<b>The Lord said to Moses: “Hew these two tablets of stone” (Exod. 34:1).</b> May it please our masters to teach us: How many verses of the Torah must the reader recite? Thus did our masters teach us: One who reads the Torah may not recite less than three verses to correspond to the three patriarchs on whose behalf the Torah was given to Israel, as it is said: <i>And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain</i> (ibid. 19:3). How do we know the patriarchs were called mountains? Because it is said: <i>Hear, O ye mountains, the Lord’s controversy</i> (Mic. 6:2). Therefore a man must guard the Torah, for it guards his soul. R. Tanhum the son of Hanilai said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: My daughter is in thy hands, and thy daughter is in My hands. “My daughter is in thy hands’ refers to the Torah. “And your daughter is in My hands” alludes to the soul: <i>In whose hand is the soul of every living thing</i> (Job 12:10). If you guard what is Mine, I shall guard what is yours. Thus Scripture says: <i>Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently</i> (Deut. 4:9).

Everyone who occupies himself with the Torah will become a leader and a king, as it is said: <i>By Me kings reign and princes decree justice</i> (Prov. 8:15). Hence Moses, who occupied himself with the Torah, became a leader and a king, as is said: <i>And there was a king in Jeshurun</i> (Deut. 33:5). How do we know that he was greatly occupied with the Torah? It is said: <i>And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread nor drink wine</i> (Exod. 34:28). During the day the Holy One, blessed be He, taught him the Written Law, and at night He instructed him in the Oral Law. Finally He gave him the tablets, and he descended only to discover that they had made the calf. Whereupon he broke the tablets and halted their revelry. He then sought mercy upon them. Moses did not fail to prostrate himself in a single corner while pleading in their behalf, until the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled with them. Then he said: Master of the Universe, give them a second tablet. He replied: I made the first tablets and you broke them; now you must replace them, as it is said: <i>Hew these two tablets</i>.