OU TORAH YU TORAH and NAALEH.COM Gracious Gift By Shira Smiles

Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein Bnei Yisroel have accepted the Torah, the Torah has been transmitted to Moshe Rabbenu, and Moshe is about to descend Mount Sinai and return to Bnei Yisroel. “And Hashem gave to Moshe when He finished /kechaloto speaking with him on Mount Sinai the two Tablets of Testimony…” Our commentators are puzzled by the placement of the word kechaloto. While the simplest translation renders it as “when he finished”, the literal translation is awkward. This adverbial phrase would more fittingly come at the beginning of the sentence, i. e. “When He finished speaking, Hashem gave…” or at the end of the entire verse. Rashi therefore understands the word to be related to a bride, to (ch)kallah. Rashi therefore explains that Hashem gave Moshe the Torah as a gift, as a bride is to her groom. Just as it would be impossible to fully know and appreciate one’s spouse in a short period of time immediately after the wedding, so would it have been impossible for Moshe to have learned all of Torah in just forty days and nights. Therefore, Moshe’s knowledge and understanding of the Torah was an actual gift Hashem gave him so that he could then transmit that knowledge to Bnei Yisroel. Later commentators draw upon this rendering to provide beauty and depth to the study of Torah, often compared to a bride of Bnei Yisroel.