Hilchot Tefilla - Kedusha (I)

ה' sent seraph serpents against the people. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died.

2 Holy servants were on high before Him; each had six wings. With two he would cover his face so that he would not see, and with two he would cover his body so that he would not be seen, and with two he would minister. 3 And they would listen261 to each other and say, “Holy in the heavens on high is the temple of His Shekhinah; holy on the earth is the work of His power; holy in eternity is the Lord of Hosts. All the earth is filled with the splendor of His glory.” 4 And the lintels of the doorposts of the temple shook from the sound of the speaking, and the sanctuary was filled with a dark cloud. 5 Then I said, “Woe is me for I have sinned, for I am a man deserving to be reproved, and I am dwelling in the midst of a people befouled by sins, for my eyes have seen the glory of the Shekhinah of the king of eternity, the Lord of Hosts.” 6 Then one of the servants appeared suddenly to me, and in his mouth was speech that he had received from before the One whose Shekhinah is over the throne of glory in the heavens on high above the altar. 7 Then he arranged it in my mouth and said, “Behold, I have put my words of prophecy in your mouth, and your guilt will pass away and your sins will be atoned for.”

...the magicians of Egypt said (of Moses), “We are wary of this, that he is taking your crown and placing it on his head, that he not be the one we say (i.e. prophesy) that will take the kingship from you.” Some said to kill him, and some said to burn him. And Jethro was sitting among them and said to them, “This child has no intent [to take the throne]. Rather, test him by bringing in a bowl [a piece of] gold and a coal. If he outstretches his hand towards the gold, [surely] he has intent [to take the throne], and you should kill him. And if he outstretches his hand towards the coal, he [surely] does not have intent [to take the throne], and he does not deserve the death penalty.” They immediately brought the bowl before him (Moses), and he outstretched his hand to take the gold, and Gabriel came and pushed his (Moses’) hand, and he grabbed the coal. He then brought his hand along with the coal into his mouth and burned his tongue, and from this was made (Exodus 4:10) “slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

... Make the heart of this people fat" (Is. 6.10). It is, moreover, said: "But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people till there was no remedy". (II Chro. 36.16)—as if saying: "They sinned of their own free will and they have multiplied iniquities, until their guilt carried the punishment to withold repentance from them, which is the remedy". It is, therefore, written in the Torah; "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart" (Ex. 14.4), because at the beginning he sinned of his own free will, and meted out evil to Israel who sojourned in his land, even as it is said: "Come, let us deal wisely with them" (Ibid. 1.10). Thereat justice demanded to withold repentance from him, so that due punishment might be visited upon him. Wherefor, the Holy One, blessed is He! hardened his heart... Thus, as a consequence hereof, we must say: God's predestination prompted not Pharaoh to wrong Israel... nor Israel to worship idolatry; for they all sinned of their own free will and accord, and, therefore, were they all guilty of an offence which carries along the punishment to withold repentance from them.

"and with two he would fly." And does he [really] fly with the wings? Rather, it is as a result of this that they, may their memory be blessed, ordained that a man should hover on his feet when the prayer leader says (Isaiah 6:3), "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts."... "And one called to the other and said" (Isaiah 6:4) - they would get permission from one another, so that one not preempt the other and begin [alone], and [so] become liable for burning; rather they all started as one, and answered, etc. - "and the measure of the doorposts shook" - these were the doorposts of the chamber - "from the voice of the caller" - from the voice of the angels calling.

(2) כי שם ה' אקרא... There are 21 words from the beginning of our portion, containing 85 letters... This is the reason why the sages arranged the introduction of the “kedushah” to comprise a total of 21 words. The 21 words in the daily kedusha are: נקדש את שמך בעולם כשם שמקדישים אותו בשמי מרום, וכן כתוב על יד נביאך וקרא זה אל זה ואמר קדוש הדוש קדוש. In the corresponding morning kedushah prayer on Sabbath mornings, there are 85 letters, beginning with: נקדישך ונעריצך כסוד שיח שרפי קודש המקדישים שמד בקודש וגו'. We are not allowed to pronounce the critical words: קדוש קדוש קדוש until after an introduction of 85 letters. The same is true of the kedushah prayer in the mussaph service, which commences with words: 'כתר יתנו לך המוני מעלה וגו.

(23) For when he—that is, his children—behold what My hands have wrought in his midst, they will hallow My name. Men will hallow the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel.

But there arose no further prophet in Israel like Moshe,
whom ה' knew face to face

He said: Pray hear my words:
If there should be among-you-a-prophet of ה' in a vision to him I make-myself-known,
in a dream I speak with him. Not so my servant Moshe: in all my house, he is trusted; mouth to mouth I speak with him,
in-plain-sight, not in riddles,
and the form of ה' he beholds.
So why were you not too awestruck
to speak against my servant, against Moshe?

It is taught in a baraita: All of the prophets observed their prophecies through an obscure looking glass [aspaklaria], i.e., their prophecies were given as metaphoric visions but were not a direct perception of the matter. However, Moses our master observed his prophecies through a clear looking glass, i.e., he gained a direct and accurate perception of the matter.