Another matter, “He gave to Moses,” the Rabbis say: Had Israel performed that act before the tablets had been given to Moses, they would not have descended in his hand. Rabbi Levi said: It was after they performed that act that the Holy One blessed be He gave Moses the tablets, as it is written: “He gave to Moses, as He concluded speaking with him.”15He concluded speaking with him just before he descended, while the calf was crafted the day before he descended.
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: What is “speaking with him”? This is analogous to a disciple whose teacher taught him Torah. Until he taught it to him, the teacher would recite it and he would repeat after him. After he has taught it to him, his teacher says to him: ‘Come, let you and I recite it [together].’
So too, when Moses ascended heavenward, he began reciting the Torah after his Creator. Once he learned it, He said: ‘Come, let you and I recite it.’ That is: “To speak with him.” What is “as He concluded”?
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Anyone who expresses words of Torah but they are not pleasant to their listeners like a bride is pleasant to her husband, it would be preferable for him had he not said them. Why? When the Holy One blessed be He gave the Torah to Israel, it was beloved to them as a bride [kalla] who is beloved to her spouse. From where is that derived?
It is, as it is stated: “He gave to Moses, as He concluded [kekhaloto].” Rabbi Levi said that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Just as this bride is adorned with twenty-four kinds of ornaments, so too, a Torah scholar must be proficient in twenty-four books.16The books of the Bible. Kekhaloto, Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Just as this bride [kalla], all the days that she is in her father’s home, she secludes herself and no man recognizes her, but when she comes to enter her wedding canopy she reveals her face as though to say: ‘Anyone who knows testimony in my regard let him come and testify about me,’17Due to her life of modesty, she is unafraid that anyone will have any testimony that she committed misdeeds. so too, a Torah scholar must be as modest as the bride, but renowned for his good deeds like a bride who makes herself known. That is, “He gave to Moses kekhaloto.”