How will we reconcile the current Pasuk - which compares the fire on Har Sinai tqo the fire of a furnace, with the Pasuk in Va'eschanan Devarim, 4:11, which describes the fire on Har Sinai as "a burning fire that reached the heart of the Heaven"?
Rashi: The Pasuk in Devarim teaches us that, in reality, the Fire was much greater than that of a furnace, and the reason that the Pasuk plays it down here is because it is the way of the Torah to describe Divine actions in human terms 1 so that we should be able to connect to it.
Like we find in Hoshe'a (11:10), where the Navi describes Hashem as a roaring lion, even though He is the one who enables the lion to roar in the first place (Rashi) .
What are the ramificationss of the statement "Vayecherad Kol ha'Har Me'od"?
Bearing in mind that Heavenly fire does not generally produce smoke - as the Gemara states in Yoma 21b, what is the significance of the "Eshen ha'Kivshan"?
Moshav Zekenim #1 (citing R. Yeshayah): The smoke was to frighten B'nei Yisrael.
Moshav Zekenim #2 (citing R. Yehudah ha'Chasid): Wherever there is Shechinah, there is smoke.
