The Ten Commandments - Part 2

Parshat Mishpatim

 

Last week, we studied the portion dealing with the Revelation of the Torah at Sinai. We learned that while “only” ten commandments were revealed at that time, the people actually saw the entire Torah. When presented with the possibility of having G-d explain to them the Torah in detail, they failed to rise to the challenge. This week, in Parshat Mishpatim, the people receive many more commandments; in fact, the core of Jewish torts law is presented in this parsha.

At the end of Parshat Mishpatim, Moshe is invited to ascend the Mountain in order to receive the content of the Revelation:

G-d said to Moshe, ‘Ascend to me up the mountain, and be there, and I will give you the Tablets of Stone, the Torah, and the command, which I have written to instruct thereof’. (24:12)

Rashi’s comments on this verse clarify that the time frame is-

After the giving of the Torah (Rashi on 24:12)

We can therefore surmise that the sequence of events was as follows: Moshe goes up to Har Sinai for 40 days, subsequent to the Revelation on the Mountain which all of Israel witnessed. But what was the purpose of Moshe’s ascension, if he had already witnessed the Revelation? According to Rabbinic understanding, Moshe received far more than the "Tablets of Stone" when he ascended Mount Sinai. The verse itself indicates a much broader Revelation:

"I will give you the Tablets of Stone, the Torah, and the command, (“HaMitzva) which I have written to instruct thereof" (24:12)

This verse is clearly pregnant with meaning. Aside from the problem of defining each term there is the additional problem of a dangling participle: "Tablets of Stone" seems a clear reference to the Ten Commandments etched in stone by G-d, but what are the "Torah" and the "Mitzvah", and which of these is referred to by the phrase "which I have written"?

In the Talmud (and Midrash) we are taught;

"And Rav Levi bar Chama taught in the name of Rav Shimon ben Lakish "What does the verse mean; "I will give you, the tablets of stone, the Torah, and the command, which I have written to instruct thereof" (24:12) "Tablets" refers to Eseret Hadibrot (10 Commandments) "Torah" is scripture (5 books of Moses), "Mitzvah" is Mishna, "Which I have written" is Neviiem and Ketuvim, "To instruct thereof" is Gemara (Talmud). This teaches us that all [the above] were given to Moshe from Sinai" (Brachot 5a)

According to this passage, the entire corpus of what we call Torah was given to Moshe at Sinai. The Jerusalem Talmud continues this teaching: even that which a "talmid vatik" (an established student) will someday ask was already given to Moshe at Sinai.

While this teaching seems quite clear and straightforward, some obvious questions arise. Moshe ascends Sinai in the first months following the Exodus, yet the Five Books of Moses - the Torah- contain narrative which will unfold over the course of the ensuing forty years. We may simply say that Moshe was a prophet, and therefore was privy to information which the intellect is incapable of grasping. While this is surely the case, in this particular instance, knowledge of the entire Five Books, particularly the narrative which would unfold over a 40 year period, leaves us with questions which are anything but simple.

For example, had Moshe been aware of the disastrous results of sending the spies why would he have sent them? Why would Moshe strike the rock if he was aware of the results? Moreover, if we would posit that Moshe had no choice, that he had to "play out the script," how could he be held responsible for his actions? To rephrase the question: The Torah consists of both narrative and law; how can we imagine that Moshe received narrative of events which had not as of yet transpired, and need not necessarily have transpired? Had the Jews not sinned in the desert in the incident of the spies, they would not have wandered in the desert for 40 years, which would then call into question the necessity for the entire Book of Bamidbar. Obviously, the same question may be posed regarding the books of the Prophets - Neviim and Ketuvim. Regarding the Mishna and Talmud, it is likewise difficult to understand how Moshe could have received these documents in total, replete with names of later authorities, millennia before their birth.

And Moshe turned, and went down from the Mount, and the two Tablets of the Testimony were in his hand; the Tablets were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the Tablets were the work of G-d, and the writing was the writing of G-d, engraved upon the Tablets. (32:15-16)

Apparently, no reference is made to any information other than the "Tablets of Stone". Likewise, when Moshe descends the second time, the verse says;

And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. And it came to pass, when Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the two Tablets of Testimony in Moshe’s hand, when he came down from the Mount, that Moshe knew not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. (34:28-29)

Moshe does not descend the Mountain holding a Torah scroll. What, then, is the meaning of the passage cited above, which describes Moshe’s knowledge and revelation as having been complete?

It is worthwhile to note that the text does describe additional information as having been imparted to Moshe:

Afterward, the entire Children of Israel came closer, and he (Moshe) commanded them, all the things which G-d spoke with him on Mount Sinai (34:32)

This verse clearly indicates that while perhaps in written form all that Moshe received was the Ten Commandments, there was other things taught to Moshe, verbally, or orally.

Thus far we have focused on the school of thought which teaches that Moshe received the entire corpus of Jewish knowledge on Mount Sinai, but another view is expressed in the Midrash. Immediately preceding the Golden Calf episode, the Torah states:

And [G-d] gave to Moshe, when He finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, two Tablets of Testimony, Tablets of Stone, written by the finger of the Lord" (31:18)

The Midrash focuses on the word "finished," "k’chalato":

Did Moshe [finish] learning the entire Torah? It says in the Torah (Job 11) [that the Torah is] ‘longer than the land and broader than the sea." Did Moshe learn all this in 40 days? Rather G-d taught Moshe principles (k’lalim). This is what the verse means "k’chalotam" (Midrash Raba 41:6)

This Midrash paints a radically different picture, implying that Moshe learned the principles of Torah, and not all of the Torah in a literal sense. However, we need not conclude that these two schools of thought are contradictory. They may, in fact, be complementary! The question of foreknowledge of events, for example, may be answered when we combine both schools of thought: Perhaps Moshe indeed learned the entire corpus of Jewish knowledge, but not in the detailed form; he knew the principles of theological truth which biblical narratives teach, without knowledge of the details of future events.

It is an axiom in Torah that all teachings must conform with the teachings of Moshe. If any later prophet were to contradict Moshe, that latter teaching would be invalid, even heretical. All later teachings that are accurate are in accordance with the principles that G-d taught Moshe at Sinai. Surely when it comes to practical law, G-d taught Moshe many details, but the Midrash Raba teaches that in some instances G-d taught Moshe principles without going into every application of the law which could, or would, arise in the future.

This insight will help us understand the formulation by the Rambam in his introduction to the Mishna Torah:

All the Mitzvot which were given to Moshe at Sinai were given with explanations. As it says "I will give you, the Tablets of Stone, the Torah, and the command, which I have written to instruct thereof" (24:12). "Torah" is the Oral Torah, "Mitzvah" is the explanations, we are commanded to fulfill the Torah according to the Mitzvah. This mitzvah is called The Oral Torah. The entire Torah was written by Moshe Rabbenu, prior to his death, by his hand. A copy was given to each tribe, and a copy was placed in the ark... The Mitzvah, which is the explanations, was not written, rather it was taught to the elders, Yehoshua, and the rest of Israel. (Rambam; Introduction Mishna Torah)

The Rambam is clearly conceptualizing the Talmudic passage cited above: Moshe indeed receives far more than the "Ten commandments". He receives the entire Oral Tradition, but what is fascinating about the Rambam’s explanation is that Moshe receives the Oral Tradition at Sinai, even though the Written Torah, was not written until just prior to Moshe’s death—long after their original Revelation: "The entire Torah was written by Moshe Rabbenu, prior to his death, by his hand." The Written Torah as we know it was "produced" before the death of Moshe, not at Sinai, even though the Oral Torah, which is obviously interconnected with the Written Torah, was given to Moshe at an earlier juncture. The nature of the inter-relationship of the Written and Oral Torahs is a topic in and of itself, but one that is beyond our present scope. Nonetheless, we have seen that Moshe descends the Mountain with only the "Tablets of Stone" in hand, yet when invited to ascend the mountain Moshe was promised much more. The Beis Halevi (Drasha 18, cited last week as well) offers an incredible teaching: The original Tablets written by the hand of G-d indeed contained far more information. As we recall, the verse stated:

"I will give you, the Tablets of Stone, the Torah, and the command, (HaMitzva) which I have written to instruct thereof" (24:12)

The Beis Halevi says that the original Luchot indeed contained all this information. According to his understanding, had it not been for the sin of the Golden Calf, there never would have been a distinction between the Oral and Written Torahs. The Midrash recounts that when Moshe came down and saw the Golden Calf, he smashed the Luchot, and the letters floated heavenward. As we saw above, when Moshe writes the second Luchot, it is now his own writing, not that of “the finger of God.” Only when the second Luchot are given is a distinction created between Oral and Written Torah. At this point we saw that the verse states:

And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the Tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. And it came to pass, when Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the two Tablets of Testimony in Moshe’s hand, when he came down from the Mount, that Moshe knew not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. (34:28-29)

According to the Yalkut Shimoni, the glow on Moshe’s face was from the "left over ink in his quill". The Beit Halevi explains that the "left over ink" refers to that which was included in the first Luchot but was missing from the second, namely the Oral Torah.

Now we can also understand the "dangling participle:"

I will give you the Tablets of Stone, the Torah, and the command, (HaMitzva) which I have written to instruct thereof" (24:12)

G-d had, in fact, transmitted both the Oral and Written Torah; as a result of our own actions we never received the Torah in that complete form. The dangling participle, then, refers to all of Torah, written supernaturally on the Tablets of Stone.