The Torah Is Fire and the Heavens Bowed to Sinai

"And Mount Sinai was wholly in smoke" (Exodus 19:18): one might think in a single place; Scripture says "wholly." Why? "Because the LORD descended upon it in fire." This tells that the Torah is fire, was given from fire, and is compared to fire. What is the way of fire? If a person draws close to it he is burned; if he keeps far from it he is cold. A person has only to warm himself by its light. "And its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace": one might think only like this smoke; Scripture says "furnace." If a furnace, one might think exactly like a furnace; Scripture says, "And the mountain burned with fire" and so forth (Deuteronomy 4:11). So why say "furnace"? To soothe the ear with what it is able to hear. Likewise, "A lion has roared, who will not fear" (Amos 3:8): who gave power and might to the lion? Was it not He? Yet we liken Him to His creatures to soothe the ear. "And the whole mountain trembled greatly": was it not included among all the mountains, as it is said, "the mountains flowed down before the LORD" (Judges 5:5)? And it says, "Why do you look askance, you many-peaked mountains" (Psalms 68:17). He said to them: you are all hunchbacked, as it says, "either hunchbacked or with a film over the eye." And why did the Divine Presence rest in the portion of Benjamin? Because all the tribes shared in the sale of Joseph, and Benjamin had no part with them; and all the tribes were born outside the Land, and Benjamin was born in the Land of Israel. Even so, "the mountain that God desired." "And the sound of the shofar" (Exodus 19:19): this is a sign in the Scriptures; in every place where "shofar" is said, it is a good sign for Israel, as it is said, "God has gone up with a blast" (Psalms 47:6); "And it shall be on that day that a great shofar shall be sounded" (Isaiah 27:13). "Growing very strong": the way of an ordinary person is that the longer he blows the weaker his sound, but here the longer it went the higher the sound rose; and why? At the outset, to soothe the ear. "Moses would speak": Rabbi Eliezer says, from where do you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, would not speak until Moses said to Him, "Speak, for Your children have already accepted upon themselves"? Therefore it says, "Moses would speak." Rabbi Akiva said to him: surely it is so; but what does "Moses would speak" teach? It teaches that He gave Moses strength and might, and the Holy One, blessed be He, assisted him. With the voice and the melody that Moses heard, with it he caused Israel to hear; therefore it says, "Moses would speak." Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said: from where do we learn that the translator may not raise his voice higher than the reader? As it is said, "Moses would speak and God would answer him with a voice"—Scripture need not say "with a voice"; what does "with a voice" teach? With the voice of Moses. It was also taught thus: the translator may not raise his voice higher than the reader, and if the translator cannot raise his voice to match the reader, the reader should lower his voice and read. "And the LORD descended upon Mount Sinai" (Exodus 19:20): this was the sixth descent that He descended to Sinai, on the sixth of Sivan, and He was revealed upon it; and Mount Sinai was uprooted from its place, and the heavens were opened, and the head of the mountain entered into the heavens, and the thick darkness covered the mountain, and the Holy One, blessed be He, sat upon His throne with His feet standing upon the thick darkness, as it is said, "He bent the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet" (Psalms 18:10). Rav Yosef said: let a person always learn from the mind of his Maker, for the Holy One, blessed be He, set aside all the mountains and hills and rested His Presence upon Mount Sinai, and set aside all the goodly trees and rested His Presence in the bush. It is written, "the contrite and lowly of spirit" and so forth: Rav Huna and Rav Chisda—one said, "I am with the contrite and lowly of spirit," and one said, "With Me are the contrite and lowly of spirit." It stands to reason like the one who said "I am with the contrite and lowly of spirit," for the Holy One, blessed be He, set aside the mountains and hills and rested His Presence upon Mount Sinai and came down below, and did not raise Mount Sinai upward. One verse says, "For from the heavens I spoke with you" (Exodus 20:19), and another verse says, "And the LORD descended upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain." How are these two verses reconciled? A third verse comes and decides: "From the heavens He made you hear His voice" and so forth—the words of Rabbi Ishmael. Rabbi Akiva says: it is written, "And the LORD descended upon Mount Sinai"; this teaches that He bent down [the heavens], and so on. Rabbi [Yehudah HaNasi] says: "And the LORD descended upon Mount Sinai"—one might take it according to its plain sense; you say: if one of the servants of the servants comes in his place and not in his place, all the more so the Holy One, blessed be He. It says, "And the LORD descended upon Mount Sinai"—I might hear, upon the whole of it; Scripture says, "to the top of the mountain." One might think the Glory actually came down and spread itself upon Mount Sinai; Scripture says, "For from the heavens I spoke with you" (Exodus 20:19). This teaches that the Omnipresent bent the lower heavens and the highest heavens of heavens down upon the top of the mountain, and the Glory came down and spread them upon Mount Sinai, like a person who spreads the cushion upon the bed, and like a person who speaks from above the cushion, as it is said, "as when fire kindles the brushwood" and so forth (Isaiah 64:1). Rabbi Yose says: it says, "The heavens are the heavens of the LORD" (Psalms 115:16); never did the Divine Presence come down below, nor did Moses and Elijah go up to the heights, as it is said, "The heavens are the heavens of the LORD" and so forth. But is it not written, "And the LORD descended upon Mount Sinai"? Above ten handbreadths. And is it not written, "And His feet shall stand on that day on the Mount of Olives"? Above ten handbreadths. And is it not written, "And Moses went up to God" (Exodus 19:3)? Below ten handbreadths. And is it not written, "He grasps the face of the throne" and so forth, and Rabbi Tanchum said: this teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, spread of the radiance of His Presence and His cloud upon him, for the throne was extended down for him to ten handbreadths, and he held onto it.