After Israel had heard the Ten Commandments, they supposed that God
would on this occasion reveal to them all the rest of the Torah. But
the awful vision on Mount Sinai, where they heard the visible and saw
the audible - the privilege was granted them that even the slave women
among them saw more than the greatest prophet of later times - this
vision has so exhausted them that they would surely have perished, had
they heard another word from God. They therefore went to Moses and
implored him to be the intermediator between them and God. God found
their wish right, so that He not only employed Moses as His
intermediator, but determined in all future times to send prophets to
Israel as messengers of His words. Turning to Moses, God said: "All
that they have spoken is good. If it were possible, I would even now
dismiss the Angel of Death, but death against humanity has already been
decreed by Me, hence it must remain. [238] Go, say unto them: 'Return
to your tents,' but stay thou with Me." In these words God indicated to
Israel that they might again enter upon conjugal relations, from which
they has abstained throughout three days, while Moses should forever
have to deny himself all earthly indulgences. [239]
Moses in his great wisdom now knew how, in a few words, to calm the
great excitement of the myriads of men, saying to them: "God gave you
the Torah and wrought marvels for you, in order, through this and
through the observances of the laws which He imposed upon you, to
distinguish you before all other nations on earth. Consider, however,
that whereas up to this time you have been ignorant, and your ignorance
served as your excuse, you now know exactly what to do and what not to
do. Until now you did not know that the righteous are to be rewarded
and the godless to be punished in the future world, but now you know
it. But as long as you will have a feeling of shame, you will not
lightly commit sins." Hereupon the people withdrew twelve miles from
Mount Sinai, while Moses stepped quite close before the Lord. [240]
In the immediate proximity of God are the souls of the pious, a little
farther Mercy and Justice, and close to these was the position Moses
was allowed to occupy. [241] The vision of Moses, owing to his nearness
to God, was clear and distinct, unlike that of the other prophets, who
saw but dimly. He is furthermore distinguished from all the other
prophets, that he was conscious of his prophetic revelations, while
they were unconscious in the moments of prophecy. A third distinction
of Moses, which he indeed shared with Aaron and Samuel, was that God
revealed Himself to him in a pillar of cloud. [242]
In spite of these great marks of favor to Moses, the people still
perceived the difference between the first two commandments, which they
heard directly from God, and those that they learned through Moses'
intercession. For when they heard the words, "I am the Eternal, thy
Lord," the understanding of the Torah became deep-rooted in their
hearts, so that they never forgot what they thus learned. But they
forgot some of the things Moses taught, for as man is a being of flesh
and blood, and hence ephemeral, so are his teachings ephemeral. They
hereupon came to Moses, saying: "O, if He would only reveal Himself
once more! O that once more He would kiss us with the kisses of His
mouth! O that understanding of the Torah might remain firm in our
hearts as before!" Moses answered: "It is no longer possible now, but
it will come to pass in the future world, when He will put His law in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts."
Israel had another reason for regretting the choice of an intermediator
between themselves and God. When they heard the second commandment:
"Thou shalt have no strange gods beside Me," the evil impulse was torn
out from their hearts. But as soon as they requested Moses to intercede
for them, the evil impulse set in once more in its old place. In vain,
however, did they plead with Moses to restore the former direct
communication between them and God, so that the evil impulse might be
taken from them. For he said: "It is no longer possible now, but in the
future world He will 'take out of your flesh the stony heart.'" [243]
Although Israel had now heard only the first two commandments directly
from God, still the Divine apparition had and enormous influence upon
this generation. Never in the course of their lives was any physical
impurity heard of among them, nor did any vermin succeed in infesting
their bodies, and when they died, their corpses remained free from
worms and insects. [244]