He paints a picture, a truly awe-inspiring one, of Moses standing on the mountain. But here's the thing: only his feet were actually on the ground. The rest of him? According to Rabbi Joshua, he filled the heavens, like a tent stretched out across the sky.

Imagine that for a moment.

He uses the analogy of a tent. We stand inside a tent, our feet on the earth, but the whole of us is within its shelter. So too, with Moses. His feet were planted on Sinai, but the rest of him was soaring in the heavens, witnessing everything. He was seeing things we can only dream of.

And it wasn't just a one-way street. The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer tells us that the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke to Moses as one friend speaks to another. As it is said in Exodus 33:11, "And the Lord spoke unto Moses face to face." It’s an incredible image of intimacy and connection.

Then, God instructs Moses to sanctify the Israelites for two days, preparing them for the momentous occasion. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow" (Ex. 19:10). But what did this sanctification, this kiddush, actually involve in the wilderness?

The text reminds us of the unique state the Israelites were in. There were no uncircumcised among them, signaling a physical commitment to the covenant. Manna, that miraculous bread, fell from the sky to nourish them. They drank from Miriam's Well, a source of constant sustenance. And clouds of glory, ananei hakavod, surrounded them, offering protection and Divine presence.

But Rabbi Joshua goes deeper. He suggests that the true sanctity of Israel in the wilderness was their abstinence from sexual relations. This act of self-control, of focusing their energies purely on the spiritual, was perhaps the ultimate preparation for receiving the Torah. It was about creating a space, both physically and spiritually, to connect with the Divine.

It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What are the ways we can create that kind of sacred space in our own lives? What does it mean to truly sanctify ourselves, to prepare ourselves to receive the blessings that are waiting for us? Perhaps it's not about filling the heavens like Moses, but about opening our hearts and minds to the possibility of connection, of seeing the Divine in the everyday.