Finding Excitement in Repetition

(1) On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone forth from the land of Egypt, on that very day, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. (2) Having journeyed from Rephidim, they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain,

(1) ביום הזה THE SAME (lit., this) DAY — on the day of the New Moon. (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:1:3; Shabbat 86b). It ought not to write ביום הזה, but ביום ההוא, “on that day”; what, then, is the force of the words “on this day”? Since they refer to the day when the Israelites came to Sinai to receive the Torah they imply that the commands of the Torah should be to you each day as something new (not antiquated and something of which you have become tired), as though He had only given them to you for the first time on the day in question (Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 273; cf. Berakhot 63b).

And Rabbi Yehuda again began to speak in honor of Torah and taught: When Moses took leave of Israel on his last day in this world, he said: “Keep silence [hasket] and hear, Israel; this day you have become a people unto the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 27:9). This is surprising: Was the Torah given to Israel on that day? Wasn’t that day at the end of forty years since the Torah was given? Rather, it comes to teach that each and every day the Torah is as dear to those who study it, as it was on the day it was given from Mount Sinai.

(6) “This month shall be for you the first of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you” (Exodus 12:2). Another interpretation: “This month shall be for you” – that is what is written: “Who is she who appears like the dawn [shaḥar], [beautiful as the moon, pure as the sun, fearsome as banners of a host?]” (Song of Songs 6:10). There are four terms of praise of Israel here, corresponding to the four exiles. For during the four exiles that Israel experienced, they did not deny the Holy One blessed be He. In the Babylonian exile, from where [can this be seen]? It is as it is stated: “Who is she who appears like the dawn?” Nebuchadnezzar prostrated himself to the sun, as it is stated: “How have you fallen from the heavens, glowing morning [shaḥar] star” (Isaiah 14:12). Daniel would rise early [shoḥer] and pray to the Omnipresent, as it is stated: “And windows were open for him in his upper chamber facing Jerusalem” (Daniel 6:11), evening, morning, and noon. Why would he rise early and pray? It was so the Holy One blessed be He would have mercy upon Israel. In his regard, Solomon said: “He who seeks [shoḥer] good seeks favor” (Proverbs 11:27). God was present for them in their time of distress, as it is stated: “I love those who love me…” (Proverbs 8:17). Likewise, we find, when Daniel was cast into the lions’ den, he was not harmed, as it is stated; “God sent His angel and closed the lions’ mouths, and they did not harm me” (Daniel 6:23). Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya were cast into the fiery furnace and were not harmed, as it is stated: “The hair of their heads was not singed [. . .] and the odor of fire did not cover them” (Daniel 3:27). Rather, they illuminated the world like the dawn, which illuminates the world. Therefore, “who appears like the dawn.” They caused the idolaters to acknowledge the Holy One blessed be He and to praise Him, as Nebuchadnezzar said when Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya emerged from the furnace: “Blessed is the God of Shadrakh, Meshakh, and Aved Nego” (Daniel 3:28), “the servants of the exalted God” (Daniel 3:26). Likewise, Darius said after Daniel fell into the lions’ den “to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, who is the living God” (Daniel 6:27); therefore, it is written: “Who is she who appears like the dawn?” “Beautiful as the moon” (Song of Songs 6:10) – in the Median [Persian] exile; you find during the night that if the moon is not seen in the sky, there is darkness in the world, and a person is unable to walk, even in the city. When the moon is seen in the sky, everyone is glad, and they walk on the road. So, during the days of Aḥashverosh, when they decreed against the Jews to “destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13), and Esther came and illuminated for Israel, as it is stated: “The Jews had light and gladness, [and joy and honor]” (Esther 8:16); that is why it is written: “Beautiful as the moon,” about the Median exile. If your wish is to know why Esther was likened to the moon: Just as the moon is reborn after thirty days, so too, Esther said: “But I have not been summoned to the king these thirty days” (Esther 4:11); that is why “beautiful as the moon” is in the Median exile. “Pure as the sun” (Song of Songs 6:10) – during the Greek kingdom. Sandrios eim Ulios: The sun [ḥama] is its name, and the sun is called a strong man [gibor], as it is stated: “Rejoices as a strong man [gibor] to run its course” (Psalms 19:6). During the summer, who can withstand the sun; everyone flees from it, as it is stated: “And nothing hides from its heat [meḥamato]” (Psalms 19:7). So, with regard to the Greek kingdom, everyone fled from it, and Matitya the priest and his sons were steadfast in their faith in the Holy One blessed be He, and the troops of Greece fled from before them and were all killed. So, the Holy One blessed be He said to them: “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; the weak will say: I am mighty [gibor]” (Joel 4:10). And it says: “So may all Your enemies perish, Lord…” (Judges 5:31), to fulfill what is stated: “Pure as the sun.” “Fearsome as banners” (Song of Songs 6:10) – in [reference to the hegemony of] Edom [Rome]; why is it [Israel] called fearsome? It is because it remains steadfast in a kingdom that inspires fear, as it is stated: “And behold a fourth beast, dreadful and fearsome, and strong” (Daniel 7:7). What is “fearsome as banners?” You find that there are twelve constellations in the sky. Just as the heavens cannot endure without the twelve constellations, so, the world cannot endure without the twelve tribes, as it is stated: “If [these] statutes depart [from before Me, says the Lord, then the descendants of Israel will also cease from being a nation before Me forever]” (Jeremiah 31:35). “Fearsome as banners” – banners are nothing other than armies, as it is stated: “The banner of the camp…and their host and their numbered” (Numbers 2:3–4). Likewise, the banners of the heavens are the angels, and the banners of the earth are Israel. The hosts of the heavens are angels, as it is stated: “And the entire host of the heavens standing…” (II Chronicles 18:18). The hosts of the earth are Israel, as it is stated: “All the hosts of the Lord emerged from the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:41). The Master of them both is the Holy One blessed be He. Just as everyone fears the Holy One blessed be He and the angels, so too, the idolaters fear Israel, as it is stated: “And all the peoples of the land will see that the name of the Lord [is called upon you, and they will fear you]” (Deuteronomy 28:10). This is why it is stated: “Fearsome as banners,” because the Holy One blessed be He likened Israel to the angels. Regarding angels it is stated: “Seraphim were standing above Him” (Isaiah 6:2), and regarding Israel it is stated: “You are standing today” (Deuteronomy 29:9). The angels say each day: “Holy, holy, holy [is the Lord of hosts]” (Isaiah 6:3), and Israel says: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Angels are called fire, as it is written: “The flaming fire His servants” (Psalms 104:4), and Israel likewise, as it is written: “The house of Jacob will be fire” (Obadiah 1:18). Angels are renewed every morning, and praise the Holy One blessed be He and then return to the river of fire from which they emerged; and the Holy One blessed be He again renews them and restores them as they had been initially, as it is stated: “They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). So, [the people of] Israel sink into iniquities due to the evil inclination that is in their bodies, and they repent. Each year, God forgives their iniquities and renews their hearts to fear Him, as it is stated: “I will give you a new heart” (Ezekiel 36:26). That is why it is written: “Fearsome as banners.”

(2) Seraphs stood in attendance, each with six wings—two covering the face, two covering the body, and two to fly with. (3) And one would call to the other,“Holy, holy, holy! GOD of Hosts—Whose presence fills all the earth!”

Shmuel said to Ḥiyya bar Rav: Son of great ones, come and I will tell you something of the great things that your father would say: Each and every day, ministering angels are created from the River Dinur, and they recite song to God and then immediately cease to exist, as it is stated: “They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23), indicating that new angels praise God each morning. The Gemara comments: And this opinion disagrees with that of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani, as Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: With each and every word that emerges from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed be He, an angel is created, as it is stated: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their hosts” (Psalms 33:6). The hosts of heaven are the angels, who, he claims, are created from the mouth of God, rather than from the River Dinur.

(17) Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— (18) how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.

(1) אשר קרך בדרך HOW HE MET THEE BY THE WAY — The word קרך is connected in meaning with מקרה “a sudden happening”, i.e., he came against thee by surprise. Another explanation is: it is connected in meaning with the term קרי, nocturnal pollution and uncleanness, because he polluted them by pederasty. Yet another explanation is that it is connected in meaning with the expression קור in the phrase קור וחום “cold and heat” and it means: he made you cold and lukewarm after the boiling heat you had before. For all the nations were afraid to war against you and this one came and began to point out the way to others. A parable! It may be compared to a boiling hot bath into which no living creature could descend. A good-for-nothing came, and sprang down into it; although he scalded himself he made it appear cold to others (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 9).