Tree of Souls
Page 62
Mount Tabor said to Mount Carmel, “Go back to your place, for the Lord has not called you.” Mount Carmel answered, “You return to your place, for the Lord has not called you.” And God heard the quarrel of the mountains and said, “Why do you quarrel? Neither of you is equal to Mount Sinai, for men have worshipped other gods on you. But Mount Sinai is holy, for no man has set idols on it. And that is the mountain that I have chosen to dwell upon.”
This myth about the mountains quarreling over who would receive the honor of having the Torah given from it follows a pattern found in myths about the alphabet, where the letters argue over which letter should have the honor of being first in the alphabet. See “The Letters of the Alphabet,” p. 250. In each case it is God who makes the final decision, and here God selects Mount Sinai because there has been no idol worship there. This gives the mountain a kind of spiritual purity appropriate for its historic role.
Sources:
Genesis Rabbah 99:1;Yalkut Shim’oni.
324. THE NECKLACE OF LETTERS
When God was ready to give the Torah to Israel, God made the letters of the Torah into a necklace and hung it around the neck of Israel, as it is said, She will adorn your head with a graceful wreath, crown you with a glorious diadem (Prov. 4:9). But it was not long before the children of Israel forsook the Torah, as it is said, “They forsook My Torah and rejected it” (Jer. 6:19). At that time God arranged the twenty-two letters of the Torah into acrostics of woe, to indicate the grievous events that would befall Israel.
Just as the Torah is sometimes described as a ketubah, a wedding contract, between God and Israel, here the letters of the Torah are described as a necklace God gives to Israel as a precious gift. But when the people forsake the Torah, God arranges the letters into acrostics that prophesy grievous events. This myth thus portrays both God’s generous and angry aspects. The acrostics referred to here are those found in the first four chapters of the Book of Lamentations. See “The Marriage of God and Israel,” p. 305.
Sources:
Pesikta Rabbati 29, 30:2
325. DEATH AND REBIRTH AT MOUNT SINAI
Moses brought forth the people to meet God. Yahweh came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain (Exod. 19:20). In that hour the world was completely silent. No one dared to breathe. No bird sang, no ox lowed, the sea did not roar, and no creature uttered a sound. Then God opened the portals of the seven firmaments and appeared over them eye to eye, in His beauty, in His glory, in the fullness of His stature, with His crown and upon His Throne of Glory. When He began to speak, thunder and lightning issued from God’s mouth, and all of Israel flew back in horror at the sound of the awful voice. They ran without stopping for twelve miles, until their hearts gave out and their souls fled from them. All of them lay dead.
Then the Torah turned to God, saying, “Master of the Universe! Are You giving me to the living or to the dead?” God replied, “To the living.” The Torah said, “But they are all dead.” And God said, “For your sake I will revive them.” So God let the dew of life fall from heaven, and as soon as it touched the people, they were restored to life, and they became strong and of good courage. That is why, at the resurrection of the dead in the End of Days, the Torah will stand up for the restoring of people’s lives.
Still, the people trembled mightily, even more than before. Nor were they brave enough to look up and gaze upon the Lord. They were not even strong enough to stand on their feet. God saw that their hearts would give out again, so He sent to earth one hundred and twenty myriads of ministering angels, so that there were two angels to every one of them, one to lay his hand on the heart of each one, to keep his heart still, and one to lift each one’s head, so that he might behold the splendor of his Creator.
In this way, awestruck but comforted by the angels, they each beheld the glory of God. Then God asked, “Will you accept the Torah?” And they all answered together, “Yes!”
At that moment God opened up the seven heavens, as well as the seven earths, and all of Israel gazed from one end of the universe to the other. And God said, “Behold that there is none like Me in heaven or on earth.” And they saw with their own eyes that it was true.
This haunting myth recounts that when God appeared on Mount Sinai, the shock of His voice caused all of the people to drop dead. God then revived them and gave each of the 600,000 Jews assembled there two angels, one on his right hand and one on his left. The function of the angels was to calm the people enough for them to stand in the presence of God without having their souls flee from their bodies in terror. Each of the angels is said to have quoted a verse of the Torah. One angel said: “It has been clearly demonstrated to you that Yahweh alone is God; there is none beside Him” (Deut. 4:35). And the other angel said: “Know therefore this day and keep in mind that the Lord alone is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other” (Deut. 4:39).
The myth of the two angels at Mount Sinai is found in Midrash Aseret ha-Dibrot (Midrash of the Ten Commandments), where it is a commentary on the first commandment, I am the Lord your God (Ex. 20:2). Each of the stories in the collection is linked to one of the ten commandments. Midrash Aseret ha-Dibrot, dating from around the ninth century, is regarded as the first story anthology in Jewish literature.
Sources:
B. Shabbat 88b; Midrash Aseret ha-Dibrot on Exodus 20:2; Exodus Rabbah 29:4, 29:9; Song of Songs Zuta 1:2, 4; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 20:4; Midrash Tehillim 19:13, 68:5, 68:7;Pesikta Rabbati 20:4; Otzrot Hayim.
326. THE SEVEN VOICES OF THE TORAH
The Torah was given through seven voices. And the people saw the Lord of the World revealed in every one of those voices. That is the meaning of the verse All the people saw the voices (Exod. 20:15). These voices were accompanied by sparks of fire and flashes of lightning like the letters of the commandments. They saw the fiery word issuing forth from the mouth of the Almighty and being engraved on the tablets, as it is said, The voice of the Lord engraves flames of fire (Ps. 29:4).
And when the people actually saw Him-Who-Spoke-and-the-World-Came-Into-Being, they fainted away. Some say that their spirit departed from them, while others say that they entered a prophetic trance. These visions brought them trembling and shaking and a blackout of the senses.
This myth describes the intense revelatory experience of those present at Mount Sinai. It is sometimes described as a prophetic trance, sometimes as a blackout, sometimes as their spirits taking flight. See “Death and Rebirth at Mount Sinai,” p. 259. Note that this experience at Sinai includes a direct visual and aural perception of God—not only of God’s voice (or seven voices), but an actual vision of God Himself. This makes it by far the greatest revelation in Jewish history.
Midrash Tanhuma, Shemot 22 states that the voice of God split into 70 different voices. This echoes the tradition of the 70 faces of the Torah, meaning that there are 70 different ways of reading and understanding the Torah.
Sources:
Sefer ha-Bahir 45; Midrash Tanhuma, Shemot 22; Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Yitro 16; Rashi on Exodus 20:15; Nachmanides on Parashat va-Et-Hanan; Magen David.
Studies:
Present at Sinai: The Giving of the Law, edited by S. Y. Agnon, pp. 264-277.
327. THE ASCENT OF MOSES
With the children of Israel assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai, Moses ascended the mountain with great majesty, crowned with light. He would ascend a little and look behind him, blessing the congregation. When he reached the top he saw that a cloud was floating there. Moses looked at it, but he did not know whether to take hold of it or to ascend to it. As he came closer, the cloud opened, and Moses stepped inside, and the cloud carried him on high. Inside of that cloud, Moses was hidden from the sight of the Congregation of Israel, and they cried out in distress. But Moses knew that he had been sanctified, and that he was being borne up by God’s blessing, as it is said, And Moses went up to God (Exod. 19:3).
As the cloud rose up, Moses lost track of time, so filled was he with
awe. Then all at once the cloud stopped at the gates of the firmament, and the mouth of the cloud opened, and Moses sought to enter the Gate of Heaven. But the angel Kemuel, who guards that gate, rebuked Moses, saying, “How dare you come here! Have you no fear of the angels and their fire?” When Moses replied: “I have come to receive the Torah,” the gate opened of its own accord, for the Torah is the key that opens that gate. And when the angel saw this, he knew that it was God’s wish that Moses should enter there, and he made way for him to pass.
After that Moses reached the river Rigyon, a river of fire whose coals can consume angels as well as men. There he was met by a troop of the Angels of Destruction, who gathered around Moses in order to consume him with fire. And Moses cried out: “Master of the Universe, keep them from consuming me with their fiery breath!” At that moment a great fiery wave rose up from the river and washed over the Angels of Destruction, and they were all consumed. But not a spark of that fire touched Moses, who learned in this way that all things exist by the mercy of God, and that every life is in His hands.
Now when the angels saw Moses there, they cried out to God: “Master of the Universe, what is this man doing here?” And God replied: “He has come to receive the Torah.” And the angels said: “You created the Torah before You created the world. How can such a precious treasure pass into the hands of a mere human being?” And God replied: “It was created for that very purpose.”
Then God reached down and pulled Moses up to His heavenly throne. There Moses saw God seated on his Throne of Glory, and behind Him was an angel so large that Moses shook with terror. Then God stepped down from His Throne of Glory to comfort him. And in the Divine Presence, Moses found his strength again, and he grew calm in that high place.
When he had recovered, Moses asked to know the identity of that angel, and God replied: “That is the angel Sandalphon, who wreaths garlands out of the prayers of Israel.” Just then Sandalphon completed one of those garlands, and it rose up on its own accord and came to rest on the head of God as He sat on His Throne of Glory. And at that moment all the hosts on high shook with awe, and the wheels of the throne revolved, and the creatures of the chariot, which had been silent, began to roar like lions, all of them crying out Holy, holy, holy! The Lord of Hosts (Isa. 6:3).
Then God said to Moses: “The time has come for you to receive the Torah. Take hold of My Throne of Glory—it will protect you from the angels.” This Moses did, and all at once God opened the seven firmaments and showed Moses the Sanctuary on high. Then He opened the portals of the seven firmaments and appeared over Israel, in all His fullness and splendor. And when the children of Israel heard the words “I the Lord am your God” (Exod. 20:2), they fell down in fear and their souls departed. Then God caused the dew of the resurrection, which will revive the souls of the righteous at the End of Days, to fall upon them. And every one of them was revived.
After that God sent one hundred and twenty myriads of angels to earth, two angels for each of the children of Israel. One angel to put its hand over each of their hearts, so that it would not stop beating, and the other raised up their heads, so they could gaze at God in that moment of Glory. And so they did.
Then, while the portals were still open, God transmitted the Torah to Moses, while every word echoed among the people gathered below. For forty days and nights God spoke the words of the Torah to Moses during the day, and at night He explained it to him. And that which he wrote down during the day is the Written Law, and that which he learned at night is the Oral Law, which reveals the seventy meanings of every word of the Torah, like the many facets of a perfect jewel.
At the end of forty days and nights, the cloud returned, and Moses descended to Mount Sinai. And there he proclaimed the sovereignty of the Lord over all of Israel, and that The Lord shall reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah (Ps. 146:10).
The ascent of Elijah into heaven is stated explicitly in the Bible: As they kept on walking and talking, a fiery chariot with fiery horses suddenly appeared and separated one from the other, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). In the case of Moses, one verse of the Torah is interpreted to mean that such an ascent took place: And Moses went up to God (Exod. 19:3). Thus, while the account in the Torah states that Moses ascended to the top of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the verse And Moses went up to God is interpreted to mean that Moses ascended all the way into heaven to receive the Torah. This interpretation gave birth to a wide range of myths about what took place during the ascent. In one version, Moses is said to have been sent by God to sit in the future classroom of Rabbi Akiba. But most accounts describe the encounters Moses has in heaven, struggling with the angels and viewing the wonders of Paradise. These myths follow the pattern found in the Hekhalot texts about heavenly journeys, dating from the first to the eighth centuries. Thus the ascent of Moses may well have served as the model for some of these Hekhalot texts. The third major ascent in Jewish tradition is that of Enoch, found in the books of Enoch, and in the so-called “3 Enoch,” which itself is a Hekhalot text.
It was widely assumed in rabbinic literature that Moses not only climbed to the top of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, but that he also ascended into Paradise. Inevitably, Moses encountered the angels, who had never been enthusiastic about the creation of humans in the first place, and were loath to see the Torah transmitted to him. The angels attempted to obstruct Moses and cast him out of heaven, but God always interceded to protect him. There are several versions of this legend of heavenly ascent. That in Pesikta Rabbati is the most extensive. Among the prophets, Moses was the only one said to have seen God. In these legends of the ascent of Moses, he stands before the Throne of Glory, sees God weaving the crowns of the letters of the Torah, and, most amazingly, there is an account of God stepping down from His Throne of Glory to reassure Moses, who has been frightened by the awe-inspiring sight of the angel Sandalphon. Subsequent prophets hear the voice of God, but visions of God are extremely rare. See, for example, “The Vision of the High Priest,” which recounts the High Priest’s vision of Akatriel Yah in the Holy of Holies.
There is an interesting debate in the Talmud, B. Sukkah 5a, as to whether or not God descended to earth and whether Moses and Elijah really ascended to heaven. This grows out of the assertion that “Neither Moses nor Elijah ever went up to heaven, nor did the Shekhinah come down to earth.” This anti-mythological belief is based on the verse The heavens belong to God, but the earth He gave over to humanity (Ps. 115:16). One side argues that the verse Yahweh came down upon Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:20) is evidence that God did descend to earth. As proof that Moses did ascend to heaven, they select Moses went up to God (Exod. 19:3). The other side argues that God only came within ten handbreadths of the earth, and that Moses and Elijah only reached within ten handbreadths below the sphere of heaven.
Hakham Yosef Hayim of Baghdad, known as Ben Ish Hai, comments about the protests of the angels when Moses ascended on high, that most of the angels did not protest, and the few who did were inspired by God to do so. He argues that God engineered the confrontation with the angels so that all would see Moses emerge victorious.
Sources:
B. Shabbat 88b-89a; B. Menahot 29b; B. Sukkah 5a; B. Yoma 4a; Exodus Rabbah 28; Pesikta Rabbati 20:4; Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, ba-Hodesh 4:55-58;Ma’ayan Hokhmah in Beit ha-Midrash 1:60-61; Otzrot Hayim; Memar Markah 5:3 (Samaritan); IFA 16628.
Studies:
“Visions of God in Merkabah Mysticism” by Ira Chernus. The Faces of the Chariot by David J. Halperin.
328. MOUNT SINAI IS LIFTED TO HEAVEN
Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. And Mount Sinai was uprooted from its place and lifted up above the earth. And the heavens were opened and the summit of the mountain came into their midst, and the Lord was revealed.
Here the revelation at Sinai is described in even greater mythic terms than are found in the Torah. In an unparalleled series of events, God raises up Mount
Sinai to the heavens, and at that instant, with the heavens open, God is revealed to the people.
A parallel myth, but with much different implications, describes God as lifting up Mount Sinai and holding it over the heads of the people of Israel at the time. He asked them if they were willing to receive the Torah, and with no other choice, they readily agreed to receive it. See “God Offers the Torah to Israel,” p. 264.
Sources:
Exodus Rabbah 28; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 41.
329. HOW GOD REVEALED HIMSELF AT MOUNT SINAI
God did not reveal Himself on Mount Sinai like hailstones falling from heaven. Instead, He appeared slowly and gradually, moving from one mountaintop to the next until He descended upon Mount Sinai.
But our forebears, standing at Mount Sinai to accept the Torah, saw no form resembling a human being, nor resembling the form of any creature, nor resembling the form of anything that has breath that God created on the face of the earth. They saw only God, the one God, whose kingdom endures in heaven and on earth, as it is said, For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords (Deut. 10:17).
This midrash presents Maimonides’s interpretation of the verses, Yahweh came from Sinai and rose from Mount Seir to them; He shone forth from Mount Paran and He came from holy multitudes (Deut. 33:2). Likewise, Rashi agrees that God did not appear on Mount Sinai suddenly, but revealed Himself little by little.
Eliyahu Rabbah offers the paradoxical view that those at Mount Sinai “saw no form resembling a human being.” At the same time, they saw God, who, according to this text, was not in a human image, despite Genesis 1:26, In the image of God He created them, and the extensive tradition linked to this verse. The theological purpose of insisting that the people saw no human form is to oppose the anthropomorphic tendencies in Judaism, and to reaffirm the tradition that God cannot be represented by an image.