parshaמפרשי הפרשה

הכתב והקבלה — ומראה כבוד ה' כאש אכלת בראש ההר

'ומראה כבוד ה' כאש אכלת בראש ההר לעיני בני ישראל' — why this specific image of *consuming fire*? HaKtav rejects the physical-vision reading: were Hashem's glory truly visible as a flame, the addition 'אוכלת' is strange, and the very project of imaging Hashem materially is dangerous.

בא להודיע איך היה הפלא הגדול הזה שזכו בו כל ישראל לראות את כבוד ה'... כי באמת לא היתה כל האומה שוה במדרגת השגה זו, רק כל אחד מהם השיג וראה בעין רוחניותו ממראה הרוחנית אשר לפניו מכבוד ה' יתעלה לפי ערך הכנתו בשלמות נפשו... כי משה להיותו במדרגה היותר גבוהה משלמות נפשו... ואהרן למטה ממנו, ונדב ואביהוא למטה מאהרן, ושבעים זקנים למטה מן נדב ואביהוא... ובילקוט (פ' יתרו) לפי כחו של כל אחד ואחד היה הדבור מדבר עמו.

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הכתב והקבלה

הכתב והקבלה, שמות כ״ד:י״ז

HaKtav VeHaKabalah, Exodus 24:17

Mishpatim

Q — 'ומראה כבוד ה' כאש אכלת בראש ההר לעיני בני ישראל' — why this specific image of *consuming fire*? HaKtav rejects the physical-vision reading: were Hashem's glory truly visible as a flame, the addition 'אוכלת' is strange, and the very project of imaging Hashem materially is dangerous.

A — HaKtav VeHaKabbalah reads the verse as a *graduated spiritual* vision, not a uniform physical one. Each of the nation received רוחני vision calibrated to their personal preparedness: Moshe at the highest tier, then Aharon, then Nadav and Avihu, then the 70 elders, then the rest of the people — each 'לפי כחו של כל אחד ואחד' (Yalkut Yitro). The 'אש אוכלת' image describes the intensity of the apprehension, not its sensory form. It's literally the perceptual signature of each soul's outer limit. The same revelation, the same Kavod — distributed in graded shares according to capacity. The pluralism is built into the very phrase 'לעיני בני ישראל' — plural eyes, plural experiences.

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