d’s honour and dignity that man use His
Holy name for his own ends. The only time such an oath is permissible, or in some
instances even mandatory, is when it is impossible to arrive at the truth by any
other means there being no witnesses to the matter under dispute. As far as
swearing a false oath, i.e. perjuring oneself is concerned, the Torah has a
separate commandment in Leviticus 19,12 spelling this out. ‫ולא תשבעו בשמי לשקר‬,
“and you must not swear an oath in My name when that oath is a lie.”
Verse 8

‫זכור את יום השבת‬, the infinitive mode tells us that we are to be aware of the
Sabbath every day of the week, even while involved in our daily routines. This is
also the same mode chosen by the Torah for demanding that we be forever mindful of
what Amalek our arch enemy did to our forefathers after they had crossed the Sea on
dry land. (Deuteronomy 25,17) The same is true of the infinitive mode chosen by
the Torah when urging us to remember the legislation pertaining to the “month of
spring,” i.e. the month of the redemption from Egypt. Compare Deuteronomy 16,1 ‫שמור‬
‫את חודש האביב ועשית פסח‬.
‫לקדשו‬, the reminder to remember the Sabbath constantly was intended to ensure that
you observe all the commandments associated with the day. Even the order to work
six days is intended to ensure that by concentrating on the need to make a living
during those days, this will enable such people to take their minds off such
mundane matters on the Sabbath.

Verse 9

‫ששת ימים תעבוד‬, during those days you will give attention predominantly to mundane
matters, most of which involve difficulties and frustrations seeing that such
mundane matters concentrate on events in a world which is not ours.
‫ועשית כל מלאכתך‬, the type of activities essential for earning one’s livelihood.

Verse 10

‫שבת לה' לאוקיך‬, the entire day is to be devoted to spiritual matters. This involves
studying Torah, teaching it, performing the commandments associated with it, and
enjoying the very nature of such a day on which instead of “serving” the needs of
one’s survival in a hostile environment one can concentrate on serving the Master,
the provider of life and spiritual inspiration. The Talmud Yuma 76 paraphrases
this, saying: “wine and pleasant fragrances have made me intelligently perceptive.”
‫אתה ובנך ובתך‬, the children who are minors observe the Sabbath at the instructions
of their fathers.

Verse 11

'‫כי ששת ימים עשה ה‬, the reason why the Torah repeats this theme on several
occasions is to remind man to emulate his Maker, to model his own conduct according
to what G’d has revealed about Himself. This can be done by intensive voluntary
study of disciplines which we know G’d is fond of.
‫וינח ביום השביעי‬, seeing that all the ingredients of the physical world had already
been put in place. When something is complete ‫מנוחה‬, a state of productive rest, a
period devoid of conflicting demands, tensions, this becomes possible.
‫על כן ברך ה' את יום השבת‬, a reference to the “additional” soul G’d has provided
for every Jew on this day. This serves as spiritual preparation for the proper
enjoyment of such a holy day.
‫ויקדשהו‬, He sanctified it entirely, so that the entire day be devoted to matters
spiritual.

Verse 12

‫למען יאריכון ימיך‬, these are the five Commandments which by their observance
contribute to your enjoying a life of a single dimension, i.e. length without
breadth, another way of stating what the Talmud called in Kidushin 39 “in a world
which consists entirely of “length,” [unlimited duration. Ed.]. By performing these
five Commandments one renders honour to G’d, as a result of which the one rendering
this honour to G’d will himself become part of G’d’s eternal life. Doing this
involves knowing that G’d created the universe out of “nothing,” no physical
substance. It also involves accepting G’d as the exclusive Divinity in the universe
and therefore not worshipping anyone else or anything else. It also involves not
only not rebelling against Him in deed, but not contemplating rebellion even in
one’s thoughts or speech It involves actively honouring Him, after all, He is our
father, our maker. Are we not commanded to even honour our mortal parents?
‫על האדמה‬, by observing the above-mentioned five Commandments you will merit to
enjoy life without being exiled from your ancestral land. Observance of the other
five Commandments are designed to protect you against falling victim to harm
befalling your body, or your property, or your dignity, your standing in the eyes
of your peers. Here too, observance includes not only abstaining from violating
these Commandments by deed, but also not violating them by word of mouth or even
contemplating violation in your mind. Basically, the last five Commandments are
addressed to your life on this earth, whereas the former are addressed to ensuring
your life beyond the transient life on earth.

Verse 13

‫לא תנאף‬, this commandment is phrased as applying to sexual intercourse with someone
else’s legal wife because this is the most likely scenario; it applies to all
forbidden sexual intercourse.
‫לא תגנוב‬, the term “stealing” also includes the “stealing,” i.e. kidnapping of
human beings. Even deceiving your fellow man deliberately is called “stealing” ‫גנבת‬
‫דעת הבריות‬, “stealing people’s minds, misleading them to believe that lies are
truth. (compare Sanhedrin 86)
‫לא תענה ברעך עד שקר‬, this includes spreading slander about people surreptitiously,
something generally known as‫מוציא שם רע‬, “defaming someone, ruining his
reputation.” The principal meaning in our verse is perjuring oneself when
testifying against a fellow man

Verse 14

‫לא תחמוד‬, the object you covet should be considered by you as so utterly
unattainable that you will not even begin to hatch schemes of how to acquire it.
This is the promise made by G’d in Exodus 34,24 that none of our neighbours will
covet our land while we are engaged in making the pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Once
you begin to covet something belonging to someone else it is only a short step to
committing robbery. (compare Joshua 7,21 where Achan ben Carmi who had become
guilty of such robbery admitted that it all began with his coveting the items which
he stole and hid.)

Verse 15

‫רואים את‬, the word ‫ רואים‬as “seeing” is to be understood as like the same word in
Kohelet 1,16 ‫ולבי ראה‬, “and my heart ‘saw.’” Just as the heart cannot see, so
people cannot “see” sounds. The meaning is that they understood the meaning of
these sounds. They could not continue to endure the volume or nature of thee
sounds. The same is explained in greater detail by Moses in Deuteronomy 18,16. They
were afraid they would die.
‫וירא העם‬, they understood what they should do.
‫וינועו‬, a word describing involuntary movements of one’s body, trembling. One is
unable to arrest one’s motion i.e. that which is known as ‫נע‬. The word appears
transitively in Numbers 32,13 ‫ויניעם במדבר‬, “He made them wander in the desert.” It
occurs intransitively also in Isaiah 24,20 ‫תנוע ארץ כשכור‬, “the earth is swaying
like a drunkard.” The Israelites’ trembling was inspired by the fright they
experienced at hearing G’d’s voice.

Verse 16
Verse 17

‫לבעבור נסות אתכם‬, in order that you become used to prophetic insights which this
time were of the highest caliber, i.e. what is known as ‫פנים לא פנים‬, “face to
face.” The people’s experience paralleled that of the prophet Elijah at the same
mountain where the fire and the overpowering sound were only an introduction to the
‫קול דממה דקה‬, to the barely audible voice which heralded the arrival of the
Shechinah. On that occasion (Kings I 19,13) Elijah had wrapped his mantle around
his face as he was so afraid. Elijah’s prophetic vision at the time was on a very
high level, as he was able to freely make use of all his physical faculties. It
presumably was only slightly inferior to the level of prophecy achieved by Moses.
‫בא הלאוקים‬, G’d’s entourage of angels. We encountered a similar expression meaning
the same in 19, 17.
‫ובעבור תהיה יראתו‬, this corresponds to what Rabbi Yehoshua answered the Roman
Emperor who had asked him when he asked to be shown G’d, that the Emperor first
look at the sun. The Emperor, of course, proved unable to do so fearing to be
blinded. Rabbi Yehoshua then asked him that if he could not even look at one of
G’d’s creations how he could expect to be able to look at G’d Himself?

Verse 18

Verse 19

‫אתם ראיתם כי מן השמים דברתי עמכם‬, we need to understand this in terms of Psalms
113, 5-6 ‫המגביהי לשבת המשפילי לראות‬, “enthroned on high, sees what is below, in
heaven and on earth.” [The psalmist does not perceive of heaven and earth as being
two totally separate domains being separated by some sort of impenetrable barrier
making it necessary for G’d to come to earth to see what is going on down here.
Seeing that the whole universe is full of His glory at all times, this would be
impossible. Rather, He perceives of a gradual transition between the two domains,
without any visible void or barrier between them. G’d’s raising men or “lowering”
Himself, is a figure of speech, describing merely that when He so wants it both
domains can merge. At the revelation of Mount Sinai, such a merging of these
domains had taken place. Ed.]

Verse 20

‫לר תעשון אתי לאוהי כסף‬, seeing that you have experienced with your own senses that
you do not need to resort to intermediaries in order to communicate with G’d do not
construct for yourselves such intermediaries even for communicating with Me.

Verse 21

‫מזבח אדמה תעשה לי‬, you do not need to build elaborate temples for Me either, using
precious materials. It suffices if you will erect an earthen altar. I am available
to be prayed to and to respond.
‫בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי‬, at any lace which at one time or another I select to
serve as such a place for communing with My servant. Compare Isaiah 12,4 ‫הזכירו כי‬
‫נשגב שמי‬, “declare that His name is exalted.
‫אבא לאיך וברכתיך‬, you do not need to employ artificial means made from silver or
gold to attract My benevolent providence, for I can come to you anywhere and bless
you when you but mention My name in prayer.

Verse 22

‫לא תבנה אתהן גזית‬, in order to make it look more impressive.

Verse 23

‫ולא תעלה במעלות‬, even though I do not bother you to undertake all kinds of
architecturally attractive structures in order for you to qualify for My making My
residence among you, you must be extremely careful not to be disrespectful when
approaching the top of My altar. [exposing of one’s flesh is considered a sign of
disrespect. Ed.]

Chapter 21

Verse 1

‫ולאה המשפטים‬, in the previous paragraph the Torah spoke about the prohibition of
coveting property belonging to someone else (20,13). This did not involve action;
by contrast ‫ולאה המשפטים‬, now the Torah speaks about laws governing the concrete
nature of “‫אשר לרעך‬,” tangible matters belonging to your fellow man.
‫אשר תשים לפניהם‬. These are not positive commandments and negative commandments
which apply to every Jew, but are applicable only if the occasion arises. The
matters under discussion need to be adjudicated only if and when such situations
occur in someone’s life.

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

‫לא תצא כצאת העבדים‬. It is not appropriate for an upstanding member of society to
buy a Jewish girl as a servant against her will. Such a “sale” is acceptable only
if the girl in question will become the wife of the buyer or his son when reaching
puberty. The purchase price will be given to her father as our sages have
stipulated in Ketuvot 46.

Verse 8

‫אם רעה בעיני אדוניה‬, even though the normal procedure is what we outlined in verse
seven, her “master” does not have to marry her if he finds her incompatible, as
otherwise he would eventually come to hate her. However, in such a situation the
father and the master have to cooperate in releasing her from her obligation as
servant.
‫לעם נכרי לא ימשול למכרה בבגדו בה‬, the father of the girl in question who had
already betrayed her by “selling” her initially. We know that even Lavan’s
daughters were angry at what they considered their father having done when he
“sold” them into marriage. (compare Genesis 31,15) The Torah describes here the
negative impression it makes on any of his peers when he observes a Jewish father
selling his daughter’s services for something other than marriage. Once an
employer/prospective husband, has done this no other Jewish father is allowed to
sell his daughter to such a man. [the word ‫ נכרי‬does not refer to a non Jew, but to
a Jew who acted contrary to Jewish mores. Ed.]

Verse 9

‫כמשפט הבנות יעשה לה‬, his son. [the employer’s son if he will marry her. Ed.] He
will have to provide these three items to his bride even though he did not formally
betroth her or purchase her. [something his father had done. Ed.]

Verse 10

‫לא יגרע‬, one does not have the right to marry more than one woman unless able to
provide for them not at the expense of reducing the first wife’s allowance.
(Yevamot 65)

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

‫והלאוקים אנה לידו‬, this was not a death caused intentionally by the killer, but we
know that there operates a principle in this world known as ‫מגלגלין חובה על ידי‬
‫חייב‬, “G’d arranges matters so that the guilty party being punished will be
punished by someone himself guilty of something else.” This is what Solomon
referred to in Proverbs 16,4 ‫וגם רשע ליום רעה‬, “even the wicked for the day of
evil.” [to the question if everything has a purpose in this world, what is the
function of the wicked? Solomon answers that the wicked is used by G’d to
administer punishment to those who deserve it. Ed.]
‫ושמתי לך מקום אשר ינוס‬, to atone for his guilt by being exiled from his home.

Verse 14

‫מעם מזבחי‬, even though at that time when no cities of refuge existed yet the entire
camp of the Levites, and not only the immediate area of the altar served as such a
place of refuge.
‫תקחנו למות‬, as in Jeremiah 7,11 “do you consider My house to be a den of thieves?

Verse 15

Verse 16
Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

‫נקום ינקם‬, the blood of the slave. The master is certainly not permitted to
administer such a cruel blow even though he owns this human being. He is allowed to
administer physical punishments as we know from Proverbs 29,19 ‫בדברים לא יוסר עבד‬,
“a slave does not respond to mere oral chastisement.”

Verse 21

‫כי כספו הוא‬, and it is up to him to discipline him. Sometimes a slave’s

insubordination continues until the master is forced to administer a strong blow.
We have read of such in Proverbs 17,11 ‫ומלאך אכזרי ישלח בואך מרי יבקש רע‬, “an evil
man seeks to rebel; therefore a cruel messenger will be dispatched against him.”

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

‫ ;עין תחת עין‬this is what ought to be the judgment against the offender, if we were
to apply the principle of the punishment fitting the crime in all its severity.
However, according to tradition only financial compensation is exacted as we cannot
accurately measure how to apply the principle of “an eye for an eye” literally.

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29
‫וגם בעליו יומת‬. A reference to judgment by heaven which will be exacted from the
guilty party if we cannot convict him due to lack of witnesses.

Verse 30

‫אם כופר יושת עליו‬, if witnesses testify in a manner that enables the court to apply
the laws of compensation as a means of atonement.

Verse 31

Verse 32

‫כסף שלושים שקלים‬, equivalent to the monetary value set by the Torah on a woman in
her prime (between 20-60) The comparison reflects the part of Torah legislation
that must be observed both by Jewish women and gentile male slaves.

Chapter 22

Verse 1

Verse 2

‫ונמכר בגנבתו‬, if the Torah had not legislated this form of paying off one’s debt
for theft most of the poor people of the nation would become thieves, knowing that
they did not have to make restitution except with liquid assets. As a result of
such lack of legislation civilisation would disintegrate into anarchy.

Verse 3

Verse 4

‫כי יבער איש שדה או כרם‬, within his own property, (originally)
‫ובער בשדה אחר‬, even if the animal had wandered off into someone else’s field
without encouragement by its owner,
‫מיטב שדהו ומיטב כרמו ישלם‬, the quality of the restitution must consist of the best
of the field or vineyard, seeing that animals wandering off to feed elsewhere is
such a widespread phenomenon. [the author explains the apparent injustice of the
restitution being worth more than the damage the injured party had sustained. Ed.]

Verse 5

Verse 6

‫כסף או כלים‬, examples of the items most commonly entrusted to one’s neighbour for
safekeeping during the owner’s absence from his home. These are looked after on a
reciprocal basis, no fee being charged for this service.

Verse 7
‫אם לא שלח ידו‬, if the trustee had done anything illegal with the object entrusted
to him for safekeeping he is responsible even for accidents happening to said
items.

Verse 8

‫אשר יאמר כי הוא זה‬, also if the accused says “this is the truth,” implying that
only part of the accusation is true. This is what is called in Talmudic parlance
‫מודה במקצת‬, a partial admission.
‫עד הלאוהים יבא דבר שניהם‬, both claimant and defendant are to render an oath. It does
not matter whether the subject matter under dispute is a loan and whether it has
been repaid, or something entrusted for safekeeping; in either case the claim being
admitted partially.
‫אשר ירשיעון לאוהים ישלם שנים‬, when the judges convict the guilty party this is
equivalent to a conviction for theft, and the penalty is restitution of twice the
amount under dispute. A false claim that something had been stolen is equivalent to
the person making the claim being judged a thief.

Verse 9

‫חמור או שור או שה‬, under normal circumstances the poor people assume guardianship
of such animals against payment of a fee.

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

‫יביאהו עד‬, we already explained that whenever the Torah uses the word ‫ עד‬in the
singular mode what is meant are two witnesses who are acceptable to the court.
‫אם טרוף יטרף‬, by some wild beast; presumably someone did witness the occurrence
seeing there must have been other shepherds in the vicinity. What kind of testimony
is expected of these witnesses?
‫הטרפה‬, that the situation in which the animal had been mauled or eaten was the kind
of accident which the shepherd guarding it could not have been prevented by
exercising greater care.
‫לא ישלם‬, the shepherd does not have to make restitution. If, however, the predators
had eaten the animal under discussion due to insufficient supervision on the part
of the shepherd, the shepherd has to make restitution. (compare Baba Metzia 93) In
determining a reasonable fight which the shepherd has to put up against predators,
Rashi quoting the Mechilta says that a solitary wolf is not something against which
the shepherd is defenseless, neither are two dogs. Naturally, smaller animals and
rodents are not considered as posing a threat to man.

Verse 13

Verse 14

‫אם בעליו עמו‬, during the time the animal performs the work for which it has been
loaned out.
‫לא ישלם‬, the borrower. The reason is that under most circumstances, the animal has
been loaned after both parties had agreed what kind of work it would be used for.
Its status therefore is similar to that of a gift on the understanding that it
would be returned. When one makes this kind of gift one does not draw up a list of
conditions pertaining to the precise use the gift may be made of. If such a list of
conditions had indeed been drawn up the nature of the entire transaction would have
been nullified, it would no longer be classified as a temporary gift at all, but
the owner would remain effectively the owner, so that non return, even
deliberately, would not constitute a dereliction resulting in his being entitled to
compensation from the “borrower.” The presence of the owner during any accident
which had befallen the loaned animal is taken by the Torah as proof that he had
never relinquished any part of his ownership, hence he is not entitled to
compensation. One does not get compensation for losing what belongs to one.

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

‫זובח ללאוהים‬, to all the deities simultaneously. This is forbidden even though the
worshipper includes Hashem in the address to which the sacrifice is tendered.
‫יחרם‬, the person will be executed and the offering itself is prohibited for any use
whatsoever. Just as the false deities are to be banished totally, so those who
believe in them. (compare Deuteronomy 7,26 )
‫לה' לבדו‬, excluding any possible partner.

Verse 20

Verse 21

‫ ;לא תענון אם ענה תענה אותו‬if, in the process of oppressing an orphan your
intention was only to oppress him alone; if your “oppressing” him was in the nature
of disciplining him in order to ultimately bestowing loving kindness on him after
he responded to your rebuking him, your disciplining him is considered an act of
loving kindness. [the author interprets verse 22 starting with the word ‫ אם‬as an
alternative, moderating what has been written in verse 21. Ed.]

Verse 22

Verse 23

‫שמוע אשמע צעקתו וחרה אפי‬. I will have pity with the one who cries out to Me
complaining against the harsh and unfair treatment he has to endure. G’d’s reaction
to a Jewish individual guilty of such behaviour will be similar to His reaction to
the prolonged abuse suffered by the Israelites at the hands of the Egyptians.
Anyone guilty of such oppression of orphans or widows will bring about this kind of
suffering for his own family members.

Verse 24

‫אם כסף תלוה‬, if this is an Israelite on whom the promise that “there will not be a
destitute person among you” has not been fulfilled. (compare Deuteronomy 15,4) The
individual in need of a loan is the one who became subject to another promise
(threat) written in the Torah in Deuteronomy 15,11 ‫כי לא יחדל אביון‬, “there will
never be a total absence of destitute people, etc.” When such a situation arises
the victim will require a loan.

Verse 25

Verse 26

‫ושמעתי כי חנון אני‬, even though the debtor cannot complain to Me about you, seeing
he owes you repayment for a loan, if he nonetheless cries out to Me complaining
about his economic situation which causes him to be practically naked seeing you
took his clothing as security for his overdue loan, I will give him part of what I
had intended to give you as recognition of your supplying his needs. If you had
been granted more financial means than you needed, the only reason was so that you
could use your excess to assist the needy.
‫כי חנון אני‬, I will therefore display My compassion for anyone who has no one else
to turn to. It is in your own interest then to demonstrate your compassion by
returning his pledge to him when he is in need of it. If you will do this you will
ensure that I will not withdraw My compassion from you. This, in turn, will enable
you to extend loans to other needy people.

Verse 27

‫לאוהים לא תקלל‬, even though you may feel that the judge has judged you unfairly, you
must not curse him. The reason is that no individual can judge his own guilt or
innocence objectively.
‫ונשיא בעמך לא תאור‬, cursing the legitimate authority of a country, its official
rulers, will frequently result in the whole population experiencing the negative
fallout of such curses. Compare what Solomon has to say on this in Proverbs 24,21
“fear the Lord my son, and the king; do not associate with those who keep
changing.” [the author appears to read into above verse that hereditary royalty is
to be obeyed in preference to elected rulers who are elected only for a limited
period of time, and can be replaced by the will of the people even during their
term of office. Ed.]

Verse 28

‫מלאתך‬, the heave for the priest of your grain harvest. The word ‫ מלאה‬appears to be
borrowed from Genesis 41,22 where the good ears of corn in Pharaoh’s dream are
described as such.
‫ודמעך‬, the parallel heave from your oil and grape harvest.
‫בכור בניך תתן לי‬, to perform all kinds of sacred duties. This includes service in
the Temple, teaching Torah, something which in later periods became the foremost
occupation of the priests, commented upon by Maleachi 2,7 with the line ‫כי שפתי כהן‬
‫ישמרו דעת והתורה יבקשו מפיהו‬, “for the lips of a priest guard knowledge, and men
seeking rulings from his mouth, for he is a messenger of the Lord of Hosts.”

Verse 29

‫כן תעשה לשורך לצאנך‬, that you shall give to Me the firstborn which is not a
prematurely aborted fetus. Our sages have said (Shabbat 135) that “a human baby
which remains alive for 30 days is considered viable, not in the category of ‫נפל‬,
prematurely aborted. In the case of animals the parallel period is eight days.”

Verse 30

‫ואנשי קודש תהיון לי‬, the manner in which you will prove that you all are men of
holy purpose is that you will allow your firstborns to be devoted to the service of
Me and you will hand over the tithes, etc., stipulated as “My gifts,” [in matters
of specific ritual, seeing that every Jew has to serve Hashem. Ed.] Initially, it
was the task of the firstborn to teach the common people the details of Jewish law
and ritual. When they do this the result will be ‫והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים‬, “you will
sanctify yourselves and remain holy” (Leviticus 20,7).
‫ובשר בשדה טרפה‬, even the kind of treifah which is neither ritually impure nor
confers impurity at all. [if this is forbidden, ‫נבלה‬, animals which die of other
causes than ritual slaughter are certainly forbidden as food. Ed.]

Chapter 23

Verse 1

... ‫לא תשא‬. To sign with such people on the same document. According
‫לא תשת ידך עם רשע‬
to Sanhedrin 23 the inhabitants of Jerusalem would not put their signature on any
document unless they had satisfied themselves as to the integrity of co-signers on
such documents.
‫להיות עד חמס‬, to be the sole signatory seeing that the signature of wicked people
is not worth anything. The result might be that the judge will confiscate money
from the defendant based on a document with only one signature, something
inadmissible under Jewish law.

Verse 2

‫לא תהיה אחרי רבים לרעות‬, as the tie-breaking vote in a trial involving capital
punishment. One cannot declare someone guilty of the death penalty on the basis of
a solitary judge. A majority of one would be equivalent to a conviction by a single
judge.
‫ולא תענה על ריב‬, when your colleagues the other judges ask your opinion,
‫לנטות אחרי רבים‬, do not be influenced by the fact that the majority thinks
differently from you. Assuming that in a trial 10 of the 23 judges had expressed
the view that the accused was innocent whereas eleven had expressed the view that
the accused was guilty,
‫להטות‬, if you were to cast your vote with the majority there would then be a
majority of 2 out of a total of 23 voting guilty, and that decision would have been
arrived at by your single vote. You are not allowed to salvage your conscience by
voting with the majority unless this represented your absolute conviction. You must
explain the reason for your vote. Unless there is a majority of two votes in favour
of guilty no one can be convicted of the death penalty.

Verse 3
Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

‫לא תטה משפט אביונך בריבו‬, an example of being lenient with one category of person
and harsh with another. When litigants are facing you, you must not take account of
any differences in their social standing. Not only this, if one of the litigants is
standing during the proceedings whereas the other one is seated, this is already a
form of inadmissible discrimination.

Verse 7

‫מדבר שקר תרחק‬, the Torah addresses the judge, telling him to stay clear of anything
which could create the impression that he has dealings with something corrupt. Our
sages enlarge on this, cautioning that the judge must be careful with all his
utterances so that a liar cannot exploit his words for his own nefarious purposes.
(Avot 1,9)

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

‫תשמטנה‬, a reference to sh’mittat kessaphim, relinquishing outstanding overdue debts

at the end of the agricultural Sh’mittah year. The legislation is spelled out in
greater detail in Deuteronomy 15,2 .
‫ונטשתה ואכלו אביוני עמך‬, during the agricultural sh’mittah year the poor will also
share in all the crops.
‫ויתרם‬, after the poor have taken what they want,
‫תאכל חית השדה‬, the poor people had first claim. We have been taught in Taanit 20
that one must not feed the dogs food which is fit for human consumption.

Verse 12

‫תשבות‬, you must even refrain from doing things which are not prohibited under the
heading of ‫מלאכה‬, the kind of activity associated with construction of the
Tabernacle, if these activities represent strenuous exertion customary on weekdays.
We have been taught in Shabbat 113 that one of the ways of honouring the gift of
the Sabbath is to refrain from engaging in activities that remind one of weekdays.
The Talmud bases this on Isaiah 58,13 who defines proper Sabbath observance as
distinct from merely formal Sabbath observance, with these words: “if you refrain
from trampling the Sabbath, from pursuing your affairs on My holy day; if you call
the Sabbath ‘delight,’ the Lord’s holy day ‘honored,’ and if you honour it and go
not your ways nor look to your affairs nor strike bargains, then you can seek the
favour of the Lord.”
‫למען ינוח שורך וחמורך‬, as a result of your Sabbath observance also your beasts of
burden will enjoy rest.
‫וינפש בן אמתך והגר‬, as a corollary of your own Sabbath observance also your
personnel will enjoy physical respite from their weekday chores. The Torah
describes the contrast with your own experience while you were slaves in Egypt,
when you did not enjoy rest on your master’s holidays. We have proof of this in
Exodus 5,9 when Pharaoh ordered a further intensification of the hard labour
performed by the Israelites as a response to their request for a brief vacation in
order to attend to their religious obligations. This is part of the national aspect
of the Sabbath, stressed in Deuteronomy 5,14, as opposed to the universal aspect of
Sabbath observance stressed in Exodus 20,11.

Verse 13

‫ ושם לאוהימ אחרים לא תזכירו‬,‫כל אשר אמרתי לאיכם תשמרו‬, the Israelites are cautioned
not only not to violate G’d’s commandments, but to construct safeguards to ensure
that they do not violate these commandments inadvertently. A prime example of this
is the caution not to only not to worship idols, but not even to mention their
names.
‫לא ישמע על פיך‬, you must not even be the cause of others mentioning the names of
these idols. If they do mention these names it must not be with your approval.

Verse 14

‫תחוג לי‬, as we find in Psalms 149,2 ‫ישמח ישרלא בעושיו‬, “the people of Israel rejoice
in their Maker.” Such joy on the festivals legislated by G’d is to offset the joy
displayed on the occasion of the making of the golden calf, when the Torah reported
“when he saw the calf and the people dancing, etc.” (Exodus 32,19).

Verse 15

‫את חג המצות תשמור‬, the word ‫ תשמור‬is meant in the same sense as ‫שמור את חודש האביב‬
‫ועשית פסח‬, “observe the month of spring to prepare the Passover.” (Deut. 1,1.)<br>
‫למועד חודש האביב‬, a subtle hint to the authorities to ensure that the calendar
dates given for this festival coincide with the season of spring. This may be
accomplished by an extra day in certain months, or in more drastic situations by
the insertion of a second month of Adar.

Verse 16

‫בצאת השנה‬. After all the harvests have been gathered in.

Verse 17

‫שלש פעמים בשנה יראה‬, to give thanks to the Lord for the attainment of freedom from
bondage, in spring, in summer and in fall. All our achievements stem from Him.
‫לא פני האדון‬, to appear in the presence of the ‫אדון‬. The term ‫ אדון‬is applied to
someone who is in control of perishable things, mortals, etc. The Torah, by using
this name of G’d, reminds us that He is the master of the people who present
themselves each as an individual. When they make such an appearance before the
Lord, they are as if each making an obeisance before his Master. This “Master” is
simultaneously the master of the soil they toil which provides their livelihood,
seeing that G’d is on record as ‫כי לי כל הארץ כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי‬, “all of the
earth is Mine for you are strangers or at best resident strangers with Me.”
(Leviticus 25,23). In view of the above, it is clearly appropriate to express our
gratitude to Him during the three aforementioned seasons. Therefore, (19) ‫ראשית‬
‫בכורי אדמתך‬, a reference to the choicest of our respective fruit. The word ‫ ראשית‬is
used in the sense of “the choicest,” in Amos 6,6 ‫וראשית שמנים ימשחו‬, “they anoint
themselves with the choicest oils.” Similarly, Amos 6,1, ‫נקובי ראשית הגויים‬, “you
notables of the leading nation.” The products qualifying for this commandment are
the 7 listed in Bikkurim 1,Mishnah 3

Verse 18

Verse 19

‫לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו‬, do not practice these procedures which the idolaters believe
are apt to improve the earth’s productivity. But, on the contrary, ‫ראשית בכורי‬
‫אדמתך תביא‬, if you really want to attract G’d’s blessing on your agricultural
endeavours you will present G’d with a gift of the very first and finest of your
respective crops. (compare Ezekiel 44,30 ‫להניח‬...,‫ וכל תרומת כל‬,‫וראשית בכורי כל‬
‫ברכה לא ביתך‬, “all the choice first fruits of every kind, and all the gifts of every
kind,- of all your contributions,- shall go to the priests,,,,that a blessing may
rest upon your home.”

Verse 20

Verse 21

‫השמר מפניו‬, not to offend his dignity. The word is used in a sense similar to
Joshua 5,9 (the angel speaking) “remove your shoe from your foot!”
‫ושמע בקולו‬, to follow in his footsteps, the reverse of what the Israelites had done
(as reported) in Deuteronomy 1,28 when they were willing to listen and to follow
the 10 spies who had declared that it was impossible to attain their objective,
i.e. the conquest of the land of Canaan.
‫לא תמר בו כי לא ישא לפשעכם‬, if even a single individual will sin, the punishment
will include his fellow Jews. This is precisely what happened when Achan had stolen
from the loot of Jericho and, because his sin had been covered up, Israel lost the
first battle of Ai. (Joshua refers to this as a warning in Joshua 22,20. He reminds
the people that Achan was not the only one punished for this sin but that G’d
[presumably because He had invested His angel with such authority. Ed.] vented His
anger at the entire nation.)
‫כי שמי בקרבו‬, and G’d does not have the power (right) to waive the honour which His
angel is entitled to.

Verse 22

‫ואיבתי את אויביך‬...‫כי אם שמוע תשמע בקולו‬, My relationship to you then will not be
protective, defensive, i.e. that I need to protect you, but aggressive, by treating
your enemies as My enemies. This is the reverse of G’d’s attitude to Nineveh in
Jonah 4,11 where G’d asked Jonah: “how can I not relate protectively to a city of
over 120.000 people?”

Verse 23

‫כי ילך מלאכי לפניך‬, who will not waive any of the sins of your enemies. [the angel,
by definition, will not forgive, tolerate insubordination, but this would boomerang
on the Jewish people to whom he will not show special favour either. Ed.]

Verse 24
‫לא תשתחוה ללאוהיהם‬, do not do what King Amatziah is reported to have done after he
had conquered the land of Se-ir. It is reported in Chronicles II 25,14 that after
having defeated the Edomites he installed their deities in Jerusalem bowed to them
and offered sacrifices to them. He may have wanted to appease their feelings for
having defeated the Edomites.

Verse 25

‫ועבדתם את ה' לאוקיכם‬, the manner in which you will demonstrate that you indeed serve
Him is by destroying all the idols as mentioned in the previous verse. As a
corollary of having destroyed idolatry and its representatives you will not need to
worry about anyone in your midst trying to convert Jews to such alien religions and
to thereby estrange them from serving Me.
‫וברך את לחמך‬, so that it will prove nutritious instead of the source of a variety
of intestinal ailments.
‫והסירותי מחלה מקרבך‬, diseases caused by polluted air or climactic conditions.

Verse 26

‫לא תהיה משכלה ועקרה‬, so that you will have an opportunity to teach the children
that have been born to you.
‫את מספר ימיך אמלא‬, so that you will live as a result of the heavenly oil in the
lamp of G’d. [the physical phenomenon perceived as sustaining life once it exists
is a certain inherent source of moisture, described as celestial oil, as oil does
not dry up on its own. Usually, life is cut short due to diseases caused by
external causes which are not due to this vital oil having become depleted. When a
person is granted a lifespan not cut short by disease caused by external causes, he
will usually live long enough to pass on his aims in life to his children. This is
the meaning of Deuteronomy 4,9 ‫והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך‬, “you will make them known
to your children and to your grandchildren.” A prominent example of such a blessing
was the fact that Levi lived long enough to pass on his heritage to Kehot, his son,
and Amram his grandson. They each became leaders of their generation.

Verse 27

‫ונתתי את כל אויביך לאיך עורף‬, they will turn their backs to you out of fear and the
confusion in accordance with My promise
‫את אימתי אשלח לפניך והמותי‬, the same had happened when the Egyptians were at the
bottom of the sea bed when the waves began crashing down on them, and they said” I
will flee from the Israelites for G’d is fighting for them.” (Exodus 14,25)

Verse 28

Verse 29

Verse 30

Verse 31

‫כי אתן בידכם את יושבי הארץ וגרשתמו‬, the matter is delivered into your hands, i.e.
you have to carry it out. You must not display undue tardiness, laziness. We read
in Joshua 18,3 that Joshua was complaining to his people about their being
deliberately slow in carrying out the task of disposing of all the Canaanites.
(“how long are you going to be dragging your feet to take possession of the land
which the G’d of your fathers has given to you?” Joshua speaking to the people at a
time when 7 tribes had not yet received portions of the land.).

Verse 32

Verse 33

‫לא ישבו בארצך‬. In the area which you have conquered and take up residence in.
Unfortunately, the Israelites ignored this warning of the Torah as we know from
Judges 1,29 ‫וישב הכנעני בקרבו בגזר‬, as well as Judges 1,33 ‫וישב בקרב הכנעני יושבי‬
‫הארץ‬, [the Israelites lived in mixed communities, in some they were the majority,
in others even only the minority. Ed.]
‫כי יהיה לך למוקש‬, their very presence as inhabitants in that land will become a
snare for you, i.e. you will begin to worship their deities.

Chapter 24

Verse 1

‫!ולא משה אמר עלה‬, after He had finished telling him ‫ כה תאמר לא בני ישרלא אתם ראיתם‬in
20,18. At that time He had explained to the people that they must not try and
“reach” Him through intermediaries, but that all that was required was an altar
made of earth, coupled with the meticulous observance of His commandments as
spelled out in the Ten Commandments. The verse tells us that all of these things
were explained to the whole nation. However, ‫ולא משה אמר‬, to Moses himself G’d had
said that he should come up to the mountain just as he had been commanded to do
already before the revelation, when G’d had said to him in 19,14 ‫לך רד ועלית אתה‬
‫ואהרן עמך‬.

Verse 2

Verse 3

'‫ויבא משה ויספר לעם את כל דברי ה‬, the matters Moses told the people were those
reported in the Torah between 20,8 and the beginning of chapter 21.

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

‫וחצי הדם זרק על המזבח‬, he converted the altar into being G’d’s intermediary,
messenger; for the concluding of the covenant. Half the blood was sprinkled on the
altar, the other half on the people.

Verse 7

‫ספר הברית‬. The book in which G’d’s words had been recorded as well as the laws
concerning which the covenant was concluded. Reference has to be made to this book
in verse four of our chapter.
‫ויקרא באזני העם‬, Moses read out the contents so that the people would know what
they had committed themselves to. Only by knowing the contents would they be
prevented from violating the commandments inadvertently.
‫נעשה ונשמע‬, a reference to action designed to ensure that they could obey G’d’s
directives without thought of any reward that might be in store for them by doing
this. We find a similar construction in Psalms 103,20 ‫עושי דברו לשמוע בקולו‬, “who
do His bidding, ever obedient to His bidding.”

Verse 8

Verse 9

‫ויעל משה ואהרן‬, after he had carried out the tasks entrusted to him by G’d. telling
the people what he had been told to in 20,18. Now he carried out the instructions
recorded in verse 1 of our chapter.

Verse 10

‫ותחת רגליו‬, on the earth, the lowest point. We have G’d on record as describing
“earth” in such terms in Isaiah 66,1 ‫והארץ הדם רגליו‬, “the earth is My footstool.”
‫כמעשה לבנת ספיר‬, an essence, totally transparent, devoid of colours and permanent
contours so that it is almost completely abstract, capable of absorbing spiritual
input from spiritual domains at will. An allegorical description of the human ‫נפש‬,
“life-force.”
‫וכעצם השמים לטוהר‬, they perceived that this ‫לבנת הספיר‬, “essence,” is totally
independent of the raw material man is made of; just as what we perceive as the
essence of heaven in the sky is totally devoid of tangible matter. It is the
essence of what we consider the celestial regions, “heaven,” for lack of a better
word. It is not connected to the solid physical planets etc., which form the
“inhabitants” of these celestial domains. The fact that the “sky,” “heaven,” has no
physical dimensions makes it appear as if it is the spiritual dimension of “Heaven”
itself.

Verse 11

‫ולא אצילי בני ישרלא לא שלח ידו‬, G’d, did not extend His helping hand to enable these
nobles and elders to grant them the level of prophetic status while they were
oblivious to their five senses with which they perceived while merely human beings.
We encounter such a concept in Ezekiel 8,1 when the prophet describes an
inspiration received with the words: ‫'ותפול עלי יד ה‬, “and the “hand” of G’d “fell”
upon me there.” The use of this phraseology describes the separation of the
“normal” senses used for perception employed by the prophet, and his transformation
into a super terrestrial dimension. [It is probably impossible to really
“translate” this line into the vernacular in any language. The main point our
author makes, as opposed to other commentators, is that this “hand of G’d” is not
perceived by him as one that is retributive in character, but, on the contrary, as
one that elevates the human being to a spiritually higher dimension.” In our
context the Torah says that the “visions” achieved by these ‫אצילי בני ישרלא‬, were
not further helped along by G’d. Ed.] Examples of people who divest themselves of
human senses, or human garb, (a simile for their senses?) are King Saul in Samuel I
19,24 “then he too stripped off his clothes and he too spoke in ecstasy before
Samuel, and he lay naked all day and night. This is why people say: “Is Saul too
among the prophets?”
‫ויחזו את הלאוקים‬, they achieved a vision of their concept of G’d similar to a
prophetic vision.
‫ויאכלו וישתו‬, afterwards they made a festive meal which they consumed without their
normal senses having been in any way transformed or temporarily become neutralised.
They prepared this festive meal congratulating themselves on a higher spiritual
dimension which they felt they had achieved.

Verse 12

‫עלה לאי ההרה‬, to the top of the mountain. This was after he had already approached
more closely than the people with him, as we have read in verse 2, ‫ונגש משה לבדו‬
“only Moses alone is to approach any closer.” Nonetheless, at that point he had not
ascended the summit of the mountain. It was on this occasion, while they looked
after Moses disappearing into the cloud forming a shroud around the mountain, that
the “nobles” and the elders had the vision just described. This is what was meant
in verse 17 with the words ‫ומראה כבוד ה' כאש אוכלת בראש ההר‬, “and the manifestation
of the glory of the Lord was similar to a consuming fire at the top of the
mountain.” We find this formulation (‫ )ראש ההר‬again during the giving of the Ten
Commandments in 19,20.
‫והיה שם‬, stay there for an extended period. The root ‫ היה‬appears in this sense in
Deuteronomy 10,5 ‫ויהיו שם כאשר צוני‬, “they have remained there as G’d had commanded
me.”
‫והתורה‬, “and the part which requires profound study,”
‫והמצוה‬, and the part of the Torah which primarily requires action in order to
fulfill it.
‫אשר כתבתי‬, “which I (the Lord) have written.” If it had not been for the sin of the
golden calf, the entire Torah would have been handed to the Jewish people (Moses)
as a signed and sealed document just like the Tablets with the Ten Commandments.
Moses alluded to this when he described the approach of G’d to Mount Sinai in
Deuteronomy 33,2 ‫ ואתה מרבבות קודש מימינו אש דת למו‬, G’d was ready to hand us the
whole Torah but the sin of the golden calf prevented this at that that time.
Instead, Moses wrote down the Torah at G’d’s command (dictation). Moses is on
record as having done this in Deuteronomy 34,27. In fact, Moses only brought the
Tablets to within sight of the people in order to smash them before their eyes, so
that they would understand what they had forfeited due to their disloyalty to G’d.
This demonstration of Moses having smashed the Tablets was designed to shock the
people into penitence.
‫להורותם‬, to teach them. Although everything was available in the form of a written
text, as we know from our sages in Taanit 9 “is there then anything which has not
either been spelled out or alluded to in the text of the Torah that Moses handed
down to us?” And, the Talmud Gittin 60 adds that most is spelled out in the
written text and only a relatively small part was reserved for what we call the
“oral Torah,” the allusions in the Torah which require profound study and most
ordinary Israelites would not understand them unless they had the guidance of
scholars. Knowing this, a statement by the sages which appears to conflict with the
statement we quoted from Gittin 60, and which states that most of the legislation
of the Torah is derived from the “oral Torah,” is not in conflict with that at all.
The former statement refers to people studying under the guidance of a competent
Torah scholar.

Verse 13
Verse 14

‫ולא הזקנים אמר‬, when he departed from them in order to ascend to the top of the
mountain as G’d had commanded him in verse 12.

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

‫ויהי משה בהר‬, each time Moses ascended the mountain from this point on he remained
on it for a period of 40 days and forty nights. This period corresponds to the time
it takes for a fertilised egg in a woman’s womb to achieve a critical status that
permits us to refer to it as a fetus. Moses’ stay on the mountain for such periods
of time effected his spiritual progress in a similar manner, elevating him to
higher spiritual dimensions. The evidence lies in the fact that eventually Moses’
face radiated so much spiritual illumination that the people were frightened by
this phenomenon and Moses had to veil his head. (Exodus 34,29) Moses had been meant
to achieve this stature already at the end of his first 40 days’ stay on the
mountain, but the people’s making the golden calf and worshipping it, foiled this
plan. G’d Himself told Moses to descend due to his people having become corrupt
(Exodus 32,7). According to our tradition, Moses’ second stay of forty days on the
mountain was a period when G’d’s anger at the people had not yet abated, so that he
could not be rewarded with the distinction G’d had in mind for him. He attained
that distinction only during his third stay on the mountain when he was also
instructed concerning the construction of the Tabernacle seeing that he was told to
place the second set of Tablets in the Holy Ark (Exodus 25,21). This did not refer
to an ark within which to place the shattered first set of Tablets. In fact,
according to tradition, seeing that the letters written by G’d on the first set of
Tablets had “flown” away, the remnants of those Tablets which were eventually
placed in another ark are not referred to as “The testimony,” seeing they did not
contain any writing anymore at that point. (compare Pesachim 87) Commencing with
25,8 where G’d says to Moses that He will take up permanent residence in the
Tabernacle to be built, the first 2500 years of mankind’s history where G’d was
equally accessible anywhere has come to an end, and there would be a centralised
form of worship as part of the Jewish religion. Instead of G’d permitting the
erection of altars anywhere it pleased man, and His coming to meet man at such
sites, (Exodus 20,20) now the roles are reversed and He will be in residence in His
palace on earth, and anyone who wishes to pray to Him effectively will have to do
this at that Temple. There will be groups of people charged with the sacrificial
service in the Temple, the priests, and laymen will not be allowed into the inner
sanctum of this Temple at all. This, in short, is the message of Exodus 28,1 “and
you (Moses) bring close (To Me) your brother Aaron.” Actually, the tribe of Levi
had not yet been selected until after the affair of the golden calf. Moses recalls
that event in Deuteronomy 10,8 and the events that had led up to it. In light of
all this the fact that Moses spent 40 days and nights on the mountain each time he
ascended there is very significant. The stage at which Moses‘ face radiated these
rays of light was not achieved until the end of Moses’ third stay on the mountain
after he had been commanded to erect the Tabernacle. After the building of the
Tabernacle had been completed, as well as the making of the priestly garments, and
the incense and oil anointing, Moses revealed the stages that preceded it, telling
the people that at the end of the first forty days on the mountains he received the
first set of Tablets. Any delay in the carrying out of G’d’s original timetable for
these events was not due to G’d delaying His plan but to the conduct of the people
in the interval that had forced Him to revise His timetable. Had the episode of the
golden calf not intervened, Moses’ second and third stay on the mountain would have
been totally superfluous. The episodes described in Exodus 32,7, 33,12 and 34,1
until 34 28-29 were only caused by the repercussions of the sin of the golden calf.

Chapter 25

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

‫וזאת התרומה‬, the word ‫ זאת‬means that no substitutes for the materials listed would
be acceptable, such as perishables, for instance. Even the kind of gemstones
(pearls, for instance) not usable for Aaron’s breastplate, were not accepted. The
only type of contributions that were accepted were those that in themselves would
be usable in the construction of the Tabernacle and its paraphernalia.

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

'‫ושכנתי בתוכם ככל אשר אני מראה אותך וגו‬, “I will dwell among them permanently in
order to receive their prayers and their sacrificial offerings in a manner similar
to the way I displayed My presence at the mountain.” Henceforth My presence will be
manifest between the two cherubs on the lid of the Holy Ark as part of the overall
structure called the Tabernacle. [I will paraphrase from here on in. Ed.]The author
perceives of different degrees of holiness, just as the kabbalists perceive
holiness in the extra terrestrial world as consisting of spiritually progressively
higher different levels. The outer structure known as ‫תבנית המקדש‬, “the format,”
visual image, lead up to the cherubs in the innermost part of that structure. The
very concept of the Tabernacle leads the intelligent viewer to conclude that hidden
deep within it, G’d’s presence, ‫ שכינה‬must be manifest. The prophet Isaiah 6,2
phrased this as the ‫שרפים עומדין ממעל לו‬, the types of angels of a rank known as
“Seraphim” were in attendance above G’d’s throne. This was the closest to G’d’s
essence that the prophets were shown in their visions. The terrestrial Tabernacle,
if viewed as parallel to G’d’s throne in the celestial domains, contained different
sections of progressively higher levels of sanctity which progressively restricted
the type of people allowed to approach those levels. The Torah itself, for which
the Holy Ark served as repository, was in an ark constructed of wood but overlaid
with gold on the inside and on the outside, to reflect the saying of our sages in
Yuma 72 that every Torah scholar whose external appearance did not reflect his
internal stature is not a Torah scholar at all. The levels of sanctity in the
Tabernacle, beginning already with the courtyard around it, were not sealed off
from one another, but, on the contrary, were connected to one another all the way
to the innermost sanctuary to demonstrate that sanctity is attainable
progressively. On top of the physical box containing the spiritual teaching, the
Torah, there was placed a lid also made from pure gold which symbolised the image
of G’d. [in the sense that man was created in the image of G.d.] This lid was not
linked, attached, to the ark itself at all. The detached nature of this “lid,
‫כפורת‬,” symbolised that at a certain level of holiness there is no longer a
physical bond with the human body, with the terrestrial domain, a domain which is
essentially mortal, i.e. requiring regeneration from time to time. The description
of the cherubs on top of the ‫ כפורת‬facing each other (verse 20) symbolises the
interaction of the spiritual message contained in the Torah and its transmission to
the human being studying it. The cherubs themselves are described as facing the
lid, i.e. facing the Torah that is beneath that lid. As a result of such an
attitude to Torah, i.e. looking to it for inspiration, the cherubs are then
described as spreading their wings in an upward direction, as if reflecting that
they had received spiritual inspiration enabling them to fly. This description of
the cherubs’ posture reflects what Solomon described in Proverbs 15,24 ‫אורח חיים‬
‫למעלה למשכיל‬, “for an intelligent man the path of life is upward.” As a result of
our relating to Torah in the manner described, we will merit what Isaiah 66,2
describes as ‫ולא זה אביט‬, when he refers to the prerequisite character traits
necessary to merit Divine inspiration.

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

‫פעמותיו‬, the corners at its outer edges.

‫ושתי טבעות על צלעו האחת‬, the side, wall of the Ark, is called ‫צלע‬. G’d had
commanded therefore that these rings be attached at the four corners of the Ark.
G’d therefore commanded that there were to be four such rings at the four corners.
Furthermore, G’d commanded that they not be attached along the short sides of the
Ark but along the long sides of the ark. [this contradicts the commentary of both
Rashi and Rash’bam. Ed.]

Verse 13
Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

‫ונתת לא הארון‬, the details were spelled out seeing this vessel had nothing to do
with, and would not have been suitable for, sacrificial service.

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

‫והיו הכרובים‬, our prophets have already explained to us that when they had visions
involving angels, such angels appeared to them in the guise of cherubs. This means
that they had faces like humans but were equipped with wings. In spite of appearing
as if physical beings, the fact that they represented disembodied intelligence was
indicated by the fact that their motion was ever upwards when the prophet observed
them as if being in motion. In other words, any motion ascribed to them was in the
direction of facing towards G’d exclusively. Each one of these cherubs, whenever
and to whomsoever they appeared, did so according to his respective level, rank, in
the celestial hierarchy. ‫והיו הכרובים פורשי כנפים‬, the cherubs were always in a
posture of having extended wings. The human intelligence is one that aspires to
attain union with its counterpart (the source from which it is derived). The
process leading to this involves the understanding of certain mental disciplines in
which the owner of this intelligence divests himself of any and all consideration
involving concretization, i.e. concepts involving the material universe. Only in
this manner can a human being attain the kind of understanding of the Divine that
he is willing and capable of attaining, each according to the level of his
intelligence and his piety. Such insights are achieved by intelligently looking at
the manifestations of G’d in this world, studying about His attributes by gaining
knowledge about how and when He does intervene in history by overriding the laws of
nature which He Himself formulated and instituted. Knowing under what circumstances
G’d will resort to such extraordinary miracles, and appreciating the rationale
behind it, is what enables the prophet at certain times to evoke G’d’s direct
involvement in the fates of individuals. When Moses asked G’d ‫הןדיעני נא את דרכך‬,
“please instruct me in Your ways,” (33,13) he wanted precisely these kinds of
guidelines. When the Torah describes the cherubs as ‫פורשי כנפים למעלה‬, this
describes the source from which all this inspiration has to come. The sages already
explained that these cherubs had the faces of a young boy and a young girl, (Yuma
54) a reference to the initiation of actions originating in a domain which is part
of the abstract world. What is initiated there resembles something masculine, as
the male is symbolic of initiating matters whereas the female’s role is more
responsive in nature. ‫ופניהם איש לא אחיו‬, this describes that what is initiated in
abstract, disembodied regions of the universe, i.e. in heaven, is accepted,
received willingly and in a complementary fashion by the creatures in this
concrete, i.e. physical part of the universe, Only by a merging of these two basic
constituent parts of our universe can “perfection” on earth be attained. The reason
why the Torah continues in describing these cherubs as facing the lid of the Ark,
i.e. looking downwards whereas their wings are spread upwards, is a reminder that
although inspiration originates in heaven, understanding of G’d and how He works
can only come by paying close attention and studying what He does in our material,
“lower” part of His universe. The ideal means of unraveling the meaning of G’d’s
actions is through His revealed word, the Torah, of which the Ark has become the
repository. The upshot of the message contained in the symbolism represented by the
cherubs, their shape, their posture, etc., is that for us on earth the key to
obtain all these insights must be obtained by study of the Torah. By giving us the
Torah, allowing us to build the Tabernacle, etc.,

Verse 21

Verse 22

‫ונועדתי לך שם ודברתי אתך‬, G’d assures Moses that this is the site where He will
communicate with him and become as familiar to him as it is possible for G’d to
become familiar to man. This is where the Shechinah’s presence will become
“stationed,” as already spelled out in the opening verses of our chapter (8-9) with
the words ‫ושכנתי בתוכם ככל אשר אני מראה אותך‬, “I will dwell among them in
accordance with the blueprint which I have shown you.” The meaning of the words ‫וכן‬
‫ תעשו‬at the end of verse 9, is that once the Jewish people or their elite engage in
study of the relationship of physics to metaphysics, something known in the
parlance of the Talmud as ‫מעשה מרכבה‬, and they will do so motivated by the
acceptable purpose, i.e. to become better servants of the Lord, not only will the
Shechinah assist us but the ministering angels will also be of help in furthering
such study. (Chagigah 14)

Verse 23

‫ועשית שלחן‬, after the Ark, which symbolised G’d’s throne on earth, as expressed by
the words ‫ונועדתי לך שם‬, “I will designate this for My meeting place with you,”
(verse 22) had been completed, G’d commanded the construction of the Table and the
Lamp stand, essential furnishings for a guest room, as we know from King II 4,10
where the lady in Shunem, planning to provide private accommodation for the prophet
Elisha who was her frequent guest, discusses such details with her husband.
According to our sages in Yuma 72 the crown-like border surrounding the surface of
the table symbolised the crown of the kingdom of G’d. A king’s task in
administering the affairs of state is divided into two aspects. 1) He must dispense
justice, or appoint people who see to it that justice is dispensed. 2) He must
concern himself with the defense of the realm, again, either personally, or by
delegating his authority to loyal experts. This is how the people requesting that
Samuel appoint a king for them defined the king’s duties in Samuel I 8,20.
Accordingly, the table actually had two “crowns.” (this exegesis differs from that
of Rashi who holds that there was only one such “crown.”) One of the “crowns” is
for the table as such, the table symbolising the physical nourishment of the people
and the general conduct of its affairs, the second symbolises an “enclosure,
security fence,” ‫מסגרת‬, a defensive system against harm to the people from whatever
source, signaling that any attacker will not only be repelled but will be crushed.
Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

‫קערותיו וכפותיו‬, these vessels were popularly used at Royal banquets, etc.

Verse 30

Verse 31

‫ועשית מנורת זהב טהור‬. This commandment follows the establishment of “2 crowns,” the
crown of Torah as represented by the Ark, and the crown of Royalty as represented
by the Table. The Torah arranged the subject of the Menorah as something that it
totally integrated, i.e. just as the Menorah was to be constructed of a single
chunk of gold, not as a composite structure, so the seven lights were also to be
arranged in such a way that the light from the lamps would converge in one above
the light burning on top of the central shaft. This is the meaning of the words
‫והאיר על עבר פניה‬, (verse 36) this means that the lights both on the right of the
center shaft and those on the left should be arranged so that the respective flames
would focus in the direction of the middle. Inasmuch as the lights symbolised
spiritual “enlighten-ment,” the lesson is that in all our efforts at obtaining such
enlightenment, and during all the digressions that the pursuit of such disciplines
necessarily entails, we must never lose sight of the direction in which we are
striving and keep this central idea of such enlightenment resulting in us becoming
better servants of the Lord, constantly in front of our mental eye. The reason that
there were lights on both the right side of the center shaft as well as on the left
side, is that pursuit of enlightenment expresses itself both in gaining of
theoretical knowledge, ethical imperatives, but no less so in the practical
application of such lessons learned. Both must be placed in the service of the ‫נר‬
‫המערבי‬, the light from the center shaft, the one which faces the Shechinah
directly. Only the focusing on our spiritual goal ensures that the six lights on
the various arms will continue to burn without hindrance. The thought we just tried
to portray is expressed in Numbers 8,2-4 ‫בהעלותך את הנרות לא מול פני המנוה יאירו‬
‫“ שבעת הנרות‬when you kindle the lamps, toward the face of the Menorah shall the
seven lamps cast light.” This is the symbolism contained in the words ‫וזה מעשה‬
‫המנורה מקשה‬, (Numbers 8,4) i.e. in spite of what appears to be a multiplicity of
lights emanating from this Menorah, their function is singular, one of unification,
just as the Menorah from which they emanate was cast out of a single chunk of gold,
something unified.
Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 35

Verse 36

Verse 37

‫והאיר על עבר פניה‬, (verse 36) this means that the lights both on the right of the
center shaft and those on the left should be arranged so that the respective flames
would focus in the direction of the middle. Inasmuch as the lights symbolised
spiritual “enlighten-ment,” the lesson is that in all our efforts at obtaining such
enlightenment, and during all the digressions that the pursuit of such disciplines
necessarily entails, we must never lose sight of the direction in which we are
striving and keep this central idea of such enlightenment resulting in us becoming
better servants of the Lord, constantly in front of our mental eye. The reason that
there were lights on both the right side of the center shaft as well as on the left
side, is that pursuit of enlightenment expresses itself both in gaining of
theoretical knowledge, ethical imperatives, but no less so in the practical
application of such lessons learned. Both must be placed in the service of the ‫נר‬
‫המערבי‬, the light from the center shaft, the one which faces the Shechinah
directly. Only the focusing on our spiritual goal ensures that the six lights on
the various arms will continue to burn without hindrance. The thought we just tried
to portray is expressed in Numbers 8,2-4 ‫בהעלותך את הנרות לא מול פני המנוה יאירו‬
‫“ שבעת הנרות‬when you kindle the lamps, toward the face of the Menorah shall the
seven lamps cast light.” This is the symbolism contained in the words ‫וזה מעשה‬
‫המנורה מקשה‬, (Numbers 8,4) i.e. in spite of what appears to be a multiplicity of
lights emanating from this Menorah, their function is singular, one of unification,
just as the Menorah from which they emanate was cast out of a single chunk of gold,
something unified.

Chapter 26

Verse 1

‫ואת המשכן תעשה‬, the reason why these curtains are referred to by the Torah as ‫משכן‬,
“a residence,” is because in the space covered by them there were the kinds of
furnishings normally found in a dwelling, i.e. table, cupboard (Ark), and a lamp
stand. The dwelling was designed to house the presence of G’d more commonly
referred to as the Shechinah. ‫כרובים‬, the curtains were made with the patterns of
cherubs woven into them, as we know from the description of Isaiah’s vision (Isaiah
6,2) that he perceived G’d surrounded by angels described as Seraphim. We also find
another description of a similar type in Kings I 22,19 where the prophet Michayah
describes his vision of G’d in these words: “I saw the Lord seated on His throne
with all the host of heaven standing in attendance to the right and to the left of
Him.”

Verse 2

Verse 3

‫חמש היריעות תהיין חוברות‬, the decorative weaving patterns of these curtains should
match each curtain to its counterpart. This was the difference between the curtains
covering the sanctuary and those covering the Holy of Holies. Even though in both
instances, the presence of such angel-like shapes woven into the material of the
curtains, suggested an extra terrestrial dimension, there was a difference between
the way these figures were woven into the five curtains covering the Holy of Holies
and the patterns woven into the curtains covering the sanctuary. The difference
alluded to the different degree of sanctity of these two sections of the
Tabernacle. [I do not know the author’s source for this assertion. Possibly, he
derives this from the apparently unnecessary repetition of the words ‫חמש היריעות‬
and ‫ חמש יריעות‬without the prefix letter ‫ ה‬the second time. Ed.]

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

‫והיה המשכן אחד‬. Even though the respective level of sanctity of the two parts of
the structure was not uniform, what they had in common was that both reflected the
fact that the will of their Creator had been carried out. It reminds us of Isaiah
describing different groups of angels calling to each other in mutual encouragement
to proclaim the Holiness of G’d (Isaiah 6,3).

Verse 7

‫לאהל על המשכן‬. The purpose of what was called ‫ משכן‬had not been to serve as a tent,
but to assure that the cherubs would be surrounding the Shechinah.

Verse 8

Verse 9

‫וחברת את חמש היריעות לבד‬, even within the Tabernacle there was a difference between
levels of sanctity. It is reminiscent of what David said in Psalms 19,5 where the
subjects are the different planetary forces and their orbits, each of them closer
or further from the center, the sun. All of them represent forces created by G’d to
help run an orderly universe, and all of them, in David’s own words, proclaim G’d’s
handiwork; yet at the end, David reminds us that G’d appointed the sun as a “tent”
to “cover” them all, i.e. their diversity.
Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

‫עצי שטים עומדים‬. Not arranged horizontally as such boards are normally arranged in
buildings of a secular nature.

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24
‫לא הטבעת האחת‬, to the ring at the thickest point of the board forming the corner
post. [we referred to this in verse 23 where these two boards are described as
serving with one cubit in a westerly direction, completing the length of the
structure and with the half cubit constituting its thickness closing the gap left
on either side of the six boards forming the western wall of the Tabernacle.
(compare Rash’bam there) Ed.] The bolts (bars) running alongside the walls were
also inserted both in the lower level and the higher level (above the center bar)
through the rings attached to these corner boards at the south-west and south-east
of the Tabernacle respectively, ensuring that the structure was solid.

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

‫ואת טבעותיהם‬, it is customary for bolts to be inserted through rings unless the
Torah would explain that it was not so, as in the case of the central bolt which
was not fastened to the outside of the boards at all but inside of them as
explained in verse 28.

Verse 30

Verse 31

Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 35

‫ושמת את השלחן מחוץ לפרכת‬, after the Ark had been placed inside the Tabernacle.
Betzalel arranged that the dividing curtain would be between the Holy of Holies
containing the Ark and the other furnishings, i.e. the Table and the Menorah. The
Table would be on the right side and the Menorah on the left [viewed from the
perspective of someone entering the sanctuary. Ed.] Proverbs 3,16 refers to this
when writing ‫אורך ימים בימינה בשמאולה עושר וכבוד‬, “length of days is in her right
hand, in her left hands riches and honour.”

Chapter 27

Verse 1

Verse 2

‫קרנותיו‬, a feature of all altars, as were the shovels and the basins for the blood
as receptacles.

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫כרכב המזבח‬, ledges which are common to all vessels made of wood, as our sages
confirm in Chulin 25 “these are wooden vessels in their original unfinished state
that are not susceptible to ritual impurity; any such vessel or instrument that is
not fit for intended for scraping the scales off fish, etc.”

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

‫נבוב לוחות‬, similar to a box which has no rim around its base and no cover.
‫כאשר הראה אותך בהר‬, that they were to fill the hollow inside with earth at the
times they would be encamped. The fire [reserve of the wooden pile some of which
was kept constantly burning. Ed.] which was to be kept going on the altar as
described in Leviticus 6,6, would be based on the earth.

Verse 9

‫מאה באמה ועמודיו עשרים‬, the space between one pillar and the next including one of
the pillars was 5 cubits. However, there were no 20 pillars either along the
northern wall or along the southern wall of this courtyard at such intervals but
the ones linking up with the east wall and the west wall had to be adjoining the
ones running at 90 degree angles from them. [the careful reader will perceive that
it is impossible for all the pillars to have been placed five cubits apart from
both their partners on the other side, as they would then have covered a total
distance of more that the 300 cubits making up the total length of the four
“walls.” Ed.]
‫וחשוקיהם‬, sort of bracelets attached to the pillars for decorative purposes.

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

‫לכל כלי המשכן לכל עבודתו‬, the vessels, tools needed to perform all the service
connected with the Tabernacle.

Verse 20

‫ואתה תצוה‬, If, prior to this admonition, the Torah introduced its instructions with
the words ‫ועשית‬, “you will do, etc.,” the meaning had been that Moses was not to do
this personally, but that he was to delegate the tasks in question. The formulation
‫ואתה‬, however, means: “and you personally.” He, personally, was to issue
instructions to the Israelites concerning providing the oil for the Menorah. He,
personally, was to assemble Aaron and his sons and to address all the ‫חכמי לב‬,
“wise-hearted people.” (28,1 and 28,3)
‫ויקחו לאיך‬, as the need would arise in the future, after the Tabernacle had been
completed. The people should not think that donating oil for the Menorah now was
the only time that this commandment would be actual. It would have to be replaced
from time to time as the supply kept would become depleted on an ongoing basis.
Chapter 28

Verse 1

Verse 2

‫לכבוד‬, to render honour and glory to the Almighty through the wearing of such
resplendent garments when performing Temple service.
‫ולתפארת‬, also the Priest should inspire awe among the Israelites who are all
considered his disciples seeing he had the names of all the tribes engraved on
these garments right opposite his heart when he wore them in his official capacity.

Verse 3

‫לא כל חכמי לב‬ ‫ואתה תדבר‬, that they should carry out all the instructions mentioned
in the Torah in the preceding verses.
‫את בגדי אהרן‬ ‫ועשו‬, not only should they build the Tabernacle, provide oil for the
Menorah, but they should also fashion the garments to be worn by Aaron, etc.

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫והם יקחו את הזהב‬, just as the correct degree of dedication to its purpose was
required by these ‫ חכמי לב‬while they would be engaged in fashioning the Tabernacle
and its paraphernalia, so the same degree of mental concentration on their holy
task was required while they received these contributions from the people or their
go betweens.

Verse 6

‫אפוד‬, a garment that covers a person from the waist down. Its upper rim is
constructed like a sash or belt, artistic work. This sash is used when the wearer
ties the ephod above his tunic. This is the meaning of Leviticus 8,7 ‫ויחגור אותו‬
‫ ויאפוד לו בו‬,‫בחשב האפוד‬, “he girdled him with the belt of the ephod and thus
adorned him with it.”

Verse 7

‫שתי כתפות חוברות‬, carefully matched in the construction of their decorations.

‫לא שני קצותיו‬, toward the two outer extremes of its width.
‫וחובר‬, as a result of which the ephod will be joined to the art work of the
shoulder pads.

Verse 8

Verse 9
Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

‫על שתי כתפיו לזכרון‬, in order to attract the attribute of Mercy to be invoked by
their merit. (the merit of wearing the shoulder pads)

Verse 13

Verse 14

‫מגבלות‬, constructed to precisely defined dimensions, so that they will be stretched

tight from the edge of the shoulder pads to the upper edge of the breastplate.

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

‫והאבנים תהיין על שמות בני ישרלא‬, as soon as the Israelites when donating these
various materials had dedicated them to their sacred purpose, i.e. that their names
be inscribed on these gemstones, they became sacred, so that the word ‫תהיין‬,
meaning “they will remain, etc.,” is fully justified.”
‫שתים עשרה על שמותם‬, the Torah emphasises that the number 12 is not arbitrary but
represents the names of the 12 tribes, no fewer nor any additional ones. [Joseph is
represented by one gemstone not two, and the tribe of Levi was included though they
did not share in the distribution of the land of Canaan to the tribes. Ed.]
‫פתוחי חותם איש על שמו‬, this sounds like an instruction to the engraver of these
gemstones to have in mind the specific name of the tribe when he engraves letters
on the gemstone representing that tribe.

Verse 22

‫גבלות‬, not in order to lengthen or shorten but precisely for a short distance
between the top of the breastplate and the forward part of the shoulder pad as
described in verse 14 merely to link these two sections of the High Priest’s
garments.

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

‫ממול פניו‬, the letter ‫ מ‬at the beginning of the word ‫ ממול‬means that it is not to
be at the level of his face but below, i.e. where the ephod’s sash is located not
where the shoulder pads are located above his chest.
‫לעומת מהברתו‬, on the level where the ephod’s sash is tied.

Verse 28

Verse 29

‫לזכרון לפני ה' תמיד‬. In order for G’d to always remember the merits of the founding
tribal fathers of the Jewish people and to treat their offspring favourably when
remembering their founders.

Verse 30

‫משפט בני ישרלא על לבו‬, so that he will pray on their behalf that they would emerge
exonerated in any judicial confrontation.

Verse 31

Verse 32

‫לא יקרע‬, the robe should not have a regular collar and neckline running down the
front of the garment open, but it should be round as a ring. The expression ‫יקרע‬,
is applied to vertical openings in a garment or building. The expression occurs in
a similar sense in Jeremiah 22,14 ‫וקרע לו חלוני‬, “provided with narrow windows cut
out, etc.”

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 35

Verse 36

Verse 37

Verse 38

Verse 39

Verse 40

Verse 41

‫ומלאת את ידם‬. Ensure that they complete their task to perfection so that the
priests will be equipped to perform the service in the Tabernacle wearing suitable
garments.

Chapter 29

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4
Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18
Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

‫כי איל מלואים הוא‬, this was the reason that the right thigh was burned on the
altar. This practice did not apply to any of the other animal sacrifices. [with the
exception of burnt-offerings which were burned up completely. Ed.] The Torah views
the right thigh of the animal as equivalent to the right hand of a human being.
Wherever in the Torah the word ‫ אצבע‬appears in the same context as the priesthood,
the reference is to the finger of the right hand. (Menachot 10).

Verse 23

Verse 24

‫והנפת‬, this “waving” applies to the part of the sacrificial animal that the priests
are given to eat. The main reason is that the priest should remain aware that he
eats from ‫שלחן גבוה‬, “from G’d’s table,” so to speak, i.e. that his portions are a
“kick back,” totally voluntary gift from G’d, and that he does not eat by “rights,”
i.e. that this is what the owner of the sacrificial animal designated for him. In
this instance, also the part of the animal which would normally be his to eat wound
up on the altar instead of being consumed by the priests, it being an introductory
symbolic procedure. [perhaps similar to the concept of ‫ראשית‬, the “first” part of
crops which need to be consecrated to G’d of produce originating from the earth.
Ed.]

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

‫ולמלא בם את ידיהם‬, “with which to become inaugurated.” Subsequent generations of

the priests did not need to undergo these procedures seeing they had been born as
priests, their status being hereditary, as opposed to Aaron and his sons.
Verse 30

Verse 31

Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34

Verse 35

Verse 36

Verse 37

Verse 38

Verse 39

Verse 40

Verse 41

Verse 42

Verse 43

Verse 44
Verse 45

‫ושכנתי בתוך בני ישרלא‬. There to receive their service with goodwill and in order to
listen to their prayers.
‫והייתי להם ללאוקים‬, and I will supervise their affairs without resorting to an
intermediary. They will have no reason to be afraid of what astrology portends,
seeing that they (the Jewish people) are far more honoured by Me than are the
celestial planets, etc. The very fact that I guide others’ fate only by means of
agents, intermediaries, testifies to the eternal existence of the Jewish people.

Chapter 30

Verse 1

‫מזבח מקטר קטורת‬, he will put only a minimal amount of fire on that altar in order
to burn the incense thereon. This altar did not have to be hollow, filled with
earth, as was the copper altar which was filled with earth in order that the supply
of fire be on the earth, literally. On this altar the fire was kept on the gold
overlay. Seeing that there was only a minimal amount of fire kept going thereon
this did not damage or burn wood underneath the gold overlay.<br> The reason that
this altar has not been mentioned together with the major altar standing outside
the sanctuary, details of which the Torah described in Parshat Terumah, is that
this altar was not intended to ensure that the Shechinah made its permanent home
among the Jewish people. The purpose of all the other furnishings in the Tabernacle
was just that. (compare how G’d defined this purpose in Exodus 25,8-9) Its purpose
was also not to attract the glory of the Lord into the Tabernacle, as was the
purpose of all the other communal sacrifices burnt-offering, gift offerings, etc.
Concerning G’d’s response to those offerings we had read in Exodus 29,43 ‫ונועדתי‬
‫שמה לבני ישרלא‬, “and there I will meet with the Children of Israel.” Moses himself
had confirmed that this was the purpose of the furnishings, etc., in the Tabernacle
when he said: (Leviticus 9,6) “and as a result the glory of the Lord will become
manifest to you.”<br> The sole purpose of the golden altar was to honour G’d after
He had accepted our service with goodwill mornings and evenings. We used this as a
means to welcome His presence by presenting the incense. We find that Chronicles I
16,29 expresses this thought, David saying:‫הבו לה' כבוד שמו ובאו לפניו‬, “Ascribe to
the Lord the glory of His name!”

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

‫שתי צלעותיו‬, at the upper corners.

‫שני צדיו‬, the side walls. [seeing that the altar was a cube, i.e. the sides were no
longer than the length, I find this difficult. Ed.]

Verse 5
Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

‫ונתנו איש כפר נפשו‬..‫כי תשא‬, the need to count human beings stems from the fact that
human beings are not the same each time, i.e. ever since death was decreed upon
mankind this reflects sin. Prior to sin man, who was meant to live indefinitely,
would be the same at each count. The sages have said that no one dies unless he had
committed a sin (Shabbat 55). It follows that mention of a head count of people is
an oblique reminder of man’s sin, his guilt. This being so, it is most appropriate
that at the time of such count he should pay some ransom on behalf of his soul, his
life, so that he will qualify for atonement. This also explains why the poor must
not give less nor the rich more, as a soul’s ransom is not calculated in terms of
the amount of money offered to G’d.

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17
Verse 18

‫ועשית כיור‬, this is another vessel which has not been mentioned before with the
other vessels that were part of the Tabernacle. The reason is that the basin was
not instrumental in attracting the presence of the Shechinah to the Tabernacle. Its
function was merely preparatory to the priests’ service in the Tabernacle.

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

‫ושמן זית הין‬, there can be no doubt that the small quantity of oil mentioned here
could not have been sufficient to anoint all the sacred vessels mentioned here
including the Tabernacle itself. This could only have been achieved if merely a
minute part of each vessel had to be covered with that oil, or, if the quantity of
anointing oil mentioned here had been placed in a large container with water and
had first been boiled in it, so that the thinned down version was used to
accomplish what is described here as “anointing.” There is a disagreement of how
precisely this was done in Horiyot 11.

Verse 25

‫רוקח מרקחת‬, a mixture of spices of a mixture of same, i.e. the result of two
mixtures, having been boiled in water after having been mixed thoroughly with the
other listed ingredients.

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29
Verse 30

Verse 31

‫יהיה זה לי לדורותיכם‬, this oil of holy anointing for Me will last throughout your
generations.

Verse 32

Verse 33

Verse 34

‫קח לך סמים‬, the ones already mentioned in connection with the oil of anointing in
verse 23-24 plus the three mentioned in this verse, i.e. ‫ חלבנה‬,‫ שחלה‬,‫נטף‬, and in
addition to these some other spices known to act as improving the mixture of those
already listed. According to our sages in Keritut 6 Shibbolet, Nerd, Karkom and
Kosht were such spices which when blended in with the ones listed in the Torah
already would provide the balance of fragrance the Torah wanted to achieve. [The
problem facing commentators is the fact that even when we add all the spices or
oils mentioned in this chapter together, even assuming that frankincense is one of
them, we only arrive at a total of eight, whereas traditionally there were supposed
to be 11 as we mention in our daily prayer of Pittum haketoret. Ed.]
‫ולבונה זכה‬, this pure frankincense did not need to be mixed with any other
ingredient to achieve the Torah’s purpose as part of the incense. This helps us
arrive at the number 11 our sages state were contained in the mixture presented on
the golden altar.

Verse 35

‫רקח‬, each of whom would collect different spices and after mixing them all they
would become
‫מעשה רוקח‬, crushed, mixed, etc., a druggist’s handiwork. These various spices did
not undergo uniform treatment at the hands of the spicer, druggist..
‫ממולח‬, thoroughly mixed, none of its ingredients remaining identifiable as separate
substances.
‫טהור‬. refined to such a degree that it did not contain any foreign substances. The
reason why this was of the essence was the fact that the burning up of the incense
consisted of burning up the actual spices, derivatives or auxiliaries not being a
part of that sacrifice at all. However, with the oil of anointing these extreme
precautions did not apply seeing that it was in the nature of the ingredients that
auxiliary components were not mixed with it or attached to it before the oil became
refined.

Chapter 31

Verse 1
Verse 2

‫ראה קראתי בשם‬, try and understand that I did not appoint Betzalel for this task
arbitrarily, as it is of the essence that someone who is very senior also in
spiritual matters must carry out such a sacred task as fashioning the parts of the
Tabernacle. Such a person must not only have in mind the desire to technically
execute first class artisanship, but he must constantly be conscious of performing
a Divine commandment.

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

‫אך את שבתותי תשמורו‬, even though it was I Who commanded you to build the Tabernacle
and to construct all its appurtenances, and it is to serve as a residence for My
presence, this commandment does not override the restrictions associated with
proper observance of the Sabbath. The reason is that the Sabbath is
‫אות היא ביני וביניכם‬, a symbol serving as a reminder of our mutual relationship. If
you were to ignore this symbol by building a residence for Me on this day, there
would be no point in doing so as I would not then take up residence in that
Tabernacle.

Verse 14

‫ושמרתם את השבת‬, there is yet another reason why the Sabbath regulations must not be
overridden for the sake of completing the Tabernacle sooner;
‫ מחלליה מות יומת‬,‫כי קדש היא לכם‬, the Sabbath is not only a holy day for you, i.e.
it is not only a positive commandment to observe it, but is also a most important
negative commandment, so much so that deliberate violation, desecration of it
sanctity, is punishable by death. Seeing that building the Tabernacle is only a
positive commandment, it is clear that a positive commandment cannot override
something that is both a positive and a negative commandment.
‫כל העושה בה מלאכה ונכרתה הנפש ההיא‬, another reason for not desecrating the Sabbath
in order to carry on with the building of the Tabernacle is the extremely heavy
penalty associated with deliberate violation of the laws of the Sabbath. The reason
for such a penalty is that anyone violating the concept of the Sabbath prohibitions
thereby denies that I, G’d, created the universe out of no preexisting tangible
substance. Anyone desecrating the Sabbath deliberately would never benefit from the
existence of a building such as the Tabernacle. How could he claim a share in the
G’d Who dwells in this Tabernacle?
‫מקרב עמיה‬, from those members of his people who are destined to live on in the
world to come after their bodies are left behind on earth by their souls.

Verse 15

‫ששת ימים יעשה מלאכה‬, during the six days of the week which correspond to the days
when G’d created the universe you can busy yourselves with working on the
construction of the Tabernacle. There is no good reason why this project should
override the commandments governing the Sabbath. The only time a commandment
overrides such commandments is when the Torah linked the commandment which would
override it to a specific time frame, such as the circumcision of a baby on the
eighth day after its birth, or the type of sacrificial service in the Tabernacle of
which the Torah said that it must be performed every day i.e. including on the
Sabbath. Any other commandment that is capable of being performed on a day other
than the Sabbath does not override the Sabbath.
‫ ;שבת שבתון‬this expression alludes to the fact that there are activities and even
conversations and thoughts which, though not specifically outlawed by the text, are
nevertheless something that interfere with the proper Sabbath observance. We have
been told already in Exodus 23,12 ‫וביום השביעי תשבות‬, that the cessation of work
etc., has as its objective ‫'קדש לה‬, that this day is to be holy for the Lord, i.e.
we are to make it holy. This means that on the Sabbath we ignore secular matters
altogether and devote ourselves to spiritual pursuits, and even the mundane
pursuits such as eating festive meals must be perceived as part of our honouring
G’d on the Sabbath.
‫יומת‬...‫כל העושה מלאכה‬. It follows that when someone performs secular tasks on the
Sabbath he automatically loses track of the purpose of the Sabbath, hence he
deserves to be executed.

Verse 16

‫ושמרו במי ישרלא את השבת‬, in this life, ‫לעשות את השבת‬, on a day that is totally
Shabbat. [the afterlife. Ed]

Verse 17
‫וביום השביעי שבת‬, seeing that on that day the creative activity of G’d had been
completed, completion spells rest,
‫וינפש‬, this is why the seventh day is one devoted to the ‫נפש‬, the spirit, resulting
in G’d giving Jews an additional soul for use on that day. This additional soul
assists us in concentrating on the spiritual dimension of the day. When man was
created, G’d made him in His image, i.e. first and foremost concerned with
spiritual concerns. The extra soul granted us on the Sabbath is to help us live up
to that vision G’d had of man when He created him. (compare Beytzah 16)

Verse 18

‫ויתן לא משה ככלותו‬, after the Torah described all the spiritual accomplishments
which should have resulted from the many days Moses had spent on the mountain with
G’d, the Torah now has to explain why all these spiritual accomplishments G’d had
envisaged did not in fact materialise so that it became necessary to build a
Tabernacle, etc., in order to achieve these spiritual accomplishments via a
different route. The Torah explains that the cause of this detour in the spiritual
ascent of the people was the abuse they had made of the freedom of choice. They,
who had been about to receive the set of Tablets made and written by G’d Himself at
the end of Moses’ stay on Mount Sinai for forty days, who were all to personify the
ideal of being priests, and a holy nation, rebelled, corrupted themselves, as
testified in Exodus 33,6 when they divested themselves of the signs of the covenant
G’d had made with them, removing the garments emblazoned with the blood of that
covenant.
‫שני לוחות העדות‬, the ones of which we heard in Exodus 24,12 where G’d had told
Moses prior to his ascending the mountain: “I will give you there the Tablets of
stone, etc.” Before G’d had a chance to give the people the written Torah they
already began with the golden calf episode so that G’d had to tell Moses to
precipitously descend from the mountain warning him that his people had become
corrupt. (32,7)

Chapter 32

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

‫לאה לאוהיך ישרלא‬, these will serve henceforth as your elohim, for you to address in
your prayers for all your needs; you will serve them in order to obtain your needs.

Verse 5

‫חג לה' מחר‬. So that you will not mix the joy of serving the Lord with any other
kind of joy.

Verse 6
Verse 7

Verse 8

‫סרו מהר‬, they have strayed very quickly, etc. I have not even been able to complete
the gift of the Torah I had wanted to give to you. A reference to “the Torah and
the Mitzvah” in Exodus 24,12.

Verse 9

‫והנה עם קשה עורף הוא‬. Their neck is like a tendon made of iron so that they will
not turn in any direction to listen to advice and admonition from any source.
Seeing that this is their situation, there is no hope that they will become
penitents.

Verse 10

Verse 11

‫למה ה' יחרה אפך בעמך‬, Moses, does not accept that all the people have become “his”
people as implied by G’d having said to him ‫“ שחת עמך‬your people have become
corrupted.” Surely, he reasons, not all the people have sinned. Why should G’d be
angry at those who did not sin, the ones who are still “G’d’s people?”

Verse 12

Verse 13

‫וכל הארץ הזאת אשר אמרתי אתן לזרעכם ונחלו‬, a reference to the fourth generation of
the Emorite mentioned by G’d at the covenant between the pieces. (Genesis 15,16)
Moses realises that this promise will not be fulfilled to his children except now.

Verse 14

Verse 15

‫ושני לוחות העדות בידו‬. He thought that as soon as he would return to the people
they would become penitents; in the event that they would not, he planned to smash
the Tablets in front of their eyes so that they would return in penitence after
this shock.

Verse 16

Verse 17
Verse 18

Verse 19

‫וירא את העגל ואת המחולות ויחר אף משה‬, Moses’ anger was aroused over the fact that
people rejoiced over the damage to themselves they had caused. We find something
parallel in Jeremiah 11,15 ‫כי רעתכי אז תעלזי‬, ”for you exult in performing your
evil deeds.” At this point Moses despaired of the people doing teshuvah before
being punished. They were no longer fit to receive the Tablets

Verse 20

Verse 21

‫הבאת עליו חטאה גדולה‬, a reference to the display of merriment in serving the golden
calf. Moses criticised Aaron for having proclaimed the feast which led to this
rejoicing over the golden calf instead of instead of being a feast for G’d. On
account of this he was forced to entreat G’d for an additional measure of mercy for
His people. This is also what he meant when addressing the people saying: ‫אתם חטאתם‬
‫“ חטאה גדולה‬you have committed an exceedingly great sin,” (verse 30) Also, when
appealing to G’d, he commences by saying that the people had been guilty of an
exceedingly serious sin (verse 31). This theme returns once more when G’d speaks of
‫וחטאה‬-‫פשע‬-‫עון‬, sins of three different levels of seriousness in Exodus 34,7. In
34,9 Moses begs for forgiveness for two of these categories of sin, ‫ עון‬and ‫חטא‬,
not daring to ask for forgiveness for ‫פשע‬, deliberate taunting of G’ by one’s sin.
Moses. who had shown understanding for the fact that Aaron had been under great
pressure in acceding to the making of the golden calf, cannot understand why he
lent his hand to heaping additional sin on the people by having declared a public
holiday. He had not been under pressure to do that and should have known that the
people would understand this as an invitation to celebrate the new leader,
replacing Moses.

Verse 22

‫כי ברע הוא‬. They were already so deeply involved in the sin, having been used to
the idolatry they had been addicted to in the hundreds of years in Egypt.

Verse 23

Verse 24

?‫ואומר להן למי זהב‬, I was assuming or hoping that there would not be any raw gold
handy to be used to make into any kind of jewelry.
‫התפרקו ויתנו לי‬, but against my expectations they removed golden jewelry and
donated it for this purpose.
‫ואשליכהו באש‬, I tried to delay matters, throwing the gold into the fire, as is,
without making any of the customary preparations performed by goldsmiths,
activities which preheat the gold so it can cast properly to be fashioned into the
desired shapes.
‫ויצא העגל הזה‬. This happened spontaneously, without my having done anything once I
had thrown the gold into the crucible. The people did not wait until I had
performed any action on my own. When we read in verse four ‫ויעשהו עגל מסכה‬, the
Torah did not refer to Aaron having made the cast calf, but it referred to whoever
it was who interfered and shaped the gold. We have a similar construction in
Leviticus 3,8 ‫וסמך את ידו‬, “he will place his hand firmly,” where the subject is
not Aaron but whoever owns the animal that is about to be slaughtered as a
sacrifice. The same applies to the word ‫ ושחט‬in that same context. It is not a
specific person, but the priest who performs the duty in the Temple on that
particular day. When we read in verse 35 ‫אשר עשו את העגל אשר עשה אהרן‬, the meaning
of this line is “the people made the calf in which Aaron had participated to some
extent.” They had shaped it, whereas Aaron had only taken raw gold and thrown it
into the fire. [When reading our author’s commentary it becomes clear why the
Talmud in Kidushin 49 forbade translating these parts of the Torah into Aramaic
during public readings, as the people who need the translation due to their failure
to understand the original Hebrew would be apt to misunderstand Aaron’s part in
this disaster. Ed.]

Verse 25

‫כי פרוע הוא‬, they are totally corrupt, committing their sins in public without
shame. The public deeds reveal their deep-seated corruption.
‫כי פרעה אהרן‬, Aaron had brought to light the fact that there are no righteous
people among them. Had there been any righteous people among them, surely they
would have come to the assistance of Aaron so that Aaron would not have been forced
to have a share in this golden calf at all.
‫לשמצה בקמיהם‬.Giving them a bad name among their enemies. Israel’s enemies would say
about them that they had breached their covenant with their Lord, and that there
was not a single one among them who was a good person, and that they did not even
heed the instructions of their prophets. Even though only a small minority had
ganged up on Aaron, the entire people’s reputation would now be dragged through the
mud.

Verse 26

Verse 27

‫ ;עברו ושובו משער לשער‬in order to secure atonement for those members of the people
who had not actively participated in the sin but were guilty of not having
protested the sin. By not now protesting the execution of the guilty ones either
they proved deserving of being forgiven.

Verse 28

Verse 29

'‫מלאו ידכם היום לה‬, acquire for yourselves some degree of perfection today! Today
you will become worthy to perform service in G’d’s Temple in the future!
‫כי איש בבנו ובאחיו‬, for each one of you have already become sanctified to G’d
through having circumcised his own son for G’d, something you did in the desert.
(according to Sifrey Behaalotcha,15, the tribe of Levi were the only ones who
observed this commandment while the people were in the desert). [how many Levites
could have been circumcised during the 89 days since the Passover and the return of
Moses from Mount Sinai? Ed.] Therefore, ‫ מלאו ידכם‬prove this sense of loyalty again
by becoming blessed through assuming this difficult task of carrying out His
instructions now. ‫ובאחיו‬, and today you have again demonstrated your loyalty of
spilling the blood of even your own brothers. Moses gave recognition to this
collective act of loyalty to G’d in preference to loyalty to their fellow Jew in
Deuteronomy 33,9-11 when he said about this tribe: ....,‫כי שמרו אמרתך ובריתך ינצורו‬
‫ברך ה' חילו ופעל ידיו תרצה‬, “for they have observed Your word and Your covenant
they preserved. Bless, Hashem, his resources and favour the works of his hand.”

Verse 30

‫אתם חטאתם חטאה גדולה‬, “realise the extent of your sin, for if you ponder this you
will surely become penitents!” We find a parallel syntax in Psalms 51,5 ‫כי פשעי‬
‫אני אדע‬, “for I have come to realise the rebellious nature of my conduct.” [David
feels that by being aware of the truly terrible nature of his transgressions he may
qualify for help in rehabilitating himself. The specific nature of David’s
transgression was the desecration of G’d’s name in arranging for the death of Bat
Sheva’s husband so that he could marry Bat Sheva. While the Talmud had declared
that he did not commit a technical sin when sleeping with Bat Sheva, his moral sin
was something quite different. Ed.] In Jeremiah 3,13 we also encounter a syntax
reflecting the approach taken here by the Torah. The prophet wrote ‫אך דעי עונך‬, “if
you were only to understand the meaning of your iniquity!” He does not add
“repent!” but takes it for granted that awareness of the implications of the wrong
one has done will automatically result in penitence.

Verse 31

Verse 32

‫אם תשא חטאתם ואם אין מחני נא מספרך‬, regardless if You, G’d, will forgive their sins
or will not forgive them, wipe out any merits I have accumulated in Your Book and
transfer them to the credit balance of this people.

Verse 33

‫מי אשר חטא לי אמחנו מספרי‬, the idea that I will wipe out the merits of those who
have not sinned against Me in order that through your loss of these credits they
may qualify for My forgiveness is a non starter. This would be a brand new system
of justice. The system of reward and retribution I have practiced is based on the
fact that the sinner would have to pay for his sin, while receiving reward for his
good deeds. I do not recognise a system whereby sins can be offset against
previously accumulated merits, or vice versa. If I do not recognise such trade-offs
of the sins and good deeds of the same individual against one another, I most
certainly will not allow the transfer of other people’s merits to wipe out the
debit balance of a third party. As a result of these considerations, your proposal
is not acceptable.

Verse 34

‫לא אשר דברתי לך‬, when I said to you “I will take you out from the afflictions in
Egypt (Exodus 3,17) to a good land etc.”,(verse 8 same chapter).
‫וביום פקדי‬, in the event that they will commit further sins, (such as the sin of
the spies)
‫ופקדתי עליהם חטאתם‬, this sin, and I will not continue to waive their punishment for
this sin. We find a similar statement in Kings I 1,52 ‫ואם רעה תמצא בו ומת‬, “if he
commits any further evil he will die.” (Adoniah, Solomon’s older brother and former
rival for the succession) We find that G’d comes back to this threat in Numbers
14,11 complaining “how long will this people spurn Me, etc.” Seeing that they
repeated their rebellious behaviour one could only expect that they would persist
in their foolish ways. Our sages used this to coin the phrase that “when a person
has sinned, gotten away with it, and sinned again, and again gotten away with it,
he thinks that what he did is not even sinful” (so that he has no incentive to
repent what he has come to believe is permissible conduct) (Yuma 86)

Verse 35

‫על אשר עשו את העגל אשר עשה אהרן‬, by Aaron’s agreeing, not protesting, he helped a
potential sin become an actual sin, so that the person’s sin who fashioned the gold
into the shape of a calf is attributable to Aaron. Aaron’s contribution in deed was
his throwing the gold into the fire. He himself describes the “this calf emerged,”
as a direct consequence of his throwing the gold into the fire (verse 24).

Chapter 33

Verse 1

Verse 2

‫ושלחתי לפניך מלאך‬, the very angel who introduces himself to Joshua (Joshua 5,14) as
the ‫'שר צבא ה‬, “Commander in Chief of G’d’s hosts.”

Verse 3

‫לא ארץ זבת חלב ודבש‬, the wording suggests that the place where G’d made this promise
is dry and that it requires miracles by G’d to gain an adequate livelihood from
that earth. At this point in time the Israelites had not qualified for G’d to
perform such miracles for them. G’d promises that they would proceed to a land
where they would not have to depend on constant miracles in order to gain their
livelihood. [The author may have mentioned this as we know that around Mount Sinai
at the time there was plenty of grazing land, suggesting that it might have been a
fit location to settle. Ed.]
‫כי לא אעלה בקרבך‬, this is why I am telling you to move on from here, you and the
people (verse 1). Do not wait to break and make camp at G’d’s signal, i.e the
moving of the cloud. G’d explains that His not moving with the people would be for
their protection,
‫פן אכלך בדרך‬, lest I would be forced to kill you while you are on the way. G’d
implies that if He were to be present personally when the people sinned, their
punishment would be commensurably greater for having rebelled against the presence
of G’d also.

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫רגע אחד אעלה בקרבך וכליתיך‬, whereas at this time you are mourning about My not
being personally in your midst, (verse 3) you fail to understand that this is
intended for your benefit, and may save you from instant extinction. You are, after
all, such a stiff-necked people unwilling to respond to admonition, even though at
the revelation of Mount Sinai you had become equipped to attain spiritual
perfection.
‫ועתה הורד עדיך מעליך‬, this spiritual preparedness which you attained at the
revelation is something that G’d does not unilaterally remove from the people as we
have a rule that gifts are not revoked without the consent of the recipient. Our
sages have phrased it thus in Taanit 25 (where the golden leg miraculously given to
Rabbi Chanina was taken back only after he had prayed for it to revert to where it
came from.)
‫ואדעה מה אעשה לך‬, for once you do this as an admission of your guilt you will not
be guilty of the ultimate punishment.

Verse 6

Verse 7

‫וקרא לו אהל מועד‬, in order for the people to know that there G’d would communicate
with him as opposed to within the boundaries of the encampment of the people.

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

‫פנים לא פנים‬, as opposed to ‫נופל וגלוי עינים‬, (Numbers 24,4) as Bileam described his
visions which came to him only when he had lost control over his own senses.
‫כאשר ידבר איש לא רעהו‬, as opposed to soliloquizing, [as in praying but not receiving
an answer.]
‫לא ימיש מתוך האוהל‬, in order to ensure that none of the Israelites would enter this
tent, seeing all of them were in a state of disgrace. This tent was reserved for
the presence of the Shechinah out of bounds, as in Exodus 3,5 where Moses was
warned not to come close while wearing footwear. The reason that at that time even
Moses was not admitted as he was, shows that he was not yet spiritually equipped
for that degree of communication from G’d.

Verse 12

‫ראה‬, do not turn your face away but take my comment seriously.
‫אתה אומר לאי העל את העם הזה‬, when You said to me in verse 1 “lead up this people,
etc.,”
‫ואתה לא הודעתני את אשר תשלח עמי‬, the promise that You would send an angel with me
(verse 2) was to take effect only once the people would enter the land of Canaan,
at which time the promise that with the help of the angel we would dispossess the
Canaanites would be fulfilled. But, in the meantime, who is going to be our
protective force? How can we be without either an angel or Your personal presence?
Moreover,
‫ואתה אמרת ידעתיך בשם‬, when You paid me such a compliment, surely this did not mean
that You will leave me to my own devices on this journey? Surely, such feelings as
expressed in Zeacharyah 11,9 where You are quoted as saying: “I am not going to
tend you, let the one that is to die die, and the one that is to get lost get lost,
and let the rest devour each other’s flesh.” “Surely, You had intended for me to be
the angel who leads the people of Israel.”

Verse 13

‫ועתה‬, since You had agreed that I should be the angel,

‫הודיעני נא את דרכך‬, acquaint me with Your two miraculous ways, 1) how simply by
Your knowledge of something You can make these figments of Your will or imagination
become automatically a reality as demonstrated whenever You perform supernatural
miracles, and 2) how by Your unfailingly accurate knowledge of future events, such
knowledge does not impair the freedom of choice of man to do what he wants.
‫ואדעך‬, so that I will know You, as knowledge of Your actions does convey some
inkling of the considerations which resulted in such actions.
‫למען אמצא חן בעיניך‬, by possessing such knowledge and an appreciation of Your mode
of operation I will myself attain favour in Your eyes. A similar thought has been
expressed in Jeremiah 9,23 “let the one who wants to boast, boast about the degree
of knowledge about Me that he has acquired for I, the Lord, am fond of those who
make knowing Me better their principal objective.”
‫וראה כי עמך הגוי הזה‬, for Your name will only be recognised among this people and
not among the nations of the world. Compare psalms 76,2 on this subject, i.e. ‫נודע‬
‫ביהודה לאוקים בישרלא גדול שמו‬, “G’d is known in Yehudah; His name is great in Israel
(exclusively). Seeing that this is so it is not appropriate for You to withhold
from me the answer to what I have requested on account of their sin “ Moses’
argument is in line with what we were told in Sanhedrin 11 and Baba Batra 134 that
there were at different times (Hillel’s students) 30 people whose personal stature
was such that they deserved that the Presence of G’d rest on them. If it did not,
this was only because their contemporaries did not deserve that G’d’s presence
manifest itself in their lifetime.

Verse 14

‫פני ילכו‬, when you are moving toward the Holy Land My presence will walk before
you. The emphasis here is on the word “before” instead of G’d saying “among you”
[the author is reading this into the text as G’d left the definition of where His
presence would be wide open. Ed.]
‫ ;והניחותי לך‬will give you rest from your enemies around you, so that you will
bring the people into the land in safety.

Verse 15

‫אם אין פניך הולכים‬, now already when we are still encamped, seeing that You have
withdrawn Your presence, then You better do not bring us any further from here for
it would be preferable for us to remain here in the desert than to enter the Holy
Land without Your Presence among us. By staying right here, we would at least be
exposed to the manifestation of Your continued Presence.

Verse 16

‫ובמה יודע איפא‬, even though we may indeed enter the Holy Land and the angel will
drive out the Canaanites, how would anyone become aware that what was happening was
orchestrated by Divine forces? After all, people get driven out from their land in
war all the time! There is nothing supernatural in such a phenomenon.
‫הלא בלכתך עמנו ונפלינו‬, Moses refers to statements such as the ones he made in his
song after the Egyptians drowned in Exodus 15,13-14 ‫נחית בחסדך עם זו גלאת נהלת בעזך‬
‫“ ;שמעו עמים ירגזון‬In Your love You led the people You redeemed; in Your strength
You guide them to Your holy abode.” The people hear and tremble;” the reason the
people tremble is because they watch miracles happening, indicating that the Jewish
nation is a nation apart. As a result, they will lose their courage to resist the
conquest, as Rachav testified even almost 40 years later when she told the spies
that everyone is aware of the miracle G’d had wrought on behalf of His people and
that no one has any courage left which would make him fight with a chance of
success. (Joshua 2,10-11)

Verse 17

Verse 18

‫את כבודך‬, how every creature, every phenomenon in this universe derives from You,
even though these phenomena do not appear to be even faintly related to one
another. This is what Isaiah 6,3 meant with the words ‫מלא כל הארץ כבודו‬, “all the
earth is filled with His glory.”

Verse 19

‫אני אעביר כל טובי על פניך‬, this will not be denied due to My not being unwilling to
bestow these insights. As proof,
‫אעביר כל טובי על פניך וקראתי בשם ה' לפניך‬, G’d proclaims what He says using the
name of Hashem, the “name” which informs people and teaches them about His
existence as the G’d whose ways are those pf goodness. By saying that He will
parade all of His goodness before Moses, He implies that if Moses had been capable
of understanding all of the hidden aspects of G’d’s essence He would indeed have
fulfilled all of Moses’ requests. Nonetheless, i.e. in spite of Moses’ or better,
man’s inherent inability to understand all of this, G’d will reveal a fragment of
His modus operandi; by doing this Moses would acquire a glimpse of G’d’s essence as
portrayed in 34,5.
‫וחנותי את אשר אחון‬, I will grant you the degree of insights I grant all those who
find favour in My eyes. I am in the habit of being very generous in the application
of this principle.
‫ורחמתי את אשר ארחם‬, I will use My attribute of Mercy so that you will not die
during the experience, just as it is My custom to extend mercy to all those who, in
My opinion, qualify for such. In practice this means that I will put My hand over
you shielding you, as we read in verse 22.

Verse 20

‫ויאמר לא תוכל לראות‬, your inability to see what you would like to see is not due to
My depriving you, personally, of such an experience, but is rooted in man’s
inability to “see” such things unless you had died first, as an eye of flesh and
blood cannot “see” such things. You would be fatally blinded before understanding
anything you would “see.”

Verse 21

‫הנה מקום אתי‬, there does exist a place from which visions of G’d can be obtained,
the place where both Moses and the prophet Elijah stood in a cave or beside a cave
as described in Pessachim 54 as one the 10 items G’d created at dusk on the sixth
day of creation.

Verse 22
Verse 23

‫וראית את אחורי‬, where you will be able to glimpse how all the celestial forces
below My level of Divinity carry out their activities; but
‫ופני לא יראו‬, but understanding of how My execution of My thoughts translates into
something concrete, neither you nor anyone else will be capable of “seeing.”

Chapter 34

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫ויתיצב עמו שם‬. Moses stood there close to G’d, as he had been commanded in verse 2.
‫ויקרא‬, now the subject is G’d.
'‫בשם ה‬, By calling out G’d indicated that he was about to carry out some
specifically Divine activities.

Verse 6

‫ויקרא‬, G’d.
'‫ ה‬,'‫ה‬, a reference to the fact that this is the name of the Lord is the One Who
originates matters, called non existent phenomena into existence. The repetition of
the name a second time means that it is also He Who is eternal, not subject to
fading into the nothingness they came from. At the same time it is He Who preserves
these phenomena He has called into existence.
‫ל‬-‫א‬, whatever He does is not the result of external pressure, being programmed,
[such as trees whose function it is to grow, or water whose function it is to flow
downhill. Ed.]
‫רחום‬, merciful to those who are guilty, reducing the punishment they really
deserve. David explains this in Psalms 34,18 ‫צעקו וה' שמו‬, “they cry out and the
Lord hears.” G’d sees and sympathises with the anguish of the downtrodden as we
know from Exodus 3,9 ‫וגם ראיתי את הלחץ‬, “I have also taken note of the oppression,
etc.”
‫ ;וחנון‬He even responds to people who request leniency even though they are not
deserving of it.
‫ארך אפים‬, both to the righteous and to the wicked. The reason? To encourage them to
do teshuvah.
‫ורב חסד‬, inclining toward leniency in administering justice. Our sages define this
as ‫מעביר ראשון ראשון‬, He decides in favour of the accused when his merits and
demerits are in balance.
‫ואמת‬, the adjective ‫רב‬, “abundant” mentioned in connection with the attribute ‫חסד‬
also applies to the attribute ‫אמת‬. The mention of the attribute ‫ אמת‬is important as
if we had only known about G’d’s patience with the sinner, i.e. ‫ארך אפים‬, we might
have concluded that the sinner might eventually get away with his sin. The
attribute ‫ אמת‬is a reminder that if the sinner who enjoyed G’d’s patience did not
use it to repent, his sins will catch up with him. G’d does not wipe out the sin.
It also refers to what our sages described as the meaning of Deuteronomy 10,17 that
G’d does not show favoritism, i.e. an illustrious’ father such as Avraham cannot
save his son Yishmael from punishment, nor a Yitzchok his son Esau. Similarly, it
includes the fact that G’d does not accept “bribes,” and that sins cannot be offset
by good deeds so that the sin goes unpunished.

Verse 7

‫נוצר חסד ללאפים‬, He preserves the accumulated merits of the fathers and will let the
children draw on these merits.
‫נושא עון‬, premeditated sin.
‫ופשע‬, sins intended to challenge G’d.
‫וחטאה‬, additional to the taunting sin called ‫פשע‬. We encounter an illustration of
this in Jeremiah 11,15 ‫כי רעתכי אז תעלוזי‬, “for you exult while performing your
evil deeds.” We must remember that the degree of evil committed by different people
is never a duplicate, i.e. each one commits evil according to his own agenda; hence
G’d’s reaction to such evil varies after taking into consideration all the
circumstances. This is why all these attributes have been enumerated separately.
‫ונקה‬, even though G’d wipes the slate clean for those penitents motivated by their
love for G’d and not by their fear of punishment, ‫לא ינקה‬, He will not do this for
the ones whose only motivation for turning penitent is their fear of G’d’s
retribution, or their desire to arrest such retribution. We find confirmation of
this in Yuma 86 that i.e. intentional sins of such penitents will be treated as if
they had been unintentionally committed sins, a conclusion based on Hoseah 14,2 ‫כי‬
‫כשלת בעונך‬, “for you have fallen because of your sin.”
‫פוקד עון אבות על בנים‬, He delays punishing the wicked in the land until their
measure of sin is such that they deserve to be wiped out. This “measure” is one
that in G’d’s opinion, precludes their ever becoming penitents. (compare Sotah 9).
Such a situation usually is not reached until several successive generations are
steeped in sin.
‫על שלשים‬, when the latest generation intensifies the evil perpetrated by their
fathers and grandfathers. Jeremiah 7,26 describes such a scenario when he writes:
“they would not listen to Me or give ear. They stiffened their necks, they acted
worse than their fathers.”
‫ועל רבעים‬, when the generations do not become worse than their fathers but commit
sins of the same type and seriousness.

Verse 8

‫וימהר משה‬, by acting with speed, zest, the person prostrating himself lends
additional meaning to his humility before G’d. Our sages in Berachot 14 describe
Rav Sheshet’s manner of praying by saying: “that when he bent his knee he did so as
does someone who uses a stick to beat something with.”

Verse 9

‫כי עם קשה עורף הוא‬, and it will commit sins even if You will go in our midst. Even
though I am fully aware that such sins, due to their being committed in Your
immediate presence are more serious than otherwise, as You yourself have pointed
out in 33,5, on balance I believe that it is still better that You Yourself should
go with us.
‫וסלחת לעוננו‬, seeing that only You are capable and willing to forgive and we
constantly hope for Your forgiveness, the angel should not be the one going with us
even though countermanding his instructions is a lesser sin than countermanding
Your instructions. After all, there is no hope at all to obtain forgiveness for
disobedience committed against the angel, as You Yourself pointed out in 23,21 “for
he will not forgive your sins committed due to a rebellious spirit.”

Verse 10

‫הנה אנכי כורת ברית‬, to be in your midst. Compare Megillah 29 “when the Jewish
people were exiled to Babylonia the presence of the Lord was “exiled” together with
them, i.e. accompanied them; when they were exiled to Eylam the same was true. Even
when they were exiled to Edom (by the Romans) this remained true.
‫נגד כל העם אעשה נפלאות‬, when the people pray, aware of these attributes which I
have revealed, i.e. invoking them,
‫וראה כל העם הזה אשר אתה בקרבו‬, however, these miracles which you requested I will
perform only for the eyes of this people that you find yourself in provided that
they qualify at that time for being ‫עמך‬, “your people.”
‫ ;אשר אני עושה‬because of your merit. This is one of the meanings of Exodus 33,17 ‫כי‬
‫מצאת חן בעיני ואדעך בשם‬, “for you have gained My favour and I have singled you out
by name.”

Verse 11

‫שמר לך את אשר אנכי מצוך היום‬, I do not only caution you against ever trading My
glory for some other deity, but you must not allow others to serve alien deities
[this applies in the land of Israel where we shall have control of such people.
Ed.]

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

‫כי לא תשתחוה ללא אחר‬, this is why you must destroy altars intended for worship of
such alien deities and not display any indulgence to people practicing such a
religion. By indulging such people [in the name of ‘freedom of religion’ Ed.] you
would be honouring such deities indirectly and you would provoke My wrath for
‫כי ה' קנא שמו‬, G’d’s very name suggests that He cannot tolerate any other existence
in the universe that purports to be independent of Him, in competition with Him.
This is why He is known (in the Ten Commandments) as “a jealous G’d.” This means
that He will punish those who serve the “competition.”

Verse 15

‫פן תכרות ברית‬, the Torah immediately explains that the reason why entering into
contractual relationships with the inhabitants of the land of Canaan is a non
starter, is that once you do that the way is open for them to corrupt you by one of
two means; either they will woo your sons to marry their daughters or vice versa.
It is only the most elementary courtesy then that they invite you to partake in
their festive meals (animals offered to their deities) You will not resist such
invitations because you do not want to offend the women whom you love. The truth of
this was amply demonstrated even with women who did not live in the land of Canaan
in Numbers 22,5.

Verse 16

Verse 17

‫לאוהי מסכה‬, graven images; some cameos, worn at times when certain horoscopes,
constellations, dominate the sky; they are intended to protect the wearer. (compare
Maimonides, Moreh, 1,63) The reason why these cameos are cast is that all of their
parts must be made simultaneously, symbolising the simultaneous appearance of such
constellations of certain stars. The people serving these constellations believe
that they can improve the quality of their lives by means of goodwill extended to
them by these stars. The Torah warns against this practice because the person doing
this may not even consider that this constitutes a rebellion against the Creator
seeing he does not accept these stars as “gods.” G’d looks at the matter
differently, not wanting any of us to turn to any source other than Him for all our
wishes and prayers. This is why we recite in our daily prayers ‫ואנחנו לא נדע מה‬
‫נעשה כי עליך עינינו‬, “for we do not know what we could do, seeing that our eyes are
turned exclusively to You.” (Chronicles II 20,12)

Verse 18

‫את חג המצות תשמור‬, after the Torah warned us against a graven image meant to
improve the quality of our life on this planet, it turns to the commandments the
function of which it is (if performed) to assure us of “so-called” success in
spring, during the harvest in summer, when gathering the last harvests in autumn,
and success in our business endeavours. The Torah enumerates the commandments
concerned in the order in which we just listed them.<br> ‫חג המצות למועד חודש האביב‬,
observance of this commandment is to insure that our springtime activities will be
blessed. The offering of the firstborns are designed to ensure that our summer time
activities will be blessed. This commandment was given immediately after the
Exodus. It is intended to ensure that our livestock will be blessed. Third is the
commandment to observe the Sabbath, a commandment given to the people at Marah,
several weeks before the revelation at Mount Sinai. The objective of Sabbath
observance is to ensure that our endeavours during the six days of the week will be
blessed with success. The fourth commandment is that of observing the festival of
Shavuot, in the early summer, as a result of which the grain harvest will be
blessed. The fifth commandment mentioned here is the Sukkot festival, observance of
which is to ensure the success of the grape harvest, etc. Deuteronomy 16,17 spells
out that the festivals’ aim is to make us conscious of the blessings we have been
given by G’d.<br> Having listed specific commandments, the Torah adds a
comprehensive commandment applying on each of the three festivals mentioned
previously, the pilgrimage to be made by the males to the Temple.<br>This is
followed by some details about the festival of matzot in verse 25, followed by a
commandment usually observed on Shavuot, the harvest festival, when most of the
first fruit has ripened already (verse 26) and the bringing of the first ripened
fruit by each farmer accompanied by a thanksgiving prayer is in full swing until
Sukkot. This, in turn, is followed by a prohibition not to boil the kid in the milk
of its mother, seeing that it is the time of year when most young goats are born.
(compare Rosh Hashanah 2) Seeing that at that time the tithe of new born animals is
applicable, that is the time when one has to be warned against violating this
commandment.
Verse 19

‫כל פטר רחם לי‬, the commandment applies to male humans and male new born animals of
the categories that are domesticated and fit to eat for Jews. Seeing that one
category of “unclean” animal, the donkey, is also part of this legislation, though,
of course such an animal is not fit to be sacrificed on the altar of the Temple,
the Torah has to add certain qualifications when writing about this commandment.
Whereas the “pure” firstborn may not be redeemed and made secular, but must
themselves be offered on the altar, their blood and fat remaining there, the donkey
either has to be redeemed or to be killed in a manner that precludes its flesh
being used commercially. [it may not be consumed seeing it is an “unclean” animal.
Ed.] (Numbers 18,17)

Verse 20

‫בכור בניך תפדה‬, the amount to be paid has been spelled out in Numbers 18,16.

Verse 21

‫ששת ימים תעבוד וביום השביעי תשבות‬, success of your activities during the six days
of the week also is materially affected by whether and how you observe the Sabbath.
‫בחריש ובקציר תשבות‬, not only is Sabbath rest mandatory in the winter when the
farmer has no urgent agricultural tasks, but also in the summer. Moreover, just as
he will rest every seventh day he will rest every seventh year for the entire year.
The Sh’mittah legislation applies both in summer and in winter. Both the weekly
Sabbath, and the seven-yearly “Sabbath” have been called Sabbath by the Torah.
(compare Leviticus 25,2) The success of our activities during the six years
preceding the Sh’mittah year assumes that during the seventh year we will observe
G’d’s law to abstain from agricultural activities.

Verse 22

Verse 23

‫את פני האדון‬, who arranges your affairs in a natural manner. The word ‫ אדון‬occurs
in this sense in Genesis 45,8 ‫ולאדון לכל ביתו‬, “and to be in charge of his whole
household.”
‫לאוקי ישרלא‬, Who arranges the affairs of Israel regarding their spiritual needs. All
matters beyond those that are subject to the laws of nature. A reference to the
activities of G’d that are not even capable of being performed by abstract
creatures known as elo-him.” Compare the line ‫זובח ללאוהים יחרם‬, “if someone offers
a sacrifice to disembodied deities he will be proscribed.” (Exodus 22,19). We also
encounter this word though in the Aramaic language in Daniel 2,11 ‫לאהין די מדרהן עם‬
‫בשרא לא איתוהי‬, “except the angels whose abode is not among man.” This is why Moses
calls the demons ‫לא לאוה‬, “the non-gods” in Deuteronomy 32,17. The demons on the one
hand are mortal, made of tangible raw material as mentioned Chagigah 16 The Torah
called the judges, experts, also by the name elohim. This is justified if they
carry out their task properly by freeing themselves of emotions which would make
them partial, subjective. The people who were amazed at Solomon’s wisdom in solving
perplexing judicial problems described him as possessing ‫חכמת לאוהים‬, “divine
wisdom” (Kings I 3,28). Isaiah, describing the superior stature of the messiah
explains that he will not judge by using only his 5 senses. (Isaiah 11,3). In order
to make this point clear G’d Himself is not just described as elohim, but as ‫לאוקי‬
‫הלאוקים‬, “the G’d of gods.” We find this mode of expression also when He is
described as ‫“ אדוני האדונים‬the Lord of lords.” (Deuteronomy 10,17) When such terms
are used they describe Him Who arranges every supernatural event The Torah here
legislates that every male Israelite is to pay a visit to the place where this G’d
is in residence on earth. He is to use these opportunities to give thanks for all
the good things he has experienced, the natural ones, reminding him that all of
these are not so “natural,” but accrue to them inasmuch as He is ‫אדון ישרלא‬. The
supernatural benefits we experience are initiated, however, by G’d in His capacity
as ‫לאוקי ישרלא‬.

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

‫ראשית בכורי אדמתך תביא‬, by doing this you will assure yourself of success in
growing fruit as spelled out in Ezekiel 44,30 ‫תתנו לכהן להניח‬...‫וראשית כל בכורי כל‬
‫ברכה לא ביתך‬, “the first of all your early ripening crops… you shall give to the
priest so that blessing will come to rest on your house.”
‫לא תבשל גדי‬, as this is something the gentiles do, believing that it assures them
success in raising fruit and cattle.

Verse 27

‫כתב לך את הדברים הלאה‬, even though prior to the sin of the golden calf I had said:
“to give to you the Tablets of stone with the Torah and the commandments which I
have written,” (Exodus 24,12) now that the people had sinned “you Moses are to
provide the Tablets, hewing them out and bringing them up to Mount Sinai. G’d would
still inscribe the Tablets, but the Torah and the Mitzvah G’d would teach Moses,
and he would have to write them down himself.

Verse 28

'‫ויהי שם עם ה‬, his third and final 40 day stay there..

Verse 29

Verse 30

Verse 31

Verse 32

‫ויצום את כל אשר דבר ה' אתו‬, the construction of the Tabernacle, the garments of the
priests, the mandatory contribution of the males from 20 to 60 years of age
amounting to a half shekel per head.

Verse 33
‫ויכל משה מדבר אתם‬, but while he was still speaking to them he did not wear the
cloth. This corresponds to Isaiah 30,20 “your eyes should look at your teachers.”
As our sages explained (Eyruvin 13, Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi speaking) “if I had
looked at his (Rabbi Meir’s) teacher’s face instead of merely at his back I would
have been even more learned.”)

Chapter 35

Verse 1

‫ויקהל משה לאה הדברים אשר צוה‬, the matters I told you about earlier when I commanded
you what to do during the weekdays, things G’d had told me when I was on Mount
Sinai.

Verse 2

‫וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קדש‬, and you may not violate the Sabbath even in order to
complete the Tabernacle sooner, although the work on the Tabernacle is also a
sacred task.

Verse 3

‫לא תבערו אש‬, even though generally speaking, lighting a fire is not a productive
but a destructive activity, seeing that it is an almost indispensable ingredient in
most activities the Torah prohibited it as unsuitable for the Sabbath.

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫קחו מאתכם‬, you shall select from amongst yourselves men to collect the donations
for G’d.
‫כל נדיב לבו‬, the donations must not be forced contributions.
'‫יביאה את תרומת ה‬, he shall bring the voluntary donation together with the terumat
Hashem which is mandatory (the half shekel). The latter is known as beka
lagulgolet.

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10
‫את המשכן את אהלו‬, the materials which Moses had already told the people about in
34,32.

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

‫ויבואו האנשים על הנשים‬, together with the women who were contributing voluntarily.
The men accompanied the women to indicate that the women had their approval.
‫וכל איש אשר הניף תנופת זהב‬, together with the women who had donated golden jewelry
also every male who donated such golden offerings. The Torah states simply that
donations of different materials were not all lumped together but that all silver
donations irrespective of by whom, as well as all donations of gold whether by men
or by women, were kept together based on the raw material they consisted of.

Verse 23
Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

‫טוו את העזים‬, while the wool was still on the goats, as per Shabbat 99. The reason
was to lend an additional sheen to the yarn spun from this hair. There are many
materials which suffer a reduction in appearance once they are separated from their
original habitat. We all are aware of this phenomenon with bees’ honey. [The author
cites other examples of a similar nature occurring with products that I am not
familiar with. Ed.]

Chapter 36

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

‫איש איש ממלאכתו‬, the Torah tells of the various kinds of craftsmen of the
Israelites and the readiness of each to contribute his skills.

Verse 5

‫למלאכה אשר צוה ה' לעשות אותה‬. The donations of the people exceeded what was needed
to perform the specific tasks which alone G’d had commanded to be performed. G’d
wanted no additions, nor omissions. This is expressed by the words ‫לעשות אותה בלבד‬,
“to perform only this task alone.” This was different from the Temples built by
Solomon and Herod.

Verse 6

‫לא יעשו עוד מלאכה לתרומת הקדש‬, he did not proclaim that no more donations should be
brought. But he did proclaim that no more work, such as spinning, weaving, etc,
intended for materials used in the construction of the Tabernacle should be begun.
Also timber which had been brought in the correct dimensions with the carved parts
should not be brought anymore. Compare 35,24 which discusses the need of treatment
of both skins and trees.
Verse 7

‫והמלאכה היתה דים‬, the work performed by volunteers for all spheres of the
artisanship and craftsmanship required was adequate for the needs of the project
‫לכל המלאכה‬, for every manner of work required.
‫לעשות אותה והותר‬, in order to complete the work, and more. The craftsmen did not
have to skimp on anything for fear that there would not be sufficient materials of
the required quality to execute the plan in the best possible fashion.

Verse 8

‫ויעשו כל חכם לב בעושי המלאכה‬, the most qualified among them built the Tabernacle
(components) which involved weaving shapes of figures into the cloth so that they
could be seen both on the outside and on the inside. (compare Yuma 72) These
“curtains” were not thick as was the dividing curtain, ‫פרכת‬. This portion repeats
everything that has already been mentioned in connection with the instructions in
Parshat Terumah. The reason why the Torah repeated all this is to inform us that
when it came to the execution of the project they did everything so as to
correspond to G’d’s will and to bring it to conclusion and make it functional as
G’d desired.

Chapter 37

Verse 1

‫הארון‬, seeing that the Ark was the most distinguished of the furnishings of the
Tabernacle, Betzalel, the master craftsman and architect fashioned this item
personally. The sages say of Betzalel that he was capable of using the letters of
the alphabet of the Holy Tongue in a manner similar to the way G’d had used them
when creating the universe. (compare Berachot 55)

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7
Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22
Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

‫ויעש את שמן המשחה קדש‬, he meant for it to be enduring infinitely (not to evaporate
or otherwise disintegrate). We have encountered the meaning of the word ‫ קדש‬in this
sense already on Exodus 30,31‫קדש יהיה לכם ולדורותיכם‬, “it shall be sacred for you
as it will last throughout your generations.”
‫ ;ואת קטורת הסמים טהור‬with spices from which any foreign elements had been
carefully removed, i.e. ‫טהור‬, “pure, unadulterated.”

Chapter 38

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5
Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

‫במראות הצובאות‬, this was not included in the ‫נחושת התנופה‬, “copper for the waving,”
as explained in verse 30 of this chapter in Parshat Pekudey. The copper basin and
its stand are mentioned as having been constructed from the amount of copper
representing these mirrors.
‫אשר צבאו פתח אהל מועד‬, approaching this holy domain was intended to show that they
wanted to hear the words of the living G’d. That this was an acceptable practice is
already documented in 33,7 ‫והיה כל מבקש ה' יצא לא אהל מועד‬, “anyone who wanted to
seek out the Lord would go out to the Tent of Meeting.” The women who had donated
these mirrors indicated that they had overcome their sense of vanity, they
considered jewelry and the need for it a human weakness. Moreover, they knew that
the time when these mirrors had been of constructive use was past.

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17
Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21

‫לאה פקודי המשכן‬, all the individual components described previously are the ones
concerning which the Torah wrote ‫ביד איתמר‬...‫ובשמות תפקדו את כלי משמרת הקדש‬, “you
shall list by name the objects that are their porterage tasks.” (Numbers 4,32-33)
The meaning of the line is that each and everyone of these items was important
enough to be known by its specific name. In other words, one did not refer to it
only by the name of the category of utensils it belonged to, such as “fork,” but
one had a name for each fork. This method of naming each item individually
contributed to their being of permanent significance. The Talmud Yuma 71 goes to
the length of stating categorically that if anyone thought that once such a utensil
had been “used up,” i.e. had outlived its usefulness it would be permanently
consigned to oblivion this is not so. It will even resurface after the resurrection
of the people who used it when they were alive. This is derived from Exodus 26,15
‫עצי שטים עומדים‬, the word ‫ עומדים‬being taken to mean that they will endure
indefinitely. Neither will any of the utensils used in the Tabernacle fall into the
hands of our enemies. This is the opposite of what happened to the “permanent”
Temple, ‫בית עולמים‬, built by Solomon. It is significant that in the account of what
Nebuchadnezzar captured not a word is mentioned about a single item that used to be
part of the Tabernacle in the desert.
‫משכן העדות‬, the Torah begins to list the many ways in which this Temple
(Tabernacle) was superior to those that superseded it. Firstly, it was the ‫משכן‬
‫העדות‬, so named because the Tablets of the Testimony were deposited therein.
Secondly, ‫אשר פקד על פי משה‬, it had been put up at the command of Moses; thirdly,
‫עבודת הלוים ביד איתמר‬, the entire service of the Levites had been entrusted to the
illustrious Ittamar, son of Aaron. Fourthly, ‫ובצללא בן אורי בן חור למטה יהודה עשה‬,
the divinely inspired Betzalel was its principal architect. In view of all the
above advantages of this structure none of it fell into enemy hands.<br> By
contrast, the Temple erected by Solomon, most of the work for which was performed
by labourers from Tzor, even though the Shechinah came to rest on it, was
eventually destroyed, all of it having been lost totally. The inferiority of that
structure is evident from the fact that the building itself was in need of regular,
almost annual, repairs, as we know from Kings II 22,5 The second Temple was so
inferior that it could not even be called ‫משכן העדות‬, the residence of the
Testimony, the Tablets having long since been lost. Neither had it been established
by G’d’s command but by a dream that a gentile named King Cyrus dreamed that it was
his duty to build a temple to the G’d in heaven. Compare Ezra 8,15. Moreover, there
were hardly any Levites that bothered to return to the land of Israel at the time
to take part in that return to Zion. In addition to this, consider that among the
people building this second Temple, there were also pagans called Tzidonim and
Tzurim, as documented in the Book of Ezra.

Verse 22
Verse 23

Verse 24

‫כל הזהב‬, the Torah testifies that the contributions of gold, silver, and copper for
the building of the Tabernacle were miniscule in value when compared to the amount
of such precious metals which were used in the building of Solomon’s Temple. We
read there in Kings I 6, 20-35 and 7, 45-50 about the opulence of that structure.
Compared to the restoration of the second Temple in the days of Herod, even
Solomon’s Temple could be considered a poor attempt at impressing the world with
the Jewish people’s wealth. Notwithstanding all the material wealth invested in
both Solomon’s Temple and that of Herod, Moses’ Tabernacle, a collapsible
structure, enjoyed far more of G’d’s presence than the Temple Solomon built, not to
speak of the second Temple in which the Presence of G’d was never manifest. All of
these historical facts teach us that material wealth, even if donated generously,
is not a major factor in the success of a Temple dedicated to house the Presence of
G’d on earth. G’d’s presence in such a Temple depends on His approval of the
lifestyle of the Jews who have built such a Temple for Him.

Chapter 39

Verse 1

‫בגדי שרד‬, covers about which the only information we have is that the picture on
each indicated which object each one was to cover.

Verse 2

Verse 3

‫וירקעו את פחי הזהב‬, the donours of the gold for the priestly garment already
flattened the gold into thin stripes so they could easily be converted and cut into
“threads” to be embroidered in these garments.
‫וקצץ פתילים‬, the respective artisan. He used the flat sheets of gold to cut the
threads from.

Verse 4

Verse 5

‫כאשר צוה ה' את משה‬, in every detail of every activity connected with the
construction of the Tabernacle the people carrying out the word did so imbued with
the thought that they were carrying out G’d’s will as it had been revealed to
Moses.

Verse 6
Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16

Verse 17

Verse 18

Verse 19

Verse 20

Verse 21
Verse 22

Verse 23

Verse 24

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

Verse 28

Verse 29

Verse 30

Verse 31

Verse 32

‫ויעשו בני ישרלא‬...‫ותכל‬, the work in its totality was attributed to all the people of
Israel seeing that each one of them had a direct or indirect share in it, whether
by contributing material, labour, or skill.
‫כן עשו‬. They did exactly as instructed, neither adding nor subtracting from the
instructions.

Verse 33

‫ויביאו את המשכן‬, the curtains which were artistically woven;

‫את האהל‬, the carpets made of goats’ hair.
‫ואת כל כליו‬, pertaining to the Tabernacle, i.e. the brackets, loops and hooks. Even
the colossal boards were also included in what is called here the ‫כלי המשכן‬, the
“furnishings of the Tabernacle.” So were the bolts, the heavy silver sockets for
the boards, etc.