Speak to the House of Jacob Means the Women Come First

"And Moses went up to God" (Exodus 19:3) - this was the second day. One might think he went up not at the command of the Almighty; Scripture teaches, "And to Moses He said, Come up to the LORD" (Exodus 24:1), and it says, "And the LORD said to Moses, Come up to Me to the mountain" (Exodus 24:12); this teaches that he went up only at the command of the Almighty. Another interpretation: "And Moses went up to God" - he goes up in a cloud and comes down in a cloud; the covenant of the fathers and the merit of the children go up with him and come down with him. And from where do we know that even after the calling? Scripture teaches, "And the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying." And from where do we know it was with "Moses, Moses"? It says "calling" here and it says "calling" at the bush (Exodus 3:4); just as there it was "Moses, Moses," so here it was "Moses, Moses"; just as there Moses says "Here I am," so here Moses says "Here I am." "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob" - these are the Sanhedrin. And so it says, "O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the LORD" (Isaiah 2:5). "And tell the children of Israel" - these are the rest of the people. Another interpretation: "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob" - these are the women; say to them the main points, such as they can hear. "And tell the children of Israel" - these are the men; say to them the fine details of the words, such as they can hear. And why did He put the charge of the women before the charge of the men? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: when I created My world, I commanded Adam the first man and did not command Eve his wife, and she came and misled him and he transgressed the command. It is fitting that the women be addressed first, since the men follow after them. Therefore it says, "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob" - these are the women; "and tell the children of Israel" - these are the men. "Thus" - in the holy tongue; "thus" - in this matter; "thus" - in this order; "thus" - in these phrasings; "thus" - in these sections; "thus" - neither less nor more. "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob" - all in the merit of Jacob; "and tell Israel" - all in the merit of Israel. Another interpretation: "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob" - Jacob was his name at first; now he merited to take the great name, Israel, "for you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:29).