Szináj ékszerei

When the people heard this harsh word, they went into mourning, and none put on finery.

יהוה said to Moses, “Say to the Israelite people, ‘You are a stiffnecked people. If I were to go in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now, then, leave off your finery, and I will consider what to do to you.’”

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.)

When she told her husband this story, he said to her: Are you content that everyone will eat at a complete table and we will eat at a defective table? She said to him: But what can we do? Pray for mercy, that the leg of the golden table should be taken from you. He prayed for mercy, and it was taken from him. A tannataught in a baraita: The last miracle was greater than the first, as it is learned as a tradition that Heaven gives but does not take back.

And no man put his jewels on himself. Some raise a difficulty: If they themselves did not put their jewels on themselves, why did He then say again Now remove your jewels from upon you? It seems to me that there were two types of jewels here. The first is the general jewels — rings, nose rings, and ornaments that they would adorn themselves with. The second is those crowns that were given to them at Horeb when they said We will do and we will hear. And in the first instance, when they heard this thing that the Holy One, blessed be He, said For I will not go up in your midst, they were like those who are excommunicated from Heaven, therefore they mourned and no man put his jewels. From the phrase [no] man his jewel, and it did not say, “the Children of Israel,” we can infer that it is speaking about jewels specific to each individual according to his wealth — the rich would have more and the poor would have less, and they accepted upon themselves repentance for the sin that stemmed from the jewels, as it says and all the people removed the golden nose rings, etc. But those two crowns that they received at Horeb, they did not remove, because it would appear to them like removing the yoke of the Torah, as if they were saying “we have no portion in the Torah and its crown.” Therefore, they were told a second time Now remove your jewels from upon you, even those two crowns, and about this it says the children of Israel stripped themselves of their jewels from Mount Horeb. That jewel that was given to them at Mount Horeb, and here it says the children of Israel and not “[no] man his jewels,” because all of Israel were equal in it, the rich and the traveler alike.

Rabbi Simai taught: When Israel accorded precedence to the declaration “We will do” over the declaration “We will hear,” 600,000 ministering angels came and tied two crowns to each and every member of the Jewish people, one corresponding to “We will do” and one corresponding to “We will hear.” And when the people sinned with the Golden Calf, 1,200,000 angels of destruction descended and removed them from the people, as it is stated in the wake of the sin of the Golden Calf: “And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward” (Exodus 33:6). Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: At Horeb they put on their ornaments, and at Horeb they removed them. The source for this is: At Horeb they put them on, as we have said; at Horeb they removed them, as it is written: “And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: And Moses merited all of these crowns and took them. What is the source for this? Because juxtaposed to this verse, it is stated: “And Moses would take the tent [ohel]” (Exodus 33:7). The word ohel is interpreted homiletically as an allusion to an aura or illumination [hila]. Reish Lakish said: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will return them to us, as it is stated: “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads” (Isaiah 35:10). The joy that they once had will once again be upon their heads.

And no man wore his ornaments. All who were worthy of receiving the spirit of prophecy realized that this was not the time to seek it.

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