Abarbanel doesn’t treat Sinai as a single dramatic moment. He explains:

• what the people experienced,
• why they reacted with fear,
• why Moshe alone entered the darkness,
• and how revelation transformed into law.

🕯️🕯️ Special focus to look out for:

Shemos 19:16 — Part II:

Where Abarbanel carefully explains the miracles that occurred at Sinai — the sounds, sights, and physical phenomena — and what each one was meant to teach.

This section alone offers a powerful lens into how revelation was designed to be unmistakable, unforgettable, and beyond natural explanation.

Suggested “Look Out For These Sections” Guide

As you explore, here are a few sections especially worth your attention:

• 19:16 — Part II: The Miracles of Sinai
  How thunder, fire, sound, and trembling operated together — and why Sinai could never be mistaken for imagination or metaphor.
• 20:16–17: “Seeing the Voices”
  Why the Torah describes sound as visible, and what that tells us about human limits at revelation.
• 20:18: Moshe Enters the Darkness
  Why the people step back, why Moshe steps forward, and how this moment permanently reshaped how Torah is given.
• 20:19–23: No Intermediaries
  Why even religious “helpers,” symbols, or channels are forbidden — and what pure faith really demands.
• Why Mishpatim Follow the Dibros
  How civil law grows directly out of Sinai, and why Torah cannot remain abstract.
• Full Table of Contents of Abarbanel's work can be found below.

READ THE FULL ABARBANEL ON YISRO →
115 pages • Scroll to the sections you want

Important Note on Navigation

Please note:
This link will take you to the top of the Abarbanel section.
The full commentary is approximately 115 pages long, so you’ll need to scroll to the specific sections that interest you.

Think of this as a reference work — not something you’re expected to read in one sitting.

Gentle Promise of What’s Coming Next

In this week’s regular newsletter, I’ll be sharing focused divrei Torah drawn from this Abarbanel — distilled insights you can read in a few minutes, while knowing the full source is there when you want to go deeper.

This is the foundation.
The reflections and applications are coming next.

Table of Contents — Abarbanel on Parshas Yisro

Chapter 18 — Leadership and the Birth of Legal Order

• Why Moshe initially judged the people alone
• Yisro’s critique and why it was necessary
• Delegation as a Torah value, not a concession
• The foundations of judicial hierarchy and shared authority

Chapter 19 — Preparing for Revelation

• Why Sinai required boundaries and separation
• The meaning of ascent, descent, and distance
• Human limits in the face of Divine presence
• Why not everyone can stand at the mountain

Chapter 20 — The Sinai Event Itself

The Dibros: Foundations of Faith and Moral Law

• Why Anochi is not a command but the basis of all command
• How belief, authority, and obligation begin
• Why the Dibros divide between G-d and man

Fear at Sinai — “Seeing the Voices”

• What it means to “see” sound
• Sensory overload versus prophecy
• Why fear follows revelation — and why it’s not a failure

Moshe Enters the Darkness

• Why the people retreat
• Why Moshe alone approaches
• Darkness as the condition for true revelation
• The permanent shift to mediated Torah

No Intermediaries

• “You shall not make with Me gods of silver or gold”
• Why even religious “helpers” are forbidden
• Direct Divine governance versus spiritual technology

The Altar and the Rejection of Religious Excess

• Why the altar must be made of earth
• Why stone may not be shaped
• Why worship rejects grandeur and display
• Submission, not spectacle, as the core of avodah

From Revelation to Law — Why Mishpatim Follow the Dibros

• The Dibros as principles; Mishpatim as applications
• How civil law emerges directly from Sinai
• Why justice must be Divine, not merely rational
• Torah as a system meant to govern real life

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