[Avodah] Sinai - Rambam - heard all or nothing?

[Daniel Eidensohn]

Zvi Lampel wrote:
>
> Another suggestion: Evidently, we are forced to say that even when 
> Rambam in Mishneh Torah states they heard Hashem telling Moshe [to] 
> tell them kach ve’kach, the Rambam must mean not that they were able 
> to distinguish clear words from Hashem, but only that they apprehended 
> His awesome Voice. Once we assume this, the "kach ve-kach" can be 
> referring to Hashem’s instructions as the people actually perceived 
> them: When witnessing the Voice, they did not distinctly discern what 
> specifics Hashem was telling Moshe to convey to them. This is what the 
> Rambam means when he says they perceived that Hashem was telling Moshe 
> to tell them ‘‘something’’--"kach ve-kach."
>
This does not fit in with the language of Mishneh Torah and if they only 
heard an awesome sound - without content it would not have convinced the 
people that Moshe was a true prophet. This is the view of the following:

Rashba (4:234): ... The only remaining option for clarifying the truth 
of Moshe's prophecy was by their own prophecy and this is what in fact 
occurred at the Revelation of Sina when they final established the 
truth.  The second reason is that G‑d said to Moshe (Shemos 19:9) 
/Behold I come to you in a thick cloud in order that the people will 
hear Me speaking with you so they may believe in you forever./ It is 
well known that the physical senses can not detect G‑d speaking with His 
prophets. Therefore if G‑d had spoken with a physical voice – even one 
that was very powerful and awesome and greater than that of the sound of 
the shofar, thunder and fire – it would not have removed their original 
doubts. It would not have been more impressive than the Splitting of the 
Sea and so therefore how would it have helped. Therefore it was obvious 
that that voice that G‑d spoke to Moshe with must have been prophetic 
rather than physical.

Shaoh(Mesechta Shavuos #77): ... In order to understand the previous 
issue it is necessary to explain clearly the nature of the receiving of 
the Torah and the importance of each generation who were there and each 
one received his portion in the Torah. Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 2:33) 
states that the sound that was perceived by the Jews at Sinai was 
something created… However it is prohibited to accept such a view. In 
fact the sound was the voice of G‑d which He made heard from Heaven. I 
have previously alluded to the issue of Heaven which is the glory of 
Israel and the foundation of the Written Law. Also regarding the hearing 
of the voice at the holy assembly of Sinai, whether that which Moshe 
heard was also heard by the people or not – the Rambam’s explanation is 
not acceptable. He incorrecly asserts that only Moshe clearly heard the 
words while the people heard only an unintelligble sound. Rambam claims 
that Moshe told the people what he alone had heard.  Rambam bases 
himself on  Devarim(5:5): “I stood between G‑d and you”, and Shemos 
(19:19): “Moshe spoke and G‑d answered with a sound” and “In order that 
the people hear when I am speaking with you.” Rambam understands from 
these verses that G‑d spoke only to him while the people heard only an 
unintelligble sound

Avodas HaKodesh(4:31): Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 2:33) says that the 
awesome sound which Israel heard at Sinai and through which the Torah 
was given – was created. He explains this in Moreh Nevuchim (1:65): 
“This is especially so since all our people agree that the Torah - the 
words ascribed to Him – was itself created. In fact speech which is 
attributed to Him – that which Moshe heard – was created and produced by 
G‑d in the same manner that He created and produced everything else in 
the universe.” The intent according the commentaries is that if He has 
speech then the Torah is His speech and since the Torah is created He 
has no speech….The explanation of the Rambam is a dark mountain which 
causes the feet of the believers to stumble and causes them to deviate 
from the path of the Torah. That is because they have doubts about this 
Voice which the Rambam says was created. I have already seen the 
commentators to the Rambam’s words saying, “And all of Israel heard the 
voice that was created by Moshe as the messenger of G‑d…” This harmful 
view has been taught to them a number of times in Moreh Nevuchim (2:33). 
This view of the Rambam has caused much problems by undermining proper 
faith. For example according to the Rambam’s view one can say that there 
were greatly different voices that were created for Moshe and Israel. 
But where did the voice for Moshe by which he alone heard the Ten 
Commandments come from? If it came from G‑d then why didn’t Israel hear 
it after they reached a high level of spirituality. The distinction 
between Moshe and the people according to the Rambam is that only Moshe 
understood the words but they only heard the Voice but not the words. 
However something which is created would not be beyond their ability to 
perceive when they were on the level to receive the Torah and it would 
not be necessary for Moshe to create a special voice for them. If in 
fact Moshe had created a voice for them it would create doubts for them. 
For example they would have doubts as to whether it was Moshe who gave 
them the Torah rather than G‑d. In fact there is a medrash which states 
that G‑d acted to prevent any doubts as to whether Moshe was the giver 
of the Torah rather than G‑d.  Shemos Rabbah (28:3) states...
>  
>
> (By the way, the Sefer HaIkarrim (3:19) says that the people heard 
> Hashem telling Moshe, ‘‘Tell them to go return to their tents...’’ 
> This corresponds to his own shita--not the Rambam’s--that the first 
> two dibros the people heard Hashem saying clearly, the rest of the 
> dibros they heard only the His Voice and needed Moshe to delineate the 
> words, and the rest of the 613 mitzvos they heard only from Moshe.)
>
Sefer HaIkkarim is 1:18.  It is the basis of Rav Hutner's (Pachad 
Yitzchok (Shavuos 1:2) discussion of the issue - but it doesn't seem to 
solve the above problem.

> The Moreh Nevuchim does not say that the people did not hear G-d 
> speaking, only that although they heard his Voice, they were not at 
> the prophetic level to make out the words. I share the objections 
> other rishonim to the Rambam’s shita (the Abarbanel can be added to 
> the list). But I think RDG would point out that a careful reading of 
> the Mishneh Torah tolerates the Moreh Nevuchim’s shita: 
>
> The Rambam is explaining why Yisrael believed in the fact that Hashem 
> speaks to Mosheh, and the invalidity of his miracles for this purpose. 
> The proof that Hashem communicated with Moshe is not the fact that we 
> saw Moshe performing miracles, but our witnessing the awesome sights 
> and sounds at Mt. Sinai. The symmetry indicates that what one might 
> have thought the miracles verified--the authenticity of Moshe as a 
> prophet, the fact that Hashem speaks to Moshe--was really verified by 
> the Sinai experience. The verification was not dependent upon our 
> hearing distinct words, only knowing that the Voice did indeed speak 
> to Moshe. Therefore, even though the words spoken were 
> indistinguishable, we definitely "overheard" a conversation going on 
> between Hashem and Moshe (‘‘Moshe y’daber, va-Hashem ya’anennu 
> b’Kol’’), and that is all that was needed for us to know that Hashem 
> spoke with him.
>
>  
>
> Granted, this is not the sense I would have gotten from the Mishneh 
> Torah without seeing the Moreh Nevuchim. But as I said, it’s 
> tolerable. I would also like to call attention to how the Moreh 
> Nevuchim, particularly in the passage under discussion, bases every 
> statement on Chazal.
>
I don't understand your point. If they heard a sound associated with 
Gd's speaking than in a technical sense they heard G-d speaking. However 
the proof of Mishneh Torah is only a proof if they heard G-d's words. 
Moreh Nevuchim rules out that possibility. Your understanding is that 
the sound was a miraculous sound and that convinced them. But the Rambam 
clearly says that miracles are not the basis of their belief in Moshe's 
prophecy.

In sum: If Rambam is consistent with Moreh Nevuchim there is no proof 
for the skeptical Jews that Moshe was speaking with G-d. This point is 
developed thoroughly by the above sources.

Daniel Eidensohn

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