Who is the subject of this Pasuk?
Why does the Torah insert this Parshah here, considering that the episode with the Golden Calf took place on Shiv'ah-Asar be'Tamuz, three months before the command to build the Mishkan, in Tishri, after Yom Kipur?
Rashi: On account of the principle "Ein Mukdam u'Me'uchar ba'Torah (The Torah does not always follow the chronological order).
Ramban: Refer to 31:18:1:1***.
Seforno (to explain the sequence between this Pasuk and the Golden Calf): Initially, Hashem intended to dwell among the people in the open - and whenever they wanted to bring a Korban, all they would need to do was to build a Mizbe'ach of stone or of earth and sacrifice on it; and they would have achieved this high level of Hashra'as ha'Shechinah via the first Luchos, had they received them. And it is only because they sinned by the Golden Calf that they needed to build the Mishkan, thereby restricting Hashem's Shechinah to one location.
Why did Hashem place the command to build the Mishkan before the sin of the Golden Calf, if it was said later?
Rav Chavel (in his footnotes, citing the Panim Yafos): The Mishkan was the antidote to the sin of the Golden Calf, and Hashem creates the cure before the stroke. 1
Refer also to 31:18:2:1*
Why is the word "ke'Chaloso" missing a 'Vav'?
Rashi #1: Because then it can be read as 'ke'Kalaso' - a hint that Hashem taught Torah to Moshe in the form of a gift, 1 like a Chasan to a Kalah, since it was otherwise impossible for Moshe to have learnt the entire Torah in forty days.
Rashi #2: Just as a Kalah adorns herself with twenty-four ornaments, 2 so too, must a Talmid-Chacham be conversant with the twenty-four Books of the T'nach.
The Gemara in Nedarim, 38a learns from the words "Vayiten el Moshe" that initially, Moshe fogot what he had learned, until Hashem gave it to him as a Matanah. See Torah Temimah, note 43.
As was customary in former times. See Yeshayah, 13:18 - 22 (Rashi),
What is "ke'Chaloso Ledaber Ito" referring to?
Rashi: It is referring to the Chukim and Mishpatim listed in Mishpatim. 1
See Sifsei Chachamim.
What sort of stone were the Luchos made of? Where did they come from?
Targum Yonasan: They were made of sapphire and were taken from underneath the Kisei ha'Kavod.
How much did the Luchos weigh?
Targum Yonasan: They weighed forty Sa'ah. 1
See Peirush Yomasan. A Sa'ah is a volume? Imrei Yosher (in Sh'mos Rabah 8:3, regarding Moshe's staff, which also weighed forty Sa'ah) - the weight equaled that of forty Sa'ah of water, The volume of each Lu'ach was a sixth of forty Sa'ah (based on Bava Basra 14a). If so, the rock was somewhat more than three times (or six times, if each Lu'ach weighed forty Sa'ah) as dense as water, depending on the volume of the hollowed out letters. However, perhaps the letters lightened them. The Yerushalmi (Ta'anis 4:5) says that when the letters flew off, they were too heavy for Moshe to hold - PF).
Why does the Torah write "Ledaber Ito", and not Ledaber Eilav"?
Rashi: This teaches us that after Hashem taught Moshe the Halachah, they repeated it together.
Why is "Luchos" written without a 'Vav'?
We also find that the word "Sh'nei" always implies that the two are equal. See Torah Temimah, Vayikra 16:5, citing Yoma, 62b.
In fact, together they formed a cube measuring six by six by six Tefachim, a total of two hundred and sixteen cubic Tefachim - the Gematriya of 'Yir'ah'.
Why does the Torah refer to the Luchos as "Luchos ha'Eidus"?
Rabeinu Bachye: Because they were testimony that the Shechinah dwelt in Yisrael, by virtue of the fact that they carried the seal of Hashem. 1
Refer to 31:18:11:1 and note.
What is the significance of the fact that the Luchos were made of stone?
Hadar Zekeinim: Stone never rots. 1
Rabeinu Bachye: Because they were given to Yisrael on the merit of Ya'akov, whom the Pasuk refers to as "Even Yisrael" (Bereishis 49:24). 2
Da'as Zekenim (32:15, citing Eruvin 54a): It teaches us tha, if a man makes his jaws like stone 3 , which never dissolves, his learning will endure. If not, it will not endure.
Oznayim la'Torah #1: So that they should last a long time, in order to serve as testimony - by virtue of the 'final Mem' and the 'Samech' that stood miraculously and did not fall - that Torah is min ha'Shamayim, written by the Finger of Hashem.
Oznayim la'Torah #2: When the Torah, which was written in Heaven with black fire on white fire, had to be transferred onto a materil surface, it was appropriate to transfer it on to stone, from which the first human fire emanated. 4
Oznayim la'Torah #3: It is a hint that, even if someone is of limited ability, who has a heart of stone, should persevere, and hew will succeed, since the Torah is compared to water, which drip after drip, eventually makes a hole in the stone. 5
Oznayim la'Torah #4: To demonstrate that Torah is the antidote to the Yeitzer-ha'Ra, which is compared to a stone.
So too, does the Torah never become outdated. See also Torah Temimah, notes 43 & 44. Refer also to 32:18:151:1.
See R. Bachye for a number of other explanations.
Rashi, Eruvin 54a: He does not weary from reviewing his learning and teaching others.
When, on the first Motza'ei Shabbos, Adam rubbed two stones together to produce a flame, as the Gemara relates in Pesachim, 54a.
As R. Akiva taught in Eruvin, 54.
Why did Hashem write the Aseres ha'Dibros on two Luchos and not just on one?
Rabeinu Bachye #1: Because they are called "Luchos ha'Eidus", and 'Eidus' requires two. 1
Rabeinu Bachye #2 (citing a Midrash) and Da'as Zekenim (32:15): Because they correspond to Heaven and earth, Chasan and Kalah, the two friends 2 and the two worlds - Olam ha'Zeh and Olam ha'Ba.
Oznayim la'Torah: Because the Mitzvos on the first Lu'ach, which comprise Emunah, serve as a basis for the Mitzvos on the second Lu'ach.
Rabeinu Bachye: Moreover, they were made from the earth and the writing from the Heaven, and the Torah writes in Devarim 31:28, "And I will testify against them Heaven and earth".
The 'best-men', who bring the Chasan and Kalah together (See R. Chavel's footnotes).
Why does the Torah mention that the Luchos were written with the Finger of Hashem?
Hadar Zekenim: To teach us that the writing will not be erased or faded - an indication that Torah will never be annulled. 1
Refer also to 31:18:10:1 and note.
