Shabbat 89a — the Talmud in English

Again, what is written in it? “Remember the day of Shabbat

to sanctify it.” Do you perform work

that you require cessation?

Again, what is written in it? “You shall not bear

the Name of the Lord your God in vain.” And is there

business dealings among you

that you require an oath?

Again, what is written in it? “Honor your father and your

mother.”

And do

you have a father and mother?

Again, what is written in it? “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery,

you shall not steal.”

And is

jealousy among you

that leads to murder? And is

the evil inclination among you?

Immediately

acknowledged him the angels

to the Holy One, blessed be He.

As it is stated

at the end of the chapter,

“Lord, our Master, how mighty is Your Name

throughout the earth,”

whereas “Place Your glory upon the heavens” is not written

here!

Immediately, each and every one

of the angels

became

for Moses our teacher

a friend, and transmitted to him

what it had taught him

a matter.

As it is stated: “You ascended on high, you took captive, you took

gifts among men” —

as a reward for their calling you “man”

in an expression of lowliness, one created from earth, for they insulted you and said, “What is man that You should remember him, and the son of man that You should attend to him,” -

you took gifts!

Even the angel of death transmitted a matter to him.

And the proof is from what

is stated: “And he placed the incense and atoned for the people.”

And it says: “And he stood between the dead and the living

and the plague was halted.”

But

if the angel of death had not told him

the secret of the incense to Moses,

how would Moses have known

that the incense halts the plague, for this is not written in the Torah?

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When Moses descended from before the Holy One, blessed be He

after the giving of the Torah,

Satan came and said before Him: Master of the universe! Where is the Torah?

He said to him: I gave it to the earth!

He went to the earth and said to it: Where is the Torah?

It said to him: “God understands its way”

for He knows where it is.

He went to the sea and said to it

the sea:

It is not with me!

He went to the deep; the deep said to him

the deep:

It is not in me.

As it is stated: “The deep said, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea said,

‘It is not with me.’

The Rashash, in his commentary on Job, explains that “we have heard a report of it with our ears” refers to when it was given, whereas “God understands its way” indicates that He knows where it is.]

He returned and said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe! I searched throughout the entire earth and did not find it!

He said to him

the Holy One, blessed be He:

Go to the son of Amram.

He went to Moses and said to him: Where is the Torah that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave you?

He said to him

Moses:

What am I

important

that the Holy One, blessed be He, should give me the Torah?!

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Moses! You are a liar!

Moses said

Moses

before Him: Master of the universe! You have a hidden treasure with which You delight every day,

and

shall I take credit

for this

for myself?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Since you have diminished yourself, it shall be called

the Torah

by your name! As it is stated: “Remember the Torah of Moses My servant.”

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When Moses ascended on high, he found the Holy One, blessed be He, tying crowns

tagin

on those letters that require ornamental marks].

He said to him

the Holy One, blessed be He:

Moses! Is there no greeting in your city?!

Is there no way to offer a greeting in your place?

He said before Him: Is there a slave who offers a greeting to his master?

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him

the Holy One, blessed be He:

You should have helped Me,

saying, “May your work prosper.”

Immediately,

at the next ascent,

he said to Him: “And now, may the power of the Lord be great, as You have spoken.”

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And the people saw that Moses delayed”? —

Do not read it as boshesh [delayed], but as ba'u shesh [six came].

That

when Moses ascended on high, he said to Israel: At the end of forty days, at the beginning of six

the sixth hour —

I will come.

And they thought that the day of his ascent was included in the count, whereas he intended forty complete days apart from the day on which he ascended.

At the end of forty days

according to Israel’s reckoning,

Satan came and confused the world

for he showed them an image of darkness, cloud, fog, and confusion, saying: Surely Moses has died.

He said to them: Where is Moses your master?

They said to him: He ascended on high!

He said to them: Already

six have come

the hours that he set for you

! But they paid no attention to him.

He said to them:

Moses is dead

Moses

! But they paid no attention to him.

He showed them an image of his bier!

And this is what

Israel

said to Aaron: “For this man Moses …

“we do not know what became of him,” for they saw him being carried on his bier.

A certain one of the Sages said to Rav Kahana: Have you heard what “Mount Sinai” means?

Why was it called so?

He said to him: A mountain on which miracles were performed for Israel.

The certain one of the Sages said to him: If so,

it should have been called “Mount of My Miracles”

to call it?

Rav Kahana said to him:

Rather, a mountain that became a good sign for Israel.

He said to him: If so,

it should have been called “Mount of My Sign”?

The certain one of the Sages said to

Rav Kahana [the novellae of R. A. M. Horowitz]:

Why are you not found before Rav Pappa and Rav Huna son of Rav Yehoshua?

For they examine the aggadic teachings of Rav Hisda and Rabbah son of Rav Huna, both of whom say: What is Mount Sinai?

Hatred descended upon the nations of the world because of it.

For they are hated because they did not accept the Torah.

And this is what Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Hanina said: It has five names

for Mount Sinai —

a.

The wilderness of Zin —

on which Israel was commanded.

b.

The wilderness of Kadesh —

on which Israel was sanctified.

c.

The wilderness of Kedemot —

in which was given

the Torah, which is

primordial

to the world,

upon it.