<b>Another comment on write thee (Exod. 34:27).</b> Scripture states elsewhere: <i>Let them be thine only, and not a stranger’s with thee</i> (Prov. 5:17). What does this verse refer to? When they made the golden calf, Moses prayed until the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled with them. Moses cried out: My Master, restore the law to them just as David proclaimed: <i>Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation</i> (Ps. 51:14). However, the Holy One, blessed be He, responded: How can I return it to them, when only yesterday they said at Sinai: <i>All that the Lord hath spoken we will do</i> (Exod. 24:17), and now, in the very place in which they committed themselves (to observe the law), they debased themselves, as it is said: <i>They made a calf in Horeb</i> (Ps. 106:19)? Despite all the miracles and wonders that I performed in their behalf in Egypt and at the Red Sea, and even though they beheld My Glory at Sinai, where myriads of angels descended and crowned them, as it is said: <i>A beautiful crown upon thy head</i> (Exod. 16:12), they erected a calf at Horeb. Indeed, within the blinking of an eye they forgot Me.
What is more, I preceded them into the desert as a quartermaster would: <i>And the Lord went before them by day</i> (ibid. 13:21). I lowered the high places for them and raised the valleys, I caused bread to rain down from the heavens and the sea to send up quail, as it is said: <i>And brought across quails from the sea</i> (Num. 11:31). Though they lacked nothing at all, they built the golden calf. I cannot restore the tablets to those idolaters. When he continued to plead, He said: <i>Write thou</i>, that is, I shall give the law to you, as it is said: <i>Let them be thine own, and not a stranger’s with thee</i> (Prov. 5:17); that is, not to the idolaters with you. Because He held Moses in the highest esteem, it is said: <i>Remember ye the law of Moses My servant</i> (Mal. 3:22).
This is one of the three things to which Moses devoted himself: the law, judgeships and Israel. R. Hiyya the son of Yosé said: Moses also was deeply involved in the building of the Tabernacle. And it is called by his name. R. Hiyya the son of Yosé said: Throughout the seven days of consecration, Moses took apart the Tabernacle twice each day and then assembled it. The elder R. Hiyya said: He did it three times each day, for it is said: <i>Thou shalt rear up</i> (Exod. 40:1), <i>The Tabernacle was reared up</i> (ibid., v. 17), and <i>Moses reared up the Tabernacle</i> (ibid., v. 18).
Observe how strenuously he worked at doing that. If you should be of the opinion that the tribe of Levi assisted him, the answer is no. Our sages of blessed memory said: Moses took it apart and assembled it by himself. Not a single Israelite aided him, as it is said: <i>And it came to pass in the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the Tabernacle</i> (Num. 7:1). “On the day that Israel made an end” is not written here, but rather <i>Moses made an end</i>. Because he did the work himself, it is called by his name. Similarly, because he devoted himself to working on the Torah alone, it is called by his name, as is said: <i>Hew thee</i>.