Were there a
Third 40 Days?
R. Yaakov Bieler
Elul, 5768
The significance of the period
between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom HaKippurim derives,
according to some opinions, from the period of time spent by Moshe on Har
Sinai, when he received a second set of Tablets (Shemot 34:1-4; Devarim
10:1-4). The original Tablets containing
the Ten Commandments had been destroyed when Moshe was confronted with the Jews
engaged in the sin of the Golden Calf (Shemot 32:19; Devarim
9:17). A dispute revolves around the
implications of Devarim 10:10:
And
I stood on the mountain like the first days 40 days and 40 nights, and
God Listened to me also that time. HaShem no longer Wished to Destroy
you.
Ibn Ezra,
during the course of his commentary on Devarim 10:1 claims:
(At
that time, HaShem Said to me, “Sculpt two tablets of stone like the
first ones, and come up to Me to the mountain and make an
“At
that time”—the 40 days that had just been mentioned.
The
reference that the commentator is making is to the verse in Devarim
9:25:
And
I fell (in supplication) before HaShem for 40 days and 40 nights, that I
caused myself to fall, because HaShem had Said to Destroy you.
The
subsequent verses (Devarim 9:26-29), according to Ibn Ezra, parallel
what is described in Shemot 32:30-34; 33:1-23, 34:1-29, resulting in the
view that Moshe spent only two 40 day periods on Sinai, the first beginning
with the 6th of Sivan and ending on the 17th of Tammuz,
when the first Tablets were shattered, and the second beginning shortly
afterwards, and culminating with Moshe descending with the newly fashioned
stone Decalogue. Consequently, in Devarim 10:10 quoted above, the phrase
“like the first days” is a reference to the original of
the two 40 day stays on the mountain.
Sefer
HaChinuch appears to entertain a similar understanding when he omits all
references to Moshe’s coming down from Sinai with the second Luchot on Yom
HaKippurim:
(Mitzva 185 “Mitzvat
Avodat Yom HaKippurim”)
…Among the bases of the Mitzva,
that it was a manifestation of the Kindness of God for His Creations to
establish for them one day each year for atonement from their sins along with
repentance that they should repent. That were the sins of the Creations
accumulate annually, their “measure would be filled” (i.e., they would deserve
annihilation rather than an opportunity to atone) and the entire world would
have to be destroyed (as occurred during Noach’s lifetime.) Therefore He
foresaw by means of His Blessed Wisdom how to keep the world in existence, to
establish one day each year for the atonement of sins for those who repent. And
from the beginning of Creation it was set aside and sanctified for this
purpose. And once HaShem Set aside this day for atonement, the day was
sanctified and received merit from the Exalted One so that He Assists in the
achieving of atonement. And this is the language of the Rabbis, may their
memories be for a blessing, in many places, “And Yom HaKippurim
atones”—i.e., there is power within the day itself to atone for minor transgressions…
While one could contend that by
virtue of the day being preordained for atonement, that day becomes the ideal
day for the final atonement from the sin of the Golden Calf and the anniversary
of Moshe’s descending the mountain with the second Tablets, by virtue of such a
conclusion not appearing in the Sefer HaChinuch would seem to suggest
that he did not believe that the association between Yom HaKippurim and
Moshe’s descent is indicated.
RaShI,
according to Seder Olam Rabba, Chapt. 6, offers an alternate interpretation of the
verses in question, and posits that Moshe endured a third stay of 40 days on
Sinai before finally descending for the last time.
RaShI on Devarim 10:10
“Like the first days”—of the first
Tablets (i.e., the original 40 days when the first Tablets were fabricated).
Just as a spirit of (Divine) Favor informed those first days, so too such a
spirit informed these (last) days, in contrast to the middle group when I stood
there to pray on your (the Jewish people’s) behalves, those were marked by a
sense of (Divine) Anger.
In RaShI’s view, the phrase in
question is not referring to the quantity of days (40) but rather their
quality—what was the atmosphere like while God and Moshe were interacting. Only
after God’s Anger had been truly assuaged could the Order for Moshe to make a
replacement for the Tablets that he had broken could be given. Consequently this Commandment and the Tablets
associated with it could not have taken place during the second 40 day period,
but rather per force had to constitute a period unto itself. The “Divine Anger”
that RaShI mentions characterizes God’s stated Desire to annihilate most of the
Jewish people and begin again from Moshe. Whereas Moshe had succeeded in
“dissuading” HaShem, as it were, from destroying the people immediately
in Shemot 32:10, it appears from v. 32 that Moshe was fearful that HaShem
would nevertheless Carry out this Plan over a long period of time,
perhaps similar to how the generation that sinned with respect to the spies was
eliminated over the course of 40 years of wandering (see BaMidbar 14:29,
after a similar threat in v. 12.) It was only when Moshe was called up to Sinai
a third time, when the threat of annihilation no longer was hanging over the
people’s heads that Moshe could rest easy and focus upon bringing about a true
reconciliation between God and His People.
A
great insight is offered by R. Chaim Sabbato[1]
in light of
Seder Olam Rabba’s and RaShI’s hypothesis of the
existence of a third 40 day period that leads to the conclusion that the second
Tablets were presented to the Jewish people on Yom HaKippurim: If the 40
days between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom HaKippurim are to be
imbued with repentance and atonement, then wouldn’t it be more appropriate for
the annual commemoration of these days to correspond to the second 40 days of
Moshe’s stint on Sinai, when all was hanging in the balance, and so to speak,
the “books of life and death were open” before HaShem rather than the
third 40 day period during which all had returned for all intents and purposes
to normal, to the state of affairs that had existed prior to the sin of the
Calf? R. Sabbato suggests that the repentance process in fact contains two
stages. At first one hopes that he can prevent punishments from being meted out
for his iniquities and therefore engages in a serious quest for atonement.
However, just because someone is not going to punish you does not mean that
they feel towards you as they did previously. Perhaps you have only restored a
cold truce, not a warm, loving relationship. The second 40 day period
represented only the deflection of destruction; it is the third 40 days that
symbolize reconciliation and a renewal of love and trust.
It
would appear that R. Sabbato’s evocative
idea provides extra meaning to the famous statement of R. Abahu (Berachot
34b): “In the place where penitents stand, those who have always been
completely righteous are unable to stand, as it is said, (Yeshayahu
57:19) ‘Peace, peace to the distant and the close’—first the one who is/was
distant, and only then the one who is close.”
Just as there is a preference, particularly during the Days of
Atonement, to have a Shliach Tzibbur (the individual leading the
prayers) to who is married (see Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chayim 581:1 RaMA),
possibly to assure that he has experience love and empathy for another in order
to properly represent the congregation in his prayers, so too only an
individual who has “loved and lost and loved again” vis-à-vis HaShem,
can truly appreciate a relationship with the Divine in a way that someone who
has not gone through such a stormy series of events would be able to do.
All
of us have had our challenging periods when we feel more or less alienated from
aspects of our spiritual lives, and if we have the fortitude, motivation and
will to restore what we have lost and return to our foundations, it makes for
the most sublime and profound of experiences. Let us hope that this Elul will
not only be one marked by great Shalom Bayit in our respective temporal
homes, but also in our relationship with HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Himself.
Shabbat Shalom.