Devar/5771/Yitro
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< Devar | 5771
עברית
English
Now mount Sinai was altogether on smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly (Ex 19:18)
God revealed Himself, so to speak, to the Jewish nation at Mount Sinai, in order to transmit the Torah to them. He appeared surrounded by smoke, and no eyes saw Him while He spoke to the Children of Israel. He spoke to Moshe, and the people heard -- but nobody saw God, rather and all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the horn, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off. (Ex 20:14) Why did He not permit them to view Him, may He be blessed?
At the beginning of the Ten Commandments He says: Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth (Ex 20:3). The prohibition of idolatry is not just that one refrain from worshiping gods other than Him. Rather the prohibition includes even the making of certain images. The reason is that we humans tend to be drawn towards our eyes' vision. Even the most educated and wise person can fall into this trap. Therefore God forbade us even to make an image of this type, so that we not be tempted to think "it couldn't hurt", and finally end in our own destruction.
The message is simple: one may not assign any physical trait to the Creator of the Universe -- neither place nor dimension nor body nor even time. Because He, may He be blessed, is above any human senses, and beyond any sort of measurement.
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