The first word of God on Sinai was Anoki, "It is I." It was not a
Hebrew word, but and Egyptian word that Israel first heard from God. He
treated them as did that king his home-coming son, whom, returning from
a long stay over sea, he addressed in the language the son had acquired
in a foreign land. So God addressed Israel in Egyptian, because it was
the language they spoke. At the same time Israel recognized in this
word "Anoki," that is was God who addressed them. For when Jacob had
assembled his children around his death-bed, he warned them to be
mindful of the glory of God, and confided to them the secrets that God
would hereafter reveal to them with the word "Anoki." He said: "With
the word 'Anoki' He addressed my grandfather Abraham; with the word
'Anoki' He addressed my father Isaac, and with the word 'Anoki' He
addressed me. Know, then, that when He will come to you, and will so
address, you, it will be He, but not otherwise." [209]
When the first commandment had come out of the mouth of God thunder and
lightning proceeded from His mouth, a torch was at His right, and a
torch at His left, and His voice flew through the air, saying: "My
people, My people, House of Israel! I am the Eternal, you God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt." When Israel heard the awful
voice, they flew back in their horror twelve miles, until their souls
fled from them. Upon this the Torah turned to God, saying: "Lord of the
world! Hast Thou given me to the living, or to the dead?" God said: "To
the living." The Torah: "But they are all dead." God: "For thy sake
will I restore them to life." Hereupon He let fall upon them the dew
that will hereafter revive the dead, and they returned to life.
The trembling of heaven and earth that set in upon the perception of
the Divine voice, alarmed Israel so greatly that they could hardly
stand on their feet. God hereupon sent to every one of them two angels;
on lay his hand upon the heart of each, that his soul might not depart,
and on to lift the head of each, that he might behold his Maker's
splendor. They beheld the glory of God as well as the otherwise
invisible word when it emanated from the Divine vision, and rolled
forward to their ears, whereupon they perceived these words: "Wilt thou
accept the Torah, which contains two hundred and forty-eight
commandments, corresponding to the number of the members of they body?"
They answered: "Yea, yea." Then the word passed from the ear to the
mouth; it kissed the mouth, then rolled again to the ear again to the
ear, and called to it: "Wilt thou accept the Torah, which contains
three hundred and sixty-five prohibitions, corresponding to the days of
the year?" And when they replied, "Yea, yea," again the word turned
from the ear to the mouth and kissed it. After the Israelites had in
this wise taken upon themselves the commandments and the prohibitions,
God opened the seven heavens and the seven earths, and said: "Behold,
these are My witnesses that there is none like Me in the heights or on
earth! See that I am the Only One, and that I have revealed Myself in
My splendor and My radiance! If anyone should say to you, 'Go, serve
other gods,' then say: 'Can one who has seen his Maker, face to face,
in His splendor, in His glory and His strength, leave Him and become an
idolater?' See, it is I that have delivered you out of the house of
bondage; it is I that cleaved the seas before you and led you on dry
land, while I submerged you enemies in the depths. [210] I am the God
of the dry land as well as the sea, of the past as well as of the
future, the God of this world as well as of the future worlds. [211] I
am the God of all nations, but only with Israel is My name allied. If
they fulfil My wishes, I, the Eternal, am merciful, gracious and long
suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; but if you are
disobedient, then will I be a stern judge. If you had not accepted the
Torah, no punishment could have fallen upon you were you not to fulfil
it, but now that you have accepted it, you must obey it." [212]
In order to convince Israel of the unity and uniqueness of God, He bade
all nature stand still, that all might see that there is nothing beside
Him. When God bestowed the Torah, no bird sang, no ox lowed, the
Ofannim did not fly, the Seraphim uttered not their "Holy, holy, holy,"
the sea did not roar, no creature uttered a sound - all listened in
breathless silence to the words announced by an echoless voice, "I am
the Lord you God." [213]
These words as well as the others, made know by God on Mount Sinai,
were not heard by Israel alone, but by the inhabitants of all the
earth. The Divine voice divided itself into the seventy tongues of men,
so that all might understand it; but whereas Israel could listen to the
voice without suffering harm, the souls of the heathens almost fled
from them when they heard it. [214] When the Divine voice sounded, all
the dead in Sheol were revived, and betook themselves to Sinai; for the
revelation took place in the presence of the living as well as of the
dead, yea, even the souls of those who were not yet born were present.
Every prophet, every sage, received at Sinai his share of the
revelation, which in the course of history was announced by them to
mankind. [215] All heard indeed the same words, but the same voice,
corresponding to the individuality of each, was God's way of speaking
with them. And as the same voice sounded differently to each one, so
did the Divine vision appear differently to each, wherefore God warned
them not to ascribe the various forms to various beings, saying: "Do
not believe that because you have seen Me in various forms, there are
various gods, I am the same that appeared to you at the Red Sea as a
God of war, and at Sinai as a teacher." [216]