Rabbi Abahu tells us that for all forty days Moses spent up on the mountain, he was studying Torah… and forgetting it just as quickly. Can you imagine the frustration? "Master of the universe," Moses pleaded, "I've been up here for forty days and I don't know anything!"
So, what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? After those forty days, He gave Moses the Torah as a gift, a matana. This is alluded to in the verse "He gave [vayiten] to Moses" (Exodus 31:18). But wait a minute… Did Moses actually learn the entire Torah in forty days? I mean, we're talking about something, as Job 11:9 puts it, "longer than the earth and broader than the sea!"
The answer, according to the Rabbis, is no. Instead, the Holy One blessed be He, taught Moses the fundamental principles, the kelalim. That's why it says, "as He concluded [kekhaloto] speaking with him" (Exodus 31:18). He got the gist. The big picture. The core concepts.
And then there were the tablets. "The two tablets of Testimony…" Why two? Shemot Rabbah gives us a beautiful series of correspondences. They correspond to the heavens and the earth, mirroring the cosmos in covenant. They correspond to the bride and groom, representing the sacred union between God and Israel. They correspond to the two attendants, the groomsman and maid of honor, who attend to the bride and groom, witnessing and supporting the covenant. They correspond to this world and the World to Come, hinting at the Torah's relevance to both our present lives and our eternal destiny. A profound mirroring.
Rabbi Ḥanina points out something interesting about the word for tablets, luḥot. It's written without a vav, which could allow it to be read in the singular, as luḥat. What does this subtle difference imply? That neither tablet was larger than the other, suggesting a perfect balance and equality.
And why stone? Why "stone tablets"? One explanation is rather sobering: because most of the punishments in the Torah are by stoning. A constant reminder of the seriousness of the covenant, perhaps.
But there are more comforting explanations too. The tablets are stone due to the merit of Jacob, who is referred to as the "stone of Israel" in Genesis 49:24. According to this, Jacob is the foundation stone of the Jewish people. The Torah, therefore, rests upon the solid foundation of our ancestor Jacob.
Finally, Shemot Rabbah offers a challenging thought: Anyone who does not render his life like this stone – meaning, anyone who doesn't live a hard, demanding life – will not merit the Torah. This isn't about physical hardship necessarily, but about the inner strength and resilience needed to truly grapple with the Torah's teachings and integrate them into our lives.
So, the next time you feel overwhelmed by the vastness of knowledge or the challenges of life, remember Moses on Mount Sinai. Remember the gift, the matana, the fundamental principles that can guide us. And remember the stone – the foundation, the resilience, the commitment to a life of meaning.