"Mishpatim — Part VII — Moshe’s Ascent & the Structure of Creation"

7.4 — The Three Forty-Day Ascents

Why Moshe ascends the mountain three times

At the end of Parshas Mishpatim, the Torah describes Moshe ascending Har Sinai for forty days and forty nights. This is not the only time Moshe will climb the mountain. Over the course of the Torah, Moshe ascends Sinai three separate times, each for a period of forty days.

These ascents are not repetitions of the same event. They represent three distinct stages in the covenantal relationship between Hashem and Israel. Together, they form a spiritual arc: covenant, sin, and renewal.

The Torah introduces the first ascent with the words:

שמות כ״ד:י״ב
“וַיֹּאמֶר ה׳ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה, עֲלֵה אֵלַי הָהָרָה… וְאֶתְּנָה לְךָ אֶת־לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן.”
“Hashem said to Moshe: Ascend to Me on the mountain… and I will give you the tablets of stone.”

Moshe enters the cloud and remains on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. This begins the first of the three ascents.

The First Ascent: Covenant and Revelation

The first forty-day period begins after the covenant is sealed and the people declare “נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע.” Moshe ascends to receive the tablets and the deeper structure of the Torah.

This ascent represents:

• The ideal state of the covenant.
• A direct bond between Hashem and Israel.
• A moment of unbroken faith and obedience.

At this stage, the relationship is pure and untested. The tablets are a symbol of Divine law given without fracture or interruption.

The Second Ascent: Sin and Intercession

The second ascent occurs after the sin of the Golden Calf. When Moshe descends and sees the people worshipping the idol, he shatters the tablets. The covenant has been broken.

Moshe then returns to the mountain for another forty days. This ascent is not for receiving revelation, but for pleading on behalf of the people. It is an ascent of intercession.

This stage represents:

• The collapse of the ideal.
• The reality of human failure.
• The power of repentance and prayer.

Moshe stands between the people and Divine judgment. The covenant is no longer untouched perfection. It is now a relationship that must survive sin.

The Third Ascent: Forgiveness and Renewal

The third ascent begins after Hashem accepts Moshe’s plea and commands him to carve new tablets. Moshe ascends the mountain once again for forty days, and this time he descends with the second set of tablets.

This stage represents:

• Forgiveness after failure.
• A renewed covenant.
• A relationship strengthened by repentance.

The second tablets differ from the first. According to many commentators, they contain not only the Divine writing, but also the human effort of carving the stone. The covenant now reflects partnership between Hashem and Israel.

Abarbanel: The Three Stages of Covenant

Abarbanel explains that the three ascents represent a spiritual progression in the covenant itself.

The first ascent reflects the ideal covenant, formed at Sinai in purity and awe.
The second ascent reflects the broken covenant, shattered by sin and human weakness.
The third ascent reflects the restored covenant, rebuilt through repentance and Divine mercy.

For Abarbanel, this sequence is not accidental. It reveals the structure of the covenantal relationship. The Torah does not present a world of unbroken perfection. It presents a world where:

• People fail.
• The covenant is strained.
• Renewal remains possible.

The second tablets are therefore deeper than the first. They represent a covenant that has endured sin and emerged stronger.

The Philosophical Tradition: The Pattern of Human Growth

Many philosophical and Chassidic thinkers see in the three ascents a model for the structure of human spiritual life.

The pattern appears repeatedly:

1. Innocence — a state of clarity, simplicity, or idealism.
2. Crisis — failure, confusion, or moral collapse.
3. Return — repentance, rebuilding, and deeper understanding.

The first stage is pure but untested.
The second stage is painful but honest.
The third stage is stronger because it has faced reality.

This pattern appears throughout Jewish thought:

• The Garden of Eden, followed by exile, followed by the path of return.
• The Temple, followed by destruction, followed by hope of rebuilding.
• The individual soul, which falls and rises again through teshuvah.

Moshe’s three ascents become the archetype of covenantal growth.

Why Forty Days?

Each ascent lasts forty days and forty nights. The number forty in the Torah consistently signals transformation as explored in the previous essay.

It marks:

• The forty days of rain during the Flood, transforming the world.
• The forty years in the wilderness, transforming a slave people into a nation.
• The forty days of Moshe on Sinai, transforming a leader into a prophetic vessel.

Forty represents a period of gestation, purification, and rebirth. Each ascent is not merely a journey upward. It is a process of becoming.

The Covenant as a Living Relationship

The three ascents teach that the covenant is not a static contract. It is a living relationship.

A contract breaks when one side fails.
A covenant survives failure through loyalty and return.

The Torah does not hide Israel’s sin. Instead, it shows how the relationship survives and deepens. The second tablets symbolize a covenant that includes:

• Human weakness.
• Divine forgiveness.
• Ongoing commitment.

The deepest bond is not the one that never faces strain. It is the one that endures it.

Application for Today — Growth Through Repeated Ascent

Moshe’s three ascents offer a powerful model for personal growth. Many people imagine spiritual life as a straight path upward. But the Torah presents a different structure.

Growth often unfolds in three stages:

• A period of inspiration or clarity.
• A period of struggle, failure, or confusion.
• A period of return, rebuilding, and deeper understanding.

A practical way to live this teaching includes:

• Accepting that failure is part of spiritual growth.
• Viewing mistakes as opportunities for return rather than despair.
• Committing to rebuild after setbacks.
• Recognizing that the second ascent can be deeper than the first.

The Torah’s model is not perfection without fracture. It is a covenant that survives sin and becomes stronger through renewal.

📖 Sources

• Full sources available on the Mitzvah Minute Parshas Mishpatim page under insights and commentaries.