We often imagine the scene: thunder, lightning, a mountain shrouded in smoke. But the ancient rabbis took it a step further, diving into the intimate, almost sensual, experience of receiving God's word.
Our guide today is Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a rabbinic commentary on the Song of Songs. It uses the passionate language of the Song to explore the relationship between God and Israel. And in this particular passage, it unpacks the verse, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth."
Rabbi Yoḥanan pictures an angel acting as an intermediary. According to him, the angel would take each commandment directly from God, blessed be He, and present it to each Israelite. "Do you accept this commandment?" the angel would ask, detailing the laws, punishments, decrees, and rewards involved. If the Israelite said yes, accepting both the commandment and God's divinity, the angel would kiss them on the mouth. As (Deuteronomy 4:35) says, “You have been shown in order to know that the Lord, He is God.”
But the Rabbis offer a different, even more direct, interpretation. They suggest the commandment itself would circulate among the Israelites, making the same offer. Accept me, it would say, with all my complexities and rewards. And upon acceptance, the commandment would kiss the person, becoming a scholar and teaching them Torah! Think of it – the very word of God imprinting itself upon you, transforming you. "Lest you forget the matters that your eyes saw," says (Deuteronomy 4:9), highlighting how the dibur (utterance) itself would speak to you.
Now, a crucial question arises: how many commandments did the Israelites actually hear directly from God? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi states that after the Ten Commandments were given, the people pleaded with Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear" (Exodus 20:16). This implies that before that moment, God was speaking directly to them. But how many direct commandments were there?
Rabbi Azarya, citing Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, offers a compelling answer: of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah, Moses spoke 611. The first two – Anokhi (I am the Lord your God) and Lo Yihye Lekha (You shall have no other gods before me) – were heard directly from God. These initial commandments are thus the "kisses of His mouth" mentioned in the Song of Songs.
But how did these divine utterances actually emerge from God? Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai provides a powerful image. He describes the utterance leaving God's right side, encircling the massive Israelite camp (18 mil by 18 mil, a biblical measurement of distance), and then returning to God's left side. God would then receive it and inscribe it on the tablets, the sound echoing across the earth – "The voice of the Lord hews flames of fire" (Psalm 29:7).
The Rabbis, however, take issue with the idea of a "left side" to God. Isn't it written, "Your right, Lord, is glorious in strength; Your right hand, Lord"? (Exodus 15:6). Instead, they propose the utterance moved from God's right to Israel's right, encircled the camp, and returned to God's right side, before being inscribed.
Rabbi Berekhya adds another layer. He suggests the utterance inscribed itself, its sound reverberating across the world. When asked about the verse "Written with the finger of God" (Exodus 31:18), he responded that it was like a student writing with the master guiding their hand.
So, did Israel hear all the commandments from God directly, or just the first two? Rabbi Yehoshua says just two: "Let him kiss me with some of the kisses of his mouth." The Rabbis, however, insist they heard them all. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin, in the name of Rabbi Levi, reiterates that the statement "You speak to us and we will hear" came after all Ten Commandments were given.
Ultimately, this passage from Shir HaShirim Rabbah isn't just about the logistics of revelation. It's about the intimacy, the overwhelming power, and the profound responsibility that comes with receiving God's word. It invites us to imagine ourselves at Sinai, not just as observers, but as active participants in a divine encounter. What would it have been like to be kissed by a commandment? And how does that kiss continue to resonate in our lives today?
Another matter, “let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: An angel would take the utterance from before the Holy One blessed be He,72This is referring to the Ten Commandments. each and every utterance, and circulate them before each and every Israelite and say to him: ‘Do you accept this utterance upon yourself? There are such and such laws in it, there are such and such punishments in it, there are such and such decrees in it, and so many commandments, and so many a fortiori inferences, there are such and such rewards in it.’ The Israelite would say to him: ‘Yes.’ [The angel] would then say to him: ‘Do you accept the divinity of the Holy One blessed be He?’ And he would say to him: ‘Yes, yes.’ Immediately he would kiss him on his mouth; that is what is written: “You have been shown in order to know [that the Lord, He is God]” (Deuteronomy 4:35), by means of an agent. The Rabbis say: The utterance itself would circulate before each and every Israelite, and say to him: ‘Do you accept me upon yourself? There are such and such commandments in me, there are such and such laws in me, there are such and such punishments in me, there are such and such decrees in me, there are such and such commandments in me, and there are such and such a fortiori inferences in me, there are such and such rewards in me.’ He would say to it: ‘Yes, yes.’ Immediately, the utterance would kiss him on his mouth, [and it would appear] as a scholar and teach him Torah. That is what is written: “Lest you forget the matters that your eyes saw” (Deuteronomy 4:9). Matters [devarim] that your eyes saw; how the utterance [dibur] would speak to you. Another matter, “lest you forget the matters,” Israel heard two commandments from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: The reason of the Rabbis is that after all the commandments,73After the Ten Commandments were given at Sinai. it is written: “You speak with us and we will hear” (Exodus 20:16).74The Israelites said this to Moses. The implication is that until that time, God himself had been speaking to them. What does Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi do with it? He disagrees, because there is no chronological order in the Torah. Perhaps “you speak with us and we will hear” was stated only after two or three commandments. Rabbi Azarya – Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon, in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, adopted his approach – said: It is written: “Moses commanded us the Torah” (Deuteronomy 33:4). The whole Torah in its entirety is six hundred and thirteen commandments. In terms of numerical value, Torah totals six hundred and eleven mitzvot,75The word Torah is spelled tav, which is four hundred, vav, which is six, resh, which is two hundred, and heh, which is five, for a total of six hundred and eleven. which Moses spoke to us; however, anokhi and lo yihye lekha76The first two of the Ten Commandments. we did not hear from the mouth of Moses, but rather, from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He; that is: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.” How did the utterance emerge from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He? Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai and the Rabbis, Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: It teaches that the utterance would emerge from the right of the Holy One blessed be He, to the left of Israel, and then circumvent the Israelite camp, which was eighteen mil by eighteen mil and then circumvent from the right of Israel to the left of the Holy One blessed be He. The Holy One blessed be He would receive it in His right and inscribe it on the tablet,77The utterance is portrayed as emerging from God’s right side, encircling the Israelite camp, and returning to God’s left side, from which it would be passed to His right side and He would engrave it. and its sound carried from one end of the earth to the other, to uphold what is stated: “The voice of the Lord hews flames of fire” (Psalms 29:7). The Rabbis say: Is there a left side On High? But is it not written: “Your right, Lord, is glorious in strength; Your right hand, Lord” (Exodus 15:6)?78The left hand represents the attribute of justice, but at the time of the giving of the Torah, and at the time of the splitting of the sea, which is the context of this verse, God acted purely with the attribute of mercy (Maharzu). Rather, the utterance would emerge from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He, from His right to the right of Israel, and then circumvent the Israelite camp, eighteen mil by eighteen mil, and then circumvent from the right of Israel to the right of the Holy One blessed be He.79Thus, the utterance encircled the Israelite camp from behind and in front, before returning to God’s right side. The Holy One blessed be He would receive it in His right hand and inscribe it on the tablet, and its sound carried from one end of the earth to the other, to uphold what is stated: “The voice of the Lord hews flames of fire” (Psalms 29:7). Rabbi Berekhya said: Rabbi Ḥelbo taught me: The utterance itself was inscribed on its own, and when it was inscribed its sound went from one end of the earth to the other, as it is stated: “The voice of the Lord hews flames of fire” (Psalms 29:7). I said to Rabbi Ḥelbo: ‘But is it not written: “Written with the finger of God”’ (Exodus 31:18)? He said to me: ‘Strangler, did you think to strangle me?’80Do you think to refute me with proof from an explicit verse? I said to him: ‘What, then, is [the meaning of] what is written: “Tablets of stone written with the finger of God”?’ He said to me: ‘Like a student who is writing and his master steadies his hand.’ Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi and the Rabbis, Rabbi Yehoshua says: Israel heard two commandments from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He: Anokhi and lo yihye lekha; that is what is written: “Let him kiss me with the kisses [mineshikot] of his mouth” and not all of the kisses.81The term mineshikot can be translated “some of the kisses.” The Rabbis say: Israel heard all the commandments from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin [said] in the name of Rabbi Levi: The reason of the Rabbis is as it is written: “They said to Moses, "You speak to us and we will hear” (Exodus 20:16).82This statement appears after the conclusion of all of the Ten Commandments. What does Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi do with this [verse]? He disagrees because there is no chronological order in the Torah. Perhaps “you speak with us and we will hear” was stated after only two or three commandments. Rabbi Azarya – Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi adopted his approach – said: It is written: “Moses commanded us the Torah” (Deuteronomy 33:4). The whole Torah in its entirety is six hundred and thirteen commandments. In terms of numerical value, Torah totals six hundred and eleven mitzvot [that] Moses spoke to us; however, anokhi and lo yihye lekha we did not hear from the mouth of Moses, but rather, from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be He.
