English translation — יתרו א

Sicha 1<pg>86</pg>

A.

"Thus<sup>1</sup>

you shall say to the house of Jacob etc. You have seen etc. And now, if you will surely listen to My voice etc. And you shall be to Me etc. These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel."

And in Rashi on the words<sup>2</sup>

"These are the words" he wrote "not less and not more."

And the commentators asked,

why would it enter our mind that Moses our teacher would diminish or add to the words of G‑d, that he needed a special warning "These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel — not less and not more"?

And if there is a need for this,

why do we not find this regarding other commandments<sup>3</sup>?

In Gur Aryeh<sup>4</sup>

explanation: "That it would occur that Moses would persuade them on his own,

not that he would add to the word of G‑d, but he would add to them words of entreaty on his own and say to them that these are his own words,

this too is forbidden,

and the reason for the matter is so that they should not say afterwards that they were persuaded too much to accept the Torah."

But this interpretation only satisfies the need for the warning that he should not add

("not more"),

and still it is difficult: why was a warning needed for "not less"?

for is there a possibility that Moshe Rabbeinu would not convey to Bnei Yisrael the words of Hashem in their fullness<sup>5</sup>?

And it seems to me simply,

that this Rashi comes in continuation of his interpretation at the beginning of the matter: on "Thus shall you say to the house of Yaakov and tell to Bnei Yisrael"<sup>6</sup>

Rashi: "To the house of Yaakov,

these are the women; say to them in a soft language.

And tell to Bnei Yisrael,

punishments and details explain to the males,

things as hard as sinews",

and it is found that in the manner of conveying the words of Hashem there was a fundamental difference between men and women,

that to the men it was necessary to explain the punishments and the details,

whereas to the women he did not explain the punishments but spoke in a soft language.

And based on this I would say,

that the words of G-d here were said to Moses only in a general manner,

and afterwards at the time of conveying the words to Bnei Yisrael there were distinctions,

that for the men he added in the explanation of the punishments and the details

(so that the words would be harsh),

and for the women he diminished from them in order to fulfill the command of "say to them"

(to the women)

in a soft language" — and the verse teaches us "these are the words",

"neither less nor more",

that the words of G-d were said here in a manner that Moses did not need to add to them.

2.

But still the matter is not entirely settled,

for the matter of "details" pertains only to a detailed command,

and in these verses only a general encouragement was stated "if you surely listen to My voice and keep My covenant"; and also no punishments were specified for non-fulfillment of the Torah,

but only words of<pg>87</pg>

Appeasement and reward for keeping the Torah,

"And you shall be to Me a treasure etc. a kingdom of priests etc."

(as Rashi explains that "a kingdom of priests" means "ministers").

And it must be said that what Rashi wrote on "And tell the children of Israel",

"Penalties and details he explained to the males",

means that Moses had to specify and explain them even though they were not specified in the words of G-d here — and it is puzzling how this fits with Rashi on "These are the words" — "not less and not more",

that Moses may not add anything to the words of G-d

(even not as "his own words" as above)?

There are commentators

who divide the verses,

"To the women He said, 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and I carried you on eagles' wings, etc., and all this is soft language, until 'for all the earth is Mine,'

and afterwards He turned His face to the males and said to them, 'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests,'

meaning like priests serving before the Lord all day, and a holy nation, separated from illicit relations and from all transgressions."

[And based on this they explain what is written, "These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel,"

that "These

the latter words, namely 'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,' you shall speak to the children of Israel

(the men)

".

But this explanation is difficult to reconcile with Rashi's commentary

(the plain meaning of the verse),

for besides the fact that according to its plain meaning, what is written "These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel" refers to all of Israel,

both men and women

[and according to Rashi, the intent of the verse "These are the words etc." is to caution "not less and not more" — and not that these latter words are only for men.

Furthermore,

according to their interpretation, the caution of "not less and not more" applies only regarding men!],

and furthermore,

that according to Rashi, the explanation of "a kingdom of priests" here is not "servants" but "princes"

(as above)

— still, what Rashi said, "punishments and details he explained to the males," is not resolved

(as above),

for there are no punishments and details in these verses,

and since Moses was cautioned "not less and not more,"

how could he explain the punishments and details?

3.

Also it is perplexing: After the above verses it is related⁹

"And Moses came and called the elders of the people and placed before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him,"

and on the face of it it is puzzling¹⁰,

behold Moses was commanded "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel" and according to Rashi that he had to speak to the women first in gentle language,

and afterwards to the men "words hard as sinews" — and if so how was the command of God fulfilled by the calling of the elders of Israel and the placing of the words of God before them?

In the Mechilta there it states "It teaches that Moses gave honor to the elders,"

and simply the intent of the Mechilta is to resolve this difficulty

[and as explained in the commentaries¹¹

that according to the Mechilta the meaning is not that Moses conveyed to them the words of God,

but rather that he spoke to the women and to the men¹²

in the presence of the elders¹³,

in order to give them honor,

and this is the precise meaning of the verse's wording "and he placed before them all these words etc.",

and it is not stated that he spoke to them].

But in Rashi simply and did not explain anything¹⁴,

<pg>88</pg>

And it is obvious that one cannot say that Rashi relies that the student of Scripture will understand all this by himself,

And it must be said that according to Rashi's approach the question is fundamentally non-existent.

4.

And due to the severity of the matter, it seems to me

(although it is a bit forced),

that what is written "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and tell to the children of Israel" does not refer to the verses below,

but rather this is a general instruction to Moses our teacher that pertains to the entire Torah¹⁵,

namely,

that the beginning of G‑d's words to Moses upon his ascent for the first time to the mountain for the purpose of receiving the Torah was a general instruction,

for all times,

that the manner of conveying words of Torah to the children of Israel is,

that to women one speaks in a soft language and to men "words as hard as sinews".

And now, regarding the entire Torah as a whole, there is no need to say the caution of "not less and not more",

for certainly Moses explained and taught the children of Israel the words of G‑d with elucidation etc.,

and within this very matter there is a difference between men and women,

that to women one should not emphasize the punishments and the details, but rather speak in a soft language,

and to men one should explain

(even if they were not specified in the words of G‑d)

punishments and details.

And afterwards the Holy One, blessed be He, said the first things that must be given over to Bnei Yisrael — "You have seen etc. And now if you listen etc. And you shall be to Me etc.",

And at the conclusion he added "These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel",

to warn,

that even though regarding the Torah in general Moshe needs to add explanation and commentary,

and sometimes there is a need to shorten

(as above)

— here in our case,

these three verses,

upon him to deliver the words in the manner of "not less and not more".

[And it may be said that this is also what it concludes "which you shall speak to the children of Israel",

that the intention is to all of Israel,

to emphasize that in these words there is no distinction of women and men¹⁶].

5.

And one must bring a proof that this is Rashi's intention in his commentary on these verses:

In the Mechilta on "Thus you shall say" it states: "Thus in the holy language,

thus in this order,

thus in this matter,

thus that you shall not diminish nor add"

[And at the conclusion of the matter on "These are the words" it explains "that you shall not diminish nor add",

"which you shall speak to the children of Israel,

in this order"].

And Rashi changes from the language of the Mechilta,

that on "Thus you shall say" he explains "in this language and in this order",

meaning

(a)

Rashi did not write "in the holy language" but "in this language"&lt;sup&gt;17&lt;/sup&gt;,

(b)

he omitted "in the manner of this..

that you shall not diminish nor add".

And now, regarding the reason for Rashi's omission of "that you shall not diminish nor add",

at first glance the reason is,

because this matter is learned from the conclusion of the topic,

"These are the words",

and why would I need both&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;,

and therefore he explains that "Thus you shall say" teaches only about "in this language and in this order",

and "These are the words" teaches "not less and not more".

But still it requires explanation,

for the lesson from "Thus you shall say" is from this that the language "Thus" indicates precision,

and if so, from where would it enter the mind to say that the precision of "Thus you shall say" does not include the matter of "not less and not more" until the verse needed to add yet another time "These are the words"?

And according to the above

(section 4)

comes simply.

&lt;pg&gt;89&lt;/pg&gt;

Since “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell to the children of Israel” applies to the entire Torah as a whole,

there is no room to say that Moses cannot add explanation and interpretation,

for on the contrary,

this is the role of Moses,

to explain the Torah to the children of Israel

[And simply, he would explain the words of God also in other languages

(if there was need for that),

not specifically in the holy language&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;]

— and therefore Rashi explains that the intention precisely of “Thus you shall say” is regarding the matter explained in the verse here,

the order of delivering the words of Torah to women and to men,

that it must be&lt;sup&gt;20&lt;/sup&gt;

(a)

“in this language”

(soft language for women and harsh words like sinews for men),

(b)

“and in this order” — women before men&lt;sup&gt;21&lt;/sup&gt;.

But afterwards,

in the verse "These are the words",

which refers to these three verses,

it teaches us the superfluity of the verse that these words are different from the entire Torah,

that Moses must deliver these words as they are,

"not less and not more".

(From talks of Shabbos Parshas Yisro and Shabbos Parshas Mishpatim 5741)