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The mountain of Moses is the
biblical mountain of Sinai where, according to the Hebrew bible,
Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. In the classical
literature of the Rabbis the Sinai Mountain is a synonym of the
holiness. The legend says that when the Son of God will come,
God will unite Sinai with Mountain Carmel and Mountain Tabor,
will reconstruct the Temple on the united mountains and the
peaks of these mountains will sing a praise ode to God.
Regarding the law-giving, the Bible says that Sinai was covered
with a cloud and after the quake there was a lot of smoke. In
all this time the lightning-flashes were shooting forth and the
thunder roar mingling with a trumpet’s blasts. There are
scholars who said that maybe Sinai was a volcano, but with no
mention about any ash. And there are also scholars who said that
the described scene is one of a storm, since in the Song of
Deborah the presence of the rain is mentioned. The Bible also
says that the clouds and the fire were a consequence of the
God’s coming. In midrash is mentioned that 22.000 divine
chariots and 22.000 archangels accompanied God who expanded the
mountain for this moment. But the Bible` s description of God`s
arrival seems to not fit to the statement that was made after
that, according to which heaven is the place from where God
spoke to the Israel` s people. The textual scholars believe that
these passages have not the same sources, while the Mekhilta
says that the heavens were lowered by God and also spread on
Sinai. One thing is for sure: the Sinai Mountain attracts many
tourists and the Biblical story is the main reason for their
visit. |
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