וגם כבר היה לעולמים מעין זה, בשעת מתן תורה
A glimmer of this revelation which will take place in the future has already been experienced — at the time of the Giving of the Torah at Sinai,
כדכתיב: אתה הראת לדעת כי ה׳ הוא האלקים, אין עוד מלבדו
as it is written:10 “You (G‑d) revealed Yourself, that we may know that G‑d is the L‑rd; there is nothing else besides Him.”
הראת ממש, בראיה חושיית
“You actually ‘revealed Yourself’” (literally: “made Yourself seen”), indicating that the revelation was in a manner [perceptible to] physical sight.
כדכתיב: וכל העם רואים את הקולות, רואים את הנשמע
So it is written:11 “And all the people saw the thunder” — “They saw what is [normally] heard”; i.e., the Children of Israel perceived the revelation at Sinai with actual sight.
ופירשו רז״ל: מסתכלים למזרח ושומעין את הדבור יוצא: אנכי כו׳
As our Rabbis explain:12 “They looked eastward and heard the [divine] speech issuing forth, saying: ‘I am [G‑d your L‑rd-,’
וכן לארבע רוחות ולמעלה ולמטה
and so, too, turning toward the four points of the compass and above and below,“ they heard the words coming from every direction.
וכדפירשו בתיקונים, דלית אתר דלא מילל מיניה עמהון כו׳
As explained also in Tikkunei Zohar: “There was no place from which He did not speak to them.”
והיינו מפני גילוי רצונו יתברך בעשרת הדברות
This was so because in the Ten Commandments His blessed Will was revealed,
שהן כללות התורה, שהיא פנימית רצונו יתברך וחכמתו, ואין שם הסתר פנים כלל
since they the Ten Commandments comprise the entire Torah which represents the inner aspect of His Will and Wisdom, where there is no “concealment of the Countenance” whatsoever,
כמו שאומרים: כי באור פניך נתת לנו… תורת חיים
as we say in our prayers:13 “For in the light of Your Countenance You gave us a Torah of life.”
The Torah thus represents the “light of His Countenance,” i.e., the inner light of G‑dliness. When this light was revealed through the uttering of the Ten Commandments, the entire world experienced a revelation of G‑dliness.
ולכן היו בטלים במציאות ממש, כמאמר רז״ל, שעל כל דיבור פרחה נשמתן כו׳
Therefore, they the Jews who stood at Sinai were nullified out of existence, as our Rabbis have said:14 “At every [divine] utterance their soul took flight from their body,
