שמות, פרק ל״ד, פסוק כ״ח

Moses’ final ascent to Mount Sinai represents a profound peak of spiritual elevation, marking his complete detachment from the physical world. During this extended time in the presence of God, Moses transitioned from a flesh-and-blood human into a spiritual entity sustained purely by divine radiance. The primary approach among commentators is that this period of forty days and nights refers to his third and final journey up the mountain, lasting from the beginning of the month of Elul until Yom Kippur [ספורנו, חזקוני, מלבי״ם, ברכת אשר]. This followed his initial forty days to receive the first tablets, and a subsequent forty days of prayer for mercy after the sin of the Golden Calf [רמב״ן, אבן עזרא]. The specific duration highlights that receiving the second tablets required the exact same intense preparation as the first. Moses was not to assume that having already learned the Torah, he could spend less time acquiring it anew [רמב״ן, הטור הארוך]. Because the heavenly realm lacks a natural distinction between light and darkness, Moses tracked the passing of time through spiritual signs. He knew it was day when he studied the Written Torah or saw the sun and constellations bowing to God, and he recognized the night when he studied the Oral Torah or observed the moon [רבנו בחיי, חזקוני, צאינה וראינה].

His complete avoidance of food and water highlights a deep process of purification. Over the course of forty days—mirroring the forty days it takes for a physical fetus to form—Moses shed his earthly nature until his body became as spiritual as an angel, allowing him to properly contain the Torah [מלבי״ם, שפתי כהן]. Naturally, starvation causes a person's face to darken and wither, but Moses experienced a miracle. His face radiated with light, proving that humanity does not live on physical sustenance alone [אברבנאל]. While he lacked earthly food, he was profoundly nourished by the spiritual "bread and water" of the Torah, drawing life and energy directly from the highest divine light [אור החיים, רבנו בחיי, הכתב והקבלה]. This fast also reflects the principle of adopting local customs. Just as angels appeared to eat when they visited Abraham on earth, Moses acted like an angel and refrained from eating while visiting the heavenly realm [תורה תמימה].

Regarding the physical creation of the new tablets, the primary approach among commentators is that God Himself performed the engraving, fulfilling His earlier promise to do so rather than leaving the task to Moses [רמב״ן, אבן עזרא, רשב״ם, רבנו בחיי]. Some suggest the exact nature of the writing is left intentionally ambiguous to avoid attributing a strictly physical action to God [קאסוטו]. A harmonizing viewpoint proposes a dual effort: God engraved the Ten Commandments onto the stone, while Moses simultaneously wrote down the remaining teachings of the Torah [העמק דבר]. Ultimately, while only the Ten Commandments were physically etched into the stone, they serve as the foundational root, naturally encompassing the entirety of the Torah's commandments within them [אבן עזרא הקצר, שפתי כהן].