A fascinating Ibn Ezra appears in Parshat Ki Tisa that elucidates a number of foundational principles:

אבן עזרא פירוש שני שמות לא:יח

ויתן – ריקי מוח יתמהו: מה עשה משה בהר ארבעים יום וארבעים לילה. ולא ידעו, כי אילו היה עומד שם עם השם כמספר הזה וכפל כפלי שנים, לא יוכל לדעת חלק מאלף ממעשי השם ודרכיו וסוד כל המצות שצוהו. כי יחשבוהו שהוא העיקר, ואיננו רק הלבב והמעשה (והלבב) והלשון להרגיל, וכן כתוב: בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו (דברים ל':י"ד). וקדמונינו אמרו: רחמנא ליבא בעי, ושרש כל המצות עד שיאהב השם בכל נפשו וידבק בו, וזה לא יהיה שלם אם לא יכיר מעשה השם בעליונים ובשפלים וידע דרכיו. וככה אמר הנביא: כי אם בזאת יתהלל המתהלל השכל וידוע אותי (ירמיהו ט':כ"ג), אז יתברר לו כי השם עושה תמיד חסד ומשפט בארץ. ולא יוכל לדעת השם אם לא ידע נפשו ונשמתו וגופתו, כי כל מי שלא ידע מה מהוא חכמה מה לו. והנה משה שהתנבא ארבעים שנה, ועמד בסודות רבות שגלה לו השם בהר סיני, והוא אמר לפני מותו: י"י אלהים אתה החלות להראות את עבדך את גדלך (דברים ג':כ"ד). והנה עתה החל שהראה לו גדולת השם, וזה אמת, כי לגדולתו אין חקר (תהלים קמ"ה:ג').

Ibn Ezra - Second Commentary Shemot 31:18

AND HE GAVE. Empty heads ask, "What did Moses do on the mount for forty days and forty nights?" They do not know that if Moses spent this number and double its double in years with God, he would barely know one part of a thousand of God's work and ways and the secret of all the precepts which God commanded him. They think that deeds are most important. This is not so. What is important is heart together with deed. Heart and tongue train a person [to observe the commandments]. We thus read, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it (Deut. 30:14). Our ancients said, "God desires the heart." Loving God and cleaving to the Lord with all of one's soul is the basis of the commandments. This cannot be completely accomplished if a person does not know the ways of the Lord and is not acquainted with God's work in the upper and lower worlds. The prophet thus states, But let him that glorieth glory in this, That he understandeth and knoweth Me (Jer. 9:23). It will then become clear to a person that God exercises mercy, Justice, and righteous, in the earth (Ibid.). A person cannot know God if he does not know his own spirit, soul, and body. For of what use is a person's wisdom to him if he does not know the makeup of his soul? Now Moses, who prophesied in the desert for forty years and was party to many secrets which God revealed to him on Mount Sinai, said before his death, O Lord God, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness (Deut. 3:24). Thus it was only then that Moses began to understand God's greatness and that the Lord's greatness was shown to him. This is truth, for His greatness is unsearchable (Ps. 145:3).

The Ibn Ezra begins by pointing out a mistake. It is a misconception that the Torah’s ultimate value is discrete and concrete actions. These undoubtedly have a prominent role, but the Torah’s objectives are not exhausted in the execution of physical activities. Rather, a combination of mind and action trains the heart, which is the primary objective as reflected in the Sages statement, “the Merciful One desires the heart” (Sanhedrin 6b).

But there is a further objective beyond training one’s heart and mind. A trained heart and mind is best equipped in interpret the outside world. An untrained mind too often projects instead of interprets. Saadia Gaon describes this as the hallmark of a fool:

Saadia Gaon - The Book of Beliefs and Opinions

The praiseworthy wise man is he who makes reality his guiding principle and bases his belief thereon. Notwithstanding his wisdom, he relies only on what is deserving of trust and is wary wherever caution is in order. The reprehensible fool, on the other hand, is he who sets up his personal conviction as his guiding principle, assuming that reality is patterned after his belief. Notwithstanding his ignorance, he trusts in what should be shunned and shuns what is deserving of trust. All this is borne out by Scripture, which says: A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil; but the fool behaveth overbearingly, and is confident (Prov. 14:16).

(Rosenblatt, 1976, p.15).

A trained mind and the accurate interpretation of the outside world are prerequisites to an appreciation of Hashem. The Ibn Ezra states that one’s love for Hashem “cannot be complete if he does not recognize His actions above and below, and understand His ways”, and “one cannot know Hashem if he does not know his own nature, soul, and body” (Ibn Ezra, ibid). If he cannot interpret his inner reality, how can we expect him to correctly interpret his external reality.

In summary, mitzvot train the heart and the mind. A trained heart and mind is most capable of interpreting reality around it. And the accurate perception of the outside world brings one to an appreciation and love of God. These steps are also reflected in the Rambam:

Rambam - Guide of the Perplexed - Book I Chapter 1

God, may His mention be exalted, wished us to be perfected and the state of our societies to be improved by His laws regarding actions. Now this can come about only after the adoption of intellectual beliefs, the first of which being His apprehension, may He be exalted, according to our capacity. This, in its turn, cannot come about except through divine science, and this divine science cannot become actual except after a study of natural science. This is so since natural science borders on divine science, and its study precedes that of divine science in time as has been made clear to whoever has engaged in speculation on these matters. Hence God, may He be exalted, caused His book to open with the Account of the Beginning, which, as we have made clear, is natural science. (Pines, 1963, p.9)

משנה תורה - ספר המדע - הלכות יסודי התורה - א:א–ב

הָאֵל הַנִּכְבָּד וְהַנּוֹרָא הַזֶּה--מִצְוָה לְאָהֳבוֹ וּלְיִרְאָה מִמֶּנּוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר "וְאָהַבְתָּ, אֵת ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ" (דברים ו,ה; דברים יא,א) וְנֶאֱמָר "אֶת-ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ תִּירָא" (דברים ו,יג; דברים י,כ).  [ב] וְהֵיאַךְ הִיא הַדֶּרֶךְ לְאַהֲבָתוֹ, וְיִרְאָתוֹ:  בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁיִּתְבּוֹנֵן הָאָדָם בְּמַעֲשָׂיו וּבְרוּאָיו הַנִּפְלָאִים הַגְּדוֹלִים, וְיִרְאֶה מֵהֶם חָכְמָתוֹ שְׁאֵין לָהּ עֵרֶךְ וְלֹא קֵץ--מִיָּד הוּא אוֹהֵב וּמְשַׁבֵּחַ וּמְפָאֵר וּמִתְאַוֶּה תַּאֲוָה גְּדוֹלָה לֵידַע הַשֵּׁם הַגָּדוֹל, כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמַר דָּוִיד "צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי, לֵאלֹהִים--לְאֵל חָי" (תהילים מב,ג).

Maimonides Mishne Torah - Foundational Principles of the Torah 1:2

It is a mitzvah to love and fear this glorious and awesome God, as [Deuteronomy 6:5] states: "And you shall love God, your Lord" and, as [Deuteronomy 6:13] states: "Fear God, your Lord."What is the path [to attain] love and fear of Him? When a person contemplates His wondrous and great deeds and creations and appreciates His infinite wisdom that surpasses all comparison, he will immediately love, praise, and glorify [Him], yearning with tremendous desire to know [God's] great name, as David stated: "My soul thirsts for the Lord, for the living God" [Psalms 42:3].

What could have taken Moshe 40 days and 40 nights? Only those who fail to appreciate the full sweep of the Torah’s objectives could dismissively ask such a question. Included in the scope of Torah is not only the mitzvot designed to train hearts and minds through disciplined thought, speech, and action. These are stepping stones toward an awareness, apprehension, and appreciation of God and His world. What was there for Moshe to learn? Only the entirety of the fields of psychology, science, and philosophy. As the Ibn Ezra so beautifully concludes, Moshe knew this was just the beginning אתה החלות להראות את עבדך את גדלך (Devarim 3:24) for His grandeur is unlimited לגדולתו אין חקר (Tehilim 145:3).

References

Ibn Ezra, E., Strickman, H. N., & Silver, A. M. (1996). Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch: Perush ha-Torah : Exodus (Shemot). New York: Menorah Publishing Company, Inc. Retrieved from: https://mg.alhatorah.org/Full/Shemot/31.18#e0n6

Maimonides, M., & Pines, S. (1978). The Guide of the Perplexed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Ibn Ezra, E., Strickman, H. N., & Silver, A. M. (1996). Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch: Perush ha-Torah : Exodus (Shemot). New York: Menorah Publishing Company, Inc. Retrieved from: https://mg.alhatorah.org/Full/Shemot/31.18#e0n6

Maimonides, M., & Pines, S. (1978). The Guide of the Perplexed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Maimonides, M., Touger, E., Kaplan, B., Abramson, Z., & Silverstein, S. (2007). Mishneh Torah. New York: Moznaim Pub. Retrieved from: https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/682956/jewish/Mishneh-Torah.htm

Saadia, G., & Rosenblatt, S. (1976). The Book of Beliefs and Opinions. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Saadia, G., & Rosenblatt, S. (1976). The Book of Beliefs and Opinions. New Haven: Yale University Press.

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