Exodus · Chapter 33

And Hashem spoke with Moses: "Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying: To your descendants I will give it."

לך עלה מזה GO, GO UP HENCE — The land of Israel is situated higher than all the other neighbouring lands, therefore it said “go up” (Zevachim 54b). Another explanation is: As a compensation for what He had said to him (Moses) in a time of anger, (Exodus 32:7) “Go, go down”, He now said to him, at a time of good-will, “Go, go up”. אתה והעם THOU AND THE PEOPLE [WHICH THOU HAST BROUGHT UP] — Here — (in contrast to Exodus 32:7) it does not say “and thy people” (the mixed multitude which thou, of thine own accord, hast brought up from Egypt) (Midrash Tanchuma 3:9:26).

"Go up from here" — for one who travels northward is going up; therefore it says "Abram went down to Egypt" (Gen. 12:10), because Egypt is to the south. And all this I will do on account of My oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

לך עלה מזה, "go and ascend from this place, etc." The mention of an "ascent" is significant. Perhaps the Torah alludes to Shabbat 88 where we are told that Moses appropriated for himself the jewelry the Israelites stripped off themselves. [That "jewelry" was always perceived as being spiritual, such as the phylacteries. Ed.] This is alluded to here by the use of the word עלה in addition to לך. The apparently superfluous word אתה, "you," further supports the idea that the Torah speaks about an ascent by Moses which signified a spiritual dimension. The spiritual ascent was limited to Moses, i.e. אתה, as distinct from the people. As far as the people were concerned, G'd's instruction was only: לך, "go on." לאמור, "to say, etc." When the Torah reported communications from G'd to the Patriarchs, such communications did not usually involve לאמור, i.e. that they were to be passed on to others. The Torah wishes to remind us that whenever G'd had spoken to the Patriarchs promising to give the Holy Land to their descendants, such promises were לאמור, i.e. they were meant to be relayed by the Patriarchs to their children, etc.

לך עלה מזה, “go and set out from this place!” the reference in the word זה is the place where the sin of the golden calf had been committed. G-d is implying that at a different place He may be in a better position to exercise His right of forgiveness. The choice of the expression: עלה, “ascend,” indicated that anyone proceeding from the south in a northerly direction is automatically ascending.

עלה מזה אתה והעם, “move forward from this place, you and the people!” G’d now indicated that although He had forgiven partially, the people were not on a spiritual level which enabled Him to make His presence manifest among them again, and therefore He would content himself by assigning an angel as their escort representing His Shechinah, instead. G’d made mention at this point of הארץ אשר נשבעתי, “the land which I had promised on oath” (to the patriarchs’ descendants) G’d hinted that on account of the people who had died by the plague, and their having thus been partially rehabilitated, it was possible for Him to once more mention the merit of their ancestors. He added:

"And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites."

וגרשתי את הכנעני וגו׳ AND I WILL DRIVE OUT THE CANAANITE etc. — These are only six nations whilst in Deuteronomy 7:1 seven such are mentioned! But the Girgashites, the seventh, arose and emigrated of their own accord from before them (the Israelites) and therefore are not mentioned here amongst those who were driven out (Jerusalem Talmud Shevi'it 6:2; Leviticus Rabbah 17:6).

"I will send an angel before you" — to help you. But He did not say the well-known angel, the one known for Hashem's name being within him.

ושלחתי לפניך מלאך, the very angel who introduces himself to Joshua (Joshua 5,14) as the שר צבא ה', “Commander in Chief of G’d’s hosts.”

ושלחתי לפניך מלאך, "and I will send an angel ahead of you, etc." It is clear from this verse that up until now G'd had meant for Moses personally to lead the children of Israel into the Holy Land and to distribute it to them. We have a line in Exodus 6,1 where G'd told Moses: עתה תראה "now you will see," and many commentators understood this to mean that Moses would be a witness only to the Exodus from Egypt but not to the conquest of the land of Canaan. Perhaps G'd had cancelled that decree in consideration of how Moses had interceded on behalf of the Jewish people, putting his own future on the line.

"To a land producing milk and honey — for My Shechinah will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you along the way."

ארץ זבת חלב ודבש UNTO A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY do I bid you to bring them up. כי לא אעלה בקרבך BECAUSE I WILL NOT GO UP AMONG THEE, therefore I say to thee, I will send an angel before thee. כי עם קשה ערף אתה FOR THOU ART A STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE, and if My Shechina were in thy midst and thou rebelledst against Me, I might become exceedingly angry with thee and destroy thee on the way. אכלך is an expression for ‘‘destroying”.

"For I will not go up in your midst" — they were not to make the Tabernacle, for I would not dwell among the children of Israel. The sense of "lest I consume you on the way" is: if they were to act again as they did this time, He would consume them immediately. In the word וְאָכַלְתִּיךָ a short patah vowel comes in place of a larger vowel, and the lamed is not doubled, because grammatically that is proper — as in "I will declare to you — hear me" (Job 15:17).

אל ארץ זבת חלב ודבש, the wording suggests that the place where G’d made this promise is dry and that it requires miracles by G’d to gain an adequate livelihood from that earth. At this point in time the Israelites had not qualified for G’d to perform such miracles for them. G’d promises that they would proceed to a land where they would not have to depend on constant miracles in order to gain their livelihood. [The author may have mentioned this as we know that around Mount Sinai at the time there was plenty of grazing land, suggesting that it might have been a fit location to settle. Ed.] כי לא אעלה בקרבך, this is why I am telling you to move on from here, you and the people (verse 1). Do not wait to break and make camp at G’d’s signal, i.e the moving of the cloud. G’d explains that His not moving with the people would be for their protection, פן אכלך בדרך, lest I would be forced to kill you while you are on the way. G’d implies that if He were to be present personally when the people sinned, their punishment would be commensurably greater for having rebelled against the presence of G’d also.

פן אכלך בדרך, "lest I consume you on the way." There is no comparison between someone who angers his teacher while in his teacher's presence to someone who takes advantage of the teacher's absence to anger him. בדרך, "on the way." This is a hint that the announcement that "only" an angel will accompany the Jewish people would not apply at all times and in all circumstances. When Israel would be in a city, i.e. in a relatively safe environment, G'd Himself would be near them (compare Isaiah 26,1). According to the Kabbalists the desert is the home of Samael who succeeded on several occasions to overpower and kill Jews who lacked G'd's protection due to their share in the sin. The Zohar volume 2 page 157 expands on that theme when commenting on the words המדבר הגדול והנורא in Deut. 1,17. It uses that verse as proof of how dangerous it is to be בדרך, "on the way."

אל ארץ זבת חלב ודבש, ”to a land flowing with milk and honey.” G’d meant that the land itself would not become ruined by their inhabitants nor as a result of the sins of their inhabitants, but neither would the land condone the sins of its inhabitants and G’d would expel the six tribes as mentioned previously. G’d added, as an expression of His goodwill, כי לא אעלה בקרבך, “for I, in My capacity of My essence, will not go up amongst you.” This was not a description of the Israelites’ unworthiness at that time, but was meant as a protective device. In the event that the Israelites would sin again, in spite of being in the presence of G’d’s manifest Shechinah, He would be forced to react in a manner that would spell their destruction. As a result of the golden calf episode Israel suffered two major setbacks. 1) the absence of the Shechinah from the camp; 2) leadership by means of an angel until the destruction or expulsion of the Canaanites from their land. Once this promise to the patriarchs had been fulfilled, they were not even promised the presence of an angel as visible evidence of G’d’s continued personal interest in their fate. To make this point clear, G’d described the terms of reference for His angel as being limited to בדרך, “while on the way,” Concerning all this the Torah continues with:

פן אכלך, as if the Torah had written auchalcha, i.e. “I will consume you.” G’d has been described elsewhere as “consuming fire” (Deuteronomy 4,24)

And the people heard this evil word, and they mourned, and no man put his array of weapons upon himself.

הדבר הרע THIS EVIL THING — that the Shechina would not dwell nor go with them. איש עדיו [AND NO MAN PUT ON HIM] HIS ORNAMENT — the crowns which were given them on Horeb when they said: (Exodus 24:7) “we shall do and hearken” (Shabbat 88a).

"And the people heard this evil word" — what was that word? It is what is written after it: "And Hashem said to Moses: Say to the children of Israel" (v. 5). This is comparable to "Hashem said to Moses in Midian" (above, 4:19), and I have already explained this pattern, as in "Can He also give bread?" (Ps. 78:20), which is parallel to "He had already commanded the clouds above" (Ps. 78:23), which had in fact already occurred — and so it is here. There is no need for the emendation that the Geonim regularly made in such cases.

ולא שתו איש עדיו עליו, “they did not adorn themselves with the jewelry and costly garments that they had taken with them from Egypt.”

וישמע העם את הדבר הרע הזה, “when the people heard this bad tiding, etc.” It appears to me that the Israelites imposed upon themselves various kinds of afflictions, corresponding to the sin they had committed. Whereas previously they had worn crowns on their heads, reflecting their joy of being alive, now when they heard that the Shechinah had removed itself from their midst they responded by foregoing their previous joy in being alive. This the Torah describes in stages; 1) ויתאבלו, “they went into mourning;” 2) לא שתו, “they did not put on their jewelry.” The prophet Hoseah 2,5 describes the removal of jewelry as equivalent to being stripped naked of one’s garments when he says פן אפשיטנה ערומה והצגתיה כיום הולדה, “lest I strip her naked and display her as on the day she was born.” What he meant was that G’d threatened to deprive the Jewish people of the glory of the presence of His Shechinah. The Israelites had been in the habit of using this presence just like other people use their clothing to cover their nakedness to give them dignity. The Israelites would remain as they had been before G’d gave them the Torah, i.e. “naked.” Targum Yonatan understands the words of the prophet similarly when he wrote: דלמא אסליק שכינתי מנה ואעדי יקרה ואשוינה רטישא כזמני קדמאי עד לא אתקריבת לפולחני, “lest I remove My presence from them and My precious jewelry, and I will make them forsaken like before I brought them close to My service (the giving of the Torah).”

And no man put his jewels on himself. Some raise a difficulty: If they themselves did not put their jewels on themselves, why did He then say again Now remove your jewels from upon you? It seems to me that there were two types of jewels here. The first is the general jewels — rings, nose rings, and ornaments that they would adorn themselves with. The second is those crowns that were given to them at Horeb when they said We will do and we will hear. And in the first instance, when they heard this thing that the Holy One, blessed be He, said For I will not go up in your midst, they were like those who are excommunicated from Heaven, therefore they mourned and no man put his jewels. From the phrase [no] man his jewel, and it did not say, “the Children of Israel,” we can infer that it is speaking about jewels specific to each individual according to his wealth — the rich would have more and the poor would have less, and they accepted upon themselves repentance for the sin that stemmed from the jewels, as it says and all the people removed the golden nose rings, etc. But those two crowns that they received at Horeb, they did not remove, because it would appear to them like removing the yoke of the Torah, as if they were saying “we have no portion in the Torah and its crown.” Therefore, they were told a second time Now remove your jewels from upon you, even those two crowns, and about this it says the children of Israel stripped themselves of their jewels from Mount Horeb. That jewel that was given to them at Mount Horeb, and here it says the children of Israel and not “[no] man his jewels,” because all of Israel were equal in it, the rich and the traveler alike. And the Abarbanel explained, that a person has many types of ornaments, and some of them were upon them and some were not upon them. Initially, they did not put on ornaments that were not yet upon them, but those that were already upon them, they did not remove. Therefore it says And now remove your ornament — even that which is already upon you. And according to our explanation as well, it fits why the language of “removal” is mentioned the second time and not the first, because the ornament from Mount Horeb was always upon them, which is not the case with ordinary ornaments.

וישמע העם הדבר הזה ויתאבלו, “when the people heard this they went into mourning for themselves.” When Hashem observed that the people now mourned their fate, He switched to the Attribute of Mercy, [note that the Torah refers now to ויאמר ה' instead of וידבר ה' and instead of speaking אל העם He addresses the בני ישראל, a complimentary term. Ed.]

עדיו, a type of jewelry; they had removed it as a sign of mourning for their demotion, as the Torah writes when stating ויתאבלו, “they practiced mourning.” ולא שתו איש עדיו עליו, seeing G’d had told them in verse five to remove such jewelry. [Some people had not seen fit to do this voluntarily. Ed.]

And Hashem said to Moses: "Say to the children of Israel: You are a stiff-necked people. Were My Shechinah to go up among you for even one moment, I would destroy you. And now, remove your array of weapons from yourselves, and it will be revealed before Me what I shall do to you."

רגע אחד אעלה בקרבך וכליתיך WERE I TO GO UP AMONG THEE ONE MOMENT, I SHOULD CONSUME THEE — If I were to go up amongst you and you rebelled against Me in your stiff-neckedness I would be angry with you but one moment — for this is the duration of His wrath (Berakhot 7a), as it is said, (Isaiah 26:20) “Hide thyself for a short moment, until the indignation be passed” — and I would consume you; therefore it is better for you that I should send an angel. ועתה AND NOW — This punishment shall be inflicted upon you now, at once, viz., that you should put off your ornaments from you. ואדעה מה אעשה לך AND I KNOW WHAT I SHALL DO UNTO THEE — In respect to the visitation for the remainder of the sin which still remains unpunished (cf. Rashi on Exodus 32:34) I know what is in My mind to do unto you.

רגע אחד אעלה בקרבך וכליתיך, whereas at this time you are mourning about My not being personally in your midst, (verse 3) you fail to understand that this is intended for your benefit, and may save you from instant extinction. You are, after all, such a stiff-necked people unwilling to respond to admonition, even though at the revelation of Mount Sinai you had become equipped to attain spiritual perfection. ועתה הורד עדיך מעליך, this spiritual preparedness which you attained at the revelation is something that G’d does not unilaterally remove from the people as we have a rule that gifts are not revoked without the consent of the recipient. Our sages have phrased it thus in Taanit 25 (where the golden leg miraculously given to Rabbi Chanina was taken back only after he had prayed for it to revert to where it came from.) ואדעה מה אעשה לך, for once you do this as an admission of your guilt you will not be guilty of the ultimate punishment.

הורד עדיך מעליך, “remove your jewelry from your persons!” this sounds strange as the Torah had already reported that the people had not put on their jewelry. They were told not to wear it, as it is more embarrassing to be denied the right to wear jewelry than to simply abstain from doing so from their own free will. In other words, by obeying G-d’s command to abstain or even remove the jewelry they had taken another small step in their moral rehabilitation.

ועתה הורד עדיך מעליך, “and now remove your jewelry from yourself, etc.” this was a reference to the garments the Israelites wore when Moses sprinkled from the blood of the covenant on them, the blood from the sacrifices offered by the firstborn (Exodus 24,5; see our commentary). This is the opinion of Rabbeinu Chananel in that chapter on verse 8. Seeing that the Israelites had violated this covenant when they made the golden calf G’d commanded them to divest themselves of the symbol of that covenant. This is the meaning of the words ויתנצלו בני ישראל את עדים מהר חורב, “the Israelites stripped themselves of the jewelry they had received at Mount Chorev” (verse 6). In other words, they complied with G’d’s instructions. As to the meaning of the earlier verse (4) where the Torah states that they did not put on their jewelry, this has to be understood to mean that they did not put on all their jewelry, but only part of it. In other words, they understood even without being commanded that in their present circumstances it would ill become them to behave as if nothing had happened and to act as if they were entitled to wear all their jewelry. Now that G’d had commanded them to remove their jewelry they divested themselves of all of it. According to the interpretation of our sages that the jewelry referred to was the holy name of the Lord (compare Midrash Tehillim 103) the meaning of these verses is as follows [starting with verse 4, Ed.] “they did not put on their jewelry (their clothing).” In response to the command to remove their jewelry they removed the item bearing the holy name of the Lord. This is the reason the Torah did not use the customary word for stripping one’s clothing off, i.e. הפשט מעליך, but it used the expression הורד, “lower!” When they removed the item in question their spiritual distinction disappeared simultaneously. Our sages in Shemot Rabbah 45,2 describe this as זינאות שחגר עליהם, “ a reference to some kind of weapon upon which the holy name of G’d had been engraved.” This is also the meaning of the saying in the Midrash Rabbah in 41,9 that חרות על הלוחות, that on the Tablets was engraved the motto “freedom from the angel of death.” In other words, the weapon the sages speak about was the weapon designed to neutralize the angel of death. Seeing the people had been equipped with knowledge of the various names of the Lord, they had an effective antidote against the angel of death as normally such knowledge can be obtained by man only after death. This is also what Onkelos had in mind when he translated the words ויתנצלו את עדים as ואעידו. He meant to convey that the spiritual accomplishments the people had worn proudly ever since the revelation at Mount Sinai, something which had put them on a par with the ministering angels, were now lost to them, disappeared. It was Moses who removed these symbols of their accomplishments from them. This is why the Torah continues ומשה יקח את האוהל, “that Moses would take the Tent (Tabernacle) and pitch it outside the camp.” The word אעדי refers to the loss of some power. It is therefore an appropriate rendering of the Hebrew word ויתנצלו. The word אוהל in this instance is derived from בהלו נרו, another word for “light becoming frightened.” the meaning of Moses taking the “Tent” is therefore to be understood as something allegorical, not that he literally moved the entire Tabernacle. Moses removed the spiritual light which had been part of the Tabernacle to a place outside the camp to indicate that the people had now forfeited this dimension of their relationship with G’d. The word אוהל should be understood in a similar manner in Numbers 24,8 where Bileam praises the Jewish people describing מה טובו אוהליך יעקב something normally translated as “how goodly are your tents O Yaakov.” The meaning would be “how goodly are your spiritual lights O Yaakov.” I will explain this in due course when discussing that verse in detail. I have already explained the reason why the Torah refers to the spiritual accomplishments of the Jewish people in terms of “jewelry” in connection with Exodus 24,11 and why this term is spelled out only when the people lost this jewelry and not when they were given it.

אמור לבני ישראל, “say to the Children of Israel, etc.;” G’d now explains that the absence of His essence in their midst would be to their advantage, not as they had thought that it would be a sign of estrangement. Nonetheless, they had done well in considering themselves as in mourning and not wearing any decorative jewelry. They should always react to their own sins by observing a state of mourning, i.e. demonstrating that they were ashamed of their conduct. G’d would then take note of their penitence and react in accordance with the sincerity of their remorse. הורד עדיך מעליך, “remove your jewelry from yourselves!”

ועתה הורד עדיך מעליך, “and now, take off your ornaments!” This command is difficult to understand as the Torah had already reported the people as having no longer put on their jewelry without having been ordered not to put it on. (Compare Exodus 33,4) Presumably, the people did not put their jewelry on for a day as a sign of mourning, but had put it on again on the following day. They had to be told therefore that at least as long as they had not atoned for their sin they were not allowed to wear ornaments. Rabbi Joseph Kara of blessed memory, explained verse four in our chapter, which reported the Israelites as not having put on their jewelry, as referring to the festive garments, the ones they had worn at the time the Ten Commandments had been revealed to them. This was the meaning of Exodus 19,14, where after immersing themselves in a ritual bath in preparation for that that event, they are described as putting on their garments. Had they been the same garments they had worn before immersing themselves in a ritual bath, the Torah certainly did not have to tell us that. They had had their jewelry removed from them by angels sent for that purpose to make them conscious of their great sin, as reported in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat folio 88. This is also the meaning of Exodus 33,6: ויתנצלו בני ישראל, “they stripped themselves; An alternate explanation: the meaning of the words in verse 4: ולא שתו וגו', is that they took off their uniforms, as if saying that unless G–d will march with us we will not agree to fight for possession of the land of Canaan. When G–d heard that He told them that instead of taking off their military uniforms they better take off their jewelry instead for as long as He would tell them what he had in mind for them.

And the children of Israel removed their array of weapons from Mount Horeb.

את עדים מהר חורב means THEIR ORNAMENT which they possessed from (מִ, from — in consequence of what happened at) MOUNT HOREB.

AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL STRIPPED THEMSELVES OF THEIR ORNAMENTS. The meaning of this is that when they heard this declaration, they stripped and divested themselves of all their ornaments, even more so than they had done before. Now Onkelos who translated the word edi (ornament) as “the equipment of armor,” was in agreement with the opinion of the Sage in Bereshith Rabbah who said “He tied them with belts.” That is to say, at the time of the Giving of the Torah the Holy One, blessed be He, girded them with weapons of armor to save them from all mishaps and the angel of death, just as the Rabbis have interpreted: “‘charuth’ (graven) upon the Tablets — ‘cheiruth’ (freedom) from the angel of death” [was given to the Israelites together with the Tablets of the Law], these [weapons of armor] being the Names of the Holy One, blessed be He. Thus Israel now accepted upon themselves death from their own free will as a form of punishment for the incident of the calf. This was indeed an expression of great repentance and regret for their sin.

"The children of Israel stripped off their ornaments" — from their ornaments, which were garments of splendor and adornments such as earrings and rings, as in "I adorned you with ornaments" (Ezek. 16:11), for they mourned over the matter of the calf.

ויתנצלו בני ישראל את עדים, “The Children of Israel divested themselves of their jewelry.” Even though we had already read in verse 4 that the people did not put on their jewelry, some commentators understand the words ולא שתו to mean ולא הסירו, “they did not remove,” i.e. until ordered to do so they did not remove the jewelry they had been in the habit of wearing. Other commentators claim that every Israelite would normally be adorned with two crown-shaped pieces of jewelry. Removing, or better, not adorning themselves with jewelry as mentioned in verse 4, referred to only one of these two crowns. Now they were commanded to strip both crowns from themselves.

And Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, at a distance from the camp, and he called it the Tent of Study. And it came to pass that whoever sought instruction from before Hashem would go out to the Tent of Study that was outside the camp.

ומשה AND MOSES, from the time of the sin and henceforth, יקח את האהל USED TO TAKE THE TENT — יקח expresses an action continually going on — he used to take his tent and pitch it without the camp. He said, “One who has been placed under an interdict by the Master must be placed under an interdict by His disciple also” (Since God had stated that He would not dwell amongst the people, Moses, the disciple, also felt compelled to remove from their midst) (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 27). הרחק DISTANT [FROM THE CAMP] — two thousand cubits, just as it is stated, (Joshua 3:4) Yet there shall be a space between you (the Israelites) and it (the Ark) about 2,000 cubits by measure” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 27). וקרא לו AND HE CALLED IT — This does not mean that he so named it once for all but that whenever he spoke of it he used to call it the tent of meeting, i. e. a meeting-place for those who sought instruction in the Torah. כל מבקש ה׳ EVERY ONE WHO SOUGHT THE LORD — Hence (from the fact that anyone who visited Moses is described here as “one who seeks the Lord”) we may learn that he who makes a call on (Hebrew: seeks) a scholar (זקן is a Rabbinical term for a wise man; cf. Kiddushin 32b: אין זקן אלא חכם) may be regarded as paying his respects to the Divine Presence (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 27). יצא אל אהל מועד WENT OUT UNTO THE APPOINTED TENT — יֵצֵא (the imperfect) has here the meaning of יוֹצֵא (the participle: cf. Rashi on יקח וכו׳), i. e. he used to go out. Another explanation of והיה כל מבקש ה׳ is: The word כל, “every one”, implies: even the ministering angels used to go out unto the appointed tent; whenever these enquired where was the place of the Divine Glory their fellow-angels used to answer them: See, He (God) is in the tent of Moses.

NOW MOSES TOOK THE TENT AND WOULD PITCH IT WITHOUT THE CAMP. Rashi wrote: “This was practiced by Moses from the Day of Atonement until the Tabernacle was set up [five and a half months later — on the first day of Nisan], but not afterwards. For on the seventeenth day of Tammuz the Tablets of the Law were broken, on the eighteenth he burnt the calf and brought the sinners to judgment, and on the nineteenth he ascended the mountain and stayed there for forty days. On the first of Ellul it was said to him, and come up in the morning to receive the second Tablets. There he spent another forty days [which terminated on the tenth day of Tishri]. On the tenth of Tishri the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled with Israel, and He handed over to Moses the second Tablets, whereupon Moses came down the mountain and began to command them concerning the work of the Tabernacle. This occupied them till the first of Nisan, and from that time on, since the Tabernacle was set up, G-d only communicated with him from there.” This also is the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, that all this [narrated here in Verses 7-11] took place after Moses brought down the second Tablets [the account of which is narrated further on in 34:1-10], there being no strict chronological order in the narrative of the Torah. But it does not appear to me to be correct, for what reason is there to mention this [practice of Moses] here in the middle of the section? The words of our Rabbis in all Midrashim are also to the effect that Moses did this on account of their sin with the calf. Thus they explained [that Moses said], “One who is excommunicated from the master, is also excommunicated from the disciple,” and as Rashi mentioned [that G-d said to Moses], “I am angry and you are angry; if so, who will bring them near to Me?” Now if the removal of the Tent was after the Day of Atonement [as Rashi and Ibn Ezra have it], the Holy One, blessed be He, as well as Moses, was already in [complete] reconciliation with them! Rather, it appears that on the day that he came down from the mountain — on the seventeenth of Tamuz — he burnt the calf and punished the worshippers. On the next day, [i.e., on the eighteenth of Tammuz] he told them that he would go up to G-d to seek atonement for them, and so he went up to the mountain where the Glory was. This is the sense of the verse, And Moses returned unto the Eternal, and prayed briefly: Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and G-d answered him, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, etc.; And now go, lead the people, and the plague began. Then He commanded him, Depart, go up hence, thou and the people etc., and Moses told this to Israel, and they mourned, and stripped themselves of the ornaments. Then Moses realized that the matter was a very long one, and did not know what the end thereof would be, therefore he took the tent and pitched it outside the camp so that the Divine Glory would communicate with him from there, for it was no longer dwel...

"And Moses would take" — the imperfect is used in place of the past, as in the pattern "They made a calf at Horeb" (Ps. 106:19). "The tent" — his own tent, as in "They came into the tent" (above, 18:7). Now Moses was separated from Israel on account of the Glory, so that Hashem would speak with him there. This occurred after he had brought down the second tablets, inscribed, and Israel had begun making the Tabernacle — and he called his tent "the Tent of Meeting," for Hashem appointed to meet him there until the Tabernacle was completed. There is no strict chronological order in the Torah. Some say this was the tent of the Tabernacle, and that the text is relating where the Tabernacle was before the standards were set up, fifty days prior.

וקרא לו אהל מועד, in order for the people to know that there G’d would communicate with him as opposed to within the boundaries of the encampment of the people.

ומשה יקח, “Moses had taken, etc;” this has been written in the future tense as it relates to what he had done after bringing the second set of Tablets down from the Mountain.

ומשה יקח את האוהל, “and Moses would take the tent, etc.” The word יקח in this instance is the present tense. It means Moses would do this on a regular basis. The words הרחק מן המחנה mean that Moses had to go some distance away from the encampment of the Israelites seeing the Israelites were in a state of disgrace vis-a-vis heaven due to their great sin. Moses applied the ruling we have learned in Rashi that whenever the student is in a state of disgrace so is his teacher. Hence Moses had to leave the environment of people whose sin had caused the Shechinah to withdraw. והיה כל מבקש ה' יצא אל אוהל מועד אשר מחוץ למחנה, “and whoever sought Hashem would go out to the Tent of Meeting.” This teaches that the Shechinah was no longer resident within the camp of the people. Actually, we would have expected the Torah to write: “whoever wanted to seek out Moses, etc.” The fact that the Torah does not use this syntax indicates that seeking out Moses was equated with seeking out G’d’s presence. Moses was described by the Torah as “Hashem” in this regard. We find that our patriarch Yaakov was also accorded the title “G’d” in Genesis 33,20 where the Torah wrote: ויקרא לו אל אלו-הי ישראל. I have explained all this in connection with that verse. [seeing that every judge is called אלוהים in the Torah, this is not as mind-boggling as it appears at first. It is simply an extension of the principle that the messenger is equipped with the status of the sender, a well-known principle in the Talmud. Ed.] When Rivkah experienced an unusual pregnancy, the fetuses struggling within her womb, the Torah describes her as inquiring from G’d what all this meant. The words used by the Torah are ותלך לדרוש את ה'. The meaning there is that she went to a representative of G’d to ask the meaning of her experience. There too the person whom she inquired from is described as Hashem (Genesis 25,22). There are numerous other examples of the same thing throughout the Bible. We learn from Rivkah’s experience that when the Torah wrote ויאמר ה' לה, that she did not experience a revelation or direct message from G’d, but that she received the word of G’d by means of a person designated by G’d to tell her that she would give birth to twins, etc. We find that both the Messiah and the city of Jerusalem have been accorded the title “G’d” on occasion, such as in Jeremiah 23,6 and Ezekiel 48,34. In the latter instance the word שמה must be read with the vowels קמץ twice instead of a שוא under the letter ש. In all the instances mentioned the rule is simply that the messenger adopts the name of the Sender. A Midrashic approach: The word הרחק is similar to the same word describing Hagar seating herself a distance away from her son Ishmael whose weeping she did not want to hear (Genesis 18,13). The distance in question was approximately one kilometer. Tanchuma Ki Tissa 27 bases this on Joshua 3,4 where the text describes a distance, i.e. רחוק, as being 2,000 cubits, i.e. approx. 1200 meters. In our verse the Torah continues with והיה כל מבקש ה' instead of והיה כל מבקש משה, “It would be whenever someone sought out the Lord,” instead of “whenever someone sought out Moses.” This teaches that if one welcomes a Torah scholar this is equivalent to welcoming G’d Himself. Even when the angels seek out the Lord they described Him as being within the tent of Moses. When the sun or the moon seek out the Lord, they too say that He is to be found in the tent of Moses.

ומשה יקח את האהל, “and Moses would take the tent, etc.;” Rashi writes that what is described in our verse did not happen until after the Day of Atonement, when Moses had returned from the Mountain for the third and last time. Moses continued pitching his camp outside the people’s camp until after the Tabernacle had been assembled and inaugurated. [based on Tanchuma. Ed.] Nachmanides writes that he cannot agree with the above. He feels that there would have been no point in mentioning this at this juncture, seeing that Moses had not even ascended the Mountain for the second time as yet. Moreover, according to our sages, the only reason why Moses removed his tent from the camp was that the people were in disgrace, and just as G’d had seen fit to remove His presence from the people, G’d’s pupil, disciple, merely emulated his Master. After the Day of Atonement, when the people’s sin had been forgiven, what would be the point in positioning his tent outside the boundaries of the camp at that time? Following his reasoning, Nachmanides therefore feels that Moses on the 17th of Tammus, the day he had returned from the Mountain for the first time and had smashed the Tablets, he also burned the golden calf, instructed the Levites to execute active idol worshippers. On the following day he told the people that he would ascend the Mountain again and pray there for forgiveness. He did so and offered a short prayer. This was the occasion when G’d told him that He would not accept his offer to save the people and to die in their stead and to have his name blotted out from the Book of Life. He told the people that he had been told that G’d would punish the guilty and not be content with their leader assuming their guilt and punishment. He then instructed them to remove their jewelry, telling them that the process of mourning would be drawn out, and that forgiveness, if at all, would not be instant, and he told the people to observe mourning. Moses moved his own tent to an area that was not spiritually contaminated by the people’s sin, and in this manner he hoped to maintain his ability to communicate with the Shechinah on a reciprocal basis. This could not be expected within the camp, as the spiritual contamination caused by the golden calf episode had not yet been cleansed. In fact, the Torah itself testifies that until after the inauguration of the Tabernacle Moses could not communicate with the Shechinah while within the camp. [(compare Exodus 40,34-38 and Leviticus 1,1) (compare also Moses’ comments in Leviticus 9,7-24) In all these verses the return of the Shechinah to the camp is illustrated. All of this took place only at the beginning of Nissan of the second year, [some eight and half months after Moses smashed the Tablets. Ed.] Concerning Rashi’s statement that Moses burned the calf on the 18th of Tammuz and that on that same day he executed the people who had been actively engaged in worshipping the calf, and that on the 19th he ascended the Mountain again, this is difficult, for if we do not consider the day of his ascent as a day belonging to the forty days, seeing that this day did not have the preceding night with it, as Moses had still been in camp then, (compare Talmud Shabbat quoted by Rashi) we will be left with two days missing, if according to tradition Moses was supposed to have returned on the 10th day of Tishrey from his last ascent and stay on the mountain. Even if we were to assume that Moses ascended again already on the 18th day of Tammuz, we are still short a day if he spent 40 days on the Mountain and returned on the 10th of Tishrey. Unless the actual daylight hours of Moses’ ascending or descending the Mountain are counted as whole days, the calculations do no jive.

יקח, meaning לקח, he had taken. הרחק, he treated the people as if they were outcasts seeing that G’d was not willing to communicate with Moses while he was within the camp of the Israelites.

ומשה יקח את האהל, “meanwhile Moses took his own tent far beyond the limits of the camp of the Israelites;” according to our author the word אהל here is a reference to the ornaments-jewelry that had been removed from the male Israelites, and which Moses merited as pointed out in the Talmud tractate Shabbat folio 88, where Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish is quoted as proving from Scripture that at some time in the future this jewelry will be restored to their original owners. He based this on Isaiah 35,10. This is also why we read after Moses’ return from the Mountain that his face was shining so brilliantly that the people were blinded until he covered his forehead with a kind of veil. (Exodus 34,9) An alternate interpretation: the word אהל here is closely related to אור, light, where we find the word בהלו נרו עלי ראשי, “when His lamp shone over my head;” (Job 29.3)

And it came to pass that when Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and station themselves, each man at the entrance of his tent, and they would gaze after Moses until he had entered the tent.

והיה — This expresses an action continually going on (“and it used to be”), כצאת משה WHEN MOSES WENT OUT from the camp in order to go אל האהל INTO THE TENT, יקומו כל העם ALL THE PEOPLE ROSE UP — they used to stand up before him and did not sit down until he vanished from their sight (Hebrew: was hidden from them). והביטו אחרי משה AND THEY LOOKED AFTER MOSES — Not sneeringly but out of admiration; they exclaimed: Happy is the human being (Hebrew: one born of woman) who is so sure that the Shechina will enter the door of his tent after him (cf. Kiddushin 33b; Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 27, Exodus Rabbah 51:6). And they would gaze after Moshe — in an admiring way, [saying, in effect:] “Fortunate is one born of woman who is assured that the Shechinah will follow him into the entranceway of his tent.”

והיה כצאת משה, “it would be that whenever Moses came out, etc.;” this describes Moses leaving the camp of the Israelites in order to return to his private residence (tent).' יקומו כל העם ונצבו, “all the people would rise and remain standing at attention, on account of the Presence of G-d’s shechinah, which they knew would descend to above Moses’ tent when he would arrive there.

And it was when Mosheh passed forth from the camp to go to the tabernacle that all the wicked people arose, and stood, every man at the door of his tent, and looked with the evil eye after Mosheh, when he entered the tabernacle.

And it came to pass that when Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and there would be speaking with Moses.

ודבר עם משה — This means the same as ומדבר עם משה AND HE USED TO SPEAK WITH MOSES (The verb ודבר expresses the idea of an action always going on as Rashi has explained the preceding verbs). The Targum renders it by ומתמלל עם משה (Hithpeal) i. e. He used to speak to Himself with (in the presence of) Moses — which is an expression of respect used with reference to the Shechinah. A similar Hebrew expression is, (Numbers 7:89) “Then he heard the voice מִדַּבֵּר to him” (= מתדבר, with assimilated ת), and it does not read there, מְדַבֵּר, “speaking to him”. Where the reading is מִדַּבֵּר its interpretation is: The voice was speaking by itself (i. e. it was not directed to any particular person) and the ordinary man naturally heard it (because he was there); but where the reading is מְדַבֵּר, it implies that the King was conversing with the ordinary man.

"And it came to pass" — this too was a sign: every time they saw him come from the camp of Israel to the tent, he (Moses) would immediately see the pillar of cloud.

And it came to pass when Mosheh had gone into the tabernacle, the column of the glorious Cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle; and the Word of the Lord spake with Mosheh.

And all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, and all the people would rise and bow down, each man at the entrance of his tent.

והשתחוו AND THEY PROSTRATED THEMSELVES to the Shechinah.

"And they saw" — this event occurred after the section beginning "See, You say to me" (v. 12), for that section took place during the forty days when he prostrated himself on account of the calf. Afterward he descended and hewed the tablets; then Hashem passed before his face, and what was said to him — "You shall see My back" (v. 23) — was realized.

וקם כל העם וישתחוו, “and the entire nation would rise and prostrated themselves;” this describes what has been written in verse 8; seeing that these two verses were very long, the Torah decided to make sure the reader would not lose track of the subject. We find that the Torah used a similar method in Genesis 15,2, when it quotes Avraham asking G-d what possible enduring gift he could give him seeing that he had no biological heir. Avraham comes back to that subject in Genesis 15,3, “reminding” Him that he has no issue. We also find such a “reminder” when Yaakov and Lavan discuss his remuneration for looking after Lavan’s flocks in Genesis 30,27. There are numerous more examples of this type in the Bible.

והשתחוו איש פתח אהלו, “and they would prostrate themselves, each one at the entrance to his tent.” They did not bow down and prostrate themselves on account of the presence of the pillar of fire or the pillar of cloud, but as a sign of respect for the attribute of כבוד which was present in Moses’ tent. The matter is similar to the respect we show to the Torah scroll. When we bow down before it we do not mean to honour the scroll but what the scroll represents, i.e. the word of G’d which is written on the parchment.

And Hashem would speak with Moses speech to speech, as a man speaks with his companion. And he would return to the camp, but his attendant Joshua son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from within the tent.

ודבר ה׳ אל משה פנים אל פנים AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES FACE TO FACE — Here too (as in v. 9) in spite of the fact that the text states “face to face” the Targum is: ומתמלל עם משה. ושב אל המחנה .( AND HE RETURNED INTO THE CAMP — After God had conversed with him, Moses used to return to the camp and teach the elders what he had learned. This Moses practised from the day of Atonement until the Tabernacle was set up, but no longer. For on the seventeenth of Tammuz the tablets were broken, on the eighteenth he burnt the calf and punished the of fenders, on the nineteenth he ascended the mountain, as it is said (Exodus 32:30) “And it came to pass on the morrow (the day after he had punished the wrongdoers; cf. vv. 26—29), that Moses said unto the people”, [Ye have sinned a great sin and now I will go up to the Lord]”. There he spent forty days and sought mercy for the people, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 9:18) “And I threw myself down before the Lord [as at the first, forty days and forty nights]”. These terminated on the last day of Ab (there were 11 days from the 19th to the 29th of Tammuz therefore 29 days in Ab complete the forty) and he then returned to the people. On the first day of the New Moon of Ellul it was said to him, (Exodus 34:2) “And be ready in the morning] and go up in the morning unto mount Sinai” — to receive the second tablets. He again spent there the forty days of which it is stated, (Deuteronomy 10:10) “[And I stayed in the mountain, according to the first, days, [forty days and forty nights]”. The words כימים הראשונים, “like the first days”, cannot refer to the number of days for this is stated immediately afterwards; they are to be joined with עמדתי — I stayed in the same state as on the first days: How were the first forty days passed? In God’s good-will (because the Israelites had not yet sinned)! So, too, the last forty days were passed in God’s good-will — from which you must admit that the intervening forty days were passed in God’s anger. On the tenth of Tishri God became reconciled with Israel in joy and perfect affection and said to Moses: “I have forgiven!” and handed him over the second tablets, whereupon Moses went down and began to command them concerning the work of the Tabernacle (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 31; Seder Olam 6; Rashi on Exodus 18:13, Deuteronomy 9:18 and also Taanit 36b). They were occupied in its construction until the first of Nisan and from the time when it was set up God did not converse with him any more except from the tent of meeting. ושב אל המחנה AND HE RETURNED TO THE CAMP — The translation in the Targum is: וְתָיִב למשריתא (a participle) “and he used to return to the camp”, because (as explained above) it denotes continuous action. Similarly, he translates all the verbs occuring in this section by participles: וראה כל העם he renders by ונצבו ;וחזן by והביטו ;וקימין by והשתחוו ;ומסתכלין by וסגדין. The Midrash explains ודבר ה' אל משה thus: And the Lord spake to Moses that he should r...

AND HIS MINISTER JOSHUA, ‘BIN’ (THE SON OF) NUN, ‘NA’AR’ (A LAD). Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote: “Joshua lived a hundred and ten years, and the Sages say that it took him seven years to conquer the Land [of Israel] and seven years to apportion it amongst the tribes. If so, he was now fifty-six years old, and how does Scripture call him na’ar (lad)? We must therefore say that this is the meaning thereof: and his minister Joshua the son of Nun rendered him such service as can be given only by a youthful attendant.”In my opinion it is the way of the Sacred Language to call any attendant [regardless of age] na’ar, for the person of high office is called ish (man), and [with respect to him] his attendant is called na’ar. Thus: Gehazi ‘na’aro’ (his attendant); Let ‘ha’ne’arim’ (the attendants), I pray thee, arise and play before us. Similarly, and ten ‘ne’arim’ (attendants) that bore Joab’s armor, and Joab [David’s commander-in-chief] would surely only turn over his armor to valiant men who stood near him! And it is also written, And Joshua said unto the two ‘men’ that had spied out the land, and yet it is written there, and ‘ha’ne’arim’ the spies went in etc! [Thus we must say that the] term [ha’ne’arim] is used because they were servants of the congregation, acting for them as spies. There are many similar instances. So also, the ‘na’arei’ of the king that ministered unto him, [the second half of the phrase being in apposition,] explaining that they were the servants who attended the king personally, and not the attendants of the court. And if so, our verse is stating: and his minister Joshua the son of Nun was always in attendance, and never departed out of the tent. The reason for the form ‘bin’ Nun [instead of ‘ben’ Nun] is that the vowel chirik comes sometimes in place of the segal [which would have made it “ben Nun”]. Similar cases are: The words of Agur ‘bin’ (the son of) Jakeh; ‘she’bin lailah hayah’ (which came up in a night) ‘u’bin lailah avad’ (and perished in a night); ‘im bin hakoth harasha’ (if the wicked man deserve to be beaten). Yet despite all this I wonder! Why [of all the times that Joshua the son of Nun is cited in the Scriptures] is the name of this righteous man not once mentioned properly [i.e., ‘ben’ Nun]? Therefore I think that they used to call him in this way as a mark of honor, since he was the greatest of the disciples of Moses our teacher, and so they called him binun, meaning “the understanding one,” since there was none so discreet and wise as he. Or it may be that the meaning of it is: “Joshua, whom understanding begot;” they thus used the term nun as in the expression, may his name ‘yinon’ (be continued) as long as the sun.

"And Hashem spoke to Moses face to face" — I will explain this in the adjacent section. "And his attendant Joshua son of Nun, a youth" — Joshua lived a hundred and ten years. The Sages said that he spent seven years conquering and seven years apportioning the land; thus he would have been fifty-six years old at that time. How then does the text call him a youth? The correct grammatical reading is: "his attendant Joshua son of Nun — performing the service of a youth," meaning he carried out the menial attendant's tasks of a young man.

פנים אל פנים, as opposed to נופל וגלוי עינים, (Numbers 24,4) as Bileam described his visions which came to him only when he had lost control over his own senses. כאשר ידבר איש אל רעהו, as opposed to soliloquizing, [as in praying but not receiving an answer.] לא ימיש מתוך האוהל, in order to ensure that none of the Israelites would enter this tent, seeing all of them were in a state of disgrace. This tent was reserved for the presence of the Shechinah out of bounds, as in Exodus 3,5 where Moses was warned not to come close while wearing footwear. The reason that at that time even Moses was not admitted as he was, shows that he was not yet spiritually equipped for that degree of communication from G’d.

ודבר ה׳ אל משה פנים אל פנים, "and G'd spoke with Moses face to face." The message of this verse is that the intimacy between Moses and G'd was in direct proportion to the preparation Moses made to welcome G'd's presence. This teaches each of us that the attainment of sanctity is in direct proportion to the efforts we make to attain it. כאשר ידבר איש אל רעהו, "as a man speaks to his friend." We understand this simile as emphasising the word רעהו, "his friend." We find a similar thought in Proverbs 27,19: "as face to face [is reflected] in water, so man's heart [will be reflected by his counterpart]." Solomon speaks of a mental telepathy between the hearts of people who do not even see each other but perceive whether their counterpart loves them or hates them. The relationship between man and invisible G'd is based on something deeper than the exterior sense of sight. The heart senses the attitude of its opposite number. If someone prepares to love his fellow man the heart of his fellow man responds to such invisible feelings. Alternatively, the meaning is that just as his "friend" will not love him unless he has reciprocated the feeling of love, so is G'd's attitude to us. If one wishes to gauge one's standing in the eyes of G'd one needs only to examine one's own attitude towards G'd and His service. If one feels the urge to serve the Lord and delights in doing so, this is proof that G'd relates to such a person with love.

פנים אל פנים, “literally: “face to face,” an obviously incorrect translation, seeing that G-d does not possess physical attributes; Our author takes it for granted that the reader is aware of this, and does not spell it out. He does, however, indulge in presenting the reader with another insoluble problem, that of that either G-d or Moses must have changed position in order to speak to one another as if on the same level. He therefore tells us, his readers, that he does not know if the expression means that G-d had raised Moses closer to His level, or vice versa, i.e. that G-d had descended to Moses’ level. He had done so in Exodus 34,5, after the third forty days after the revelation at the Mountain had expired, i.e. on the Day of Atonement. ושב אל המחנה, “and he would return to the camp.” In Exodus 18,13, on the words: ויהי ממחרת, Rashi comments that the first set of Tablets were smashed on the 17th of Tammuz, that on the 18th i.e. the day following he burned the calf and punished those who had worshipped it, and that on the 19th he ascended the Mountain again. The problem is that both in Deut. 9,18 and in Exodus 18,13 he says that Moses ascended again on the eighteenth. Different super commentaries on Rashi attempt, each one in his own way, to resolve this apparent contradiction.

פנים אל פנים, “face to face.” According to the plain meaning of the text we may explain this expression as belonging to what follows, i.e. “as a man speaks to his fellow.” The meaning of the entire line then would be: “and G’d communicated (spoke) with Moses in a similar fashion to people who speak to each other, i.e.”face to face.” It means there is no intermediary between the speaker and the one being addressed. The purpose of the verse is to describe the level of Moses’ prophetic powers; he was the only prophet capable of being addressed by G’d in such a fashion. A Midrashic approach (Tanchuma Ki Tissa 27). The expression פנים אל פנים denotes anger. G’d said to Moses: “have I not told you that whenever I am angry with the Jewish people it is your task to defend them and to be well-disposed towards them, whereas whenever you are angry with them I will demonstrate that I am well-disposed towards them? Now we have reached an impossible situation when both I and you are angry at the people.” G’d therefore instructed Moses to return to the camp of the Israelites forthwith. When the Torah writes in verse 11 concerning Moses that ושב אל המחנה, we have to read it as if it were spelled ושוב אל המחנה, “and return to the camp!” The reason for all this is that if both G’d and the Jewish people’s leader are angry, who will bring them back closer to G’d? Rabbi Yoshua ben Levi said that we are not able to judge if in our relationship with G’d we experience an elevation on our part or a deliberate effort on G’d’s part to “lower” Himself to our level. At the revelation at Mount Sinai the Lord definitely “lowered“ Himself as the Torah writes that “G’d descended in a cloud” (Exodus 34,5). Another Midrashic comment concerning the words ושב אל המחנה is found in Berachot 63 where the Midrash claims that G’d said to Moses: “return your tent to the camp, else your disciple Joshua will not move his own tent from amongst them and will take over your functions.” Even though Moses did return to the camp, G’d’s conditional promise to Joshua was not an empty promise. [Joshua who was mentioned only as a potential successor of Moses at that time did indeed become his successor eventually. Ed.] A Kabbalistic approach: The words ודבר ה' אל משה פנים אל פנים are to be understood in the sense of פה אל פה אדבר בו, “I speak with him mouth to mouth” (Numbers 12,8). The meaning is not the same as if it had said פנים בפנים דבר ה' עמכם which we find in Deut. 5,4. The description of G’d speaking to the entire Jewish people פנים בפנים implies that they saw a vision within a vision. such as is alluded to by Numbers 14,14 אשר עין בעין נראה אתה ה' “that you have been granted a vision of the Lord eye to eye.” ומשרתו יהושע בן נון נער, “and his personal disciple, Yehoshua son of Nun, a lad, etc.“ Joshua lived a total of 110 years (Joshua 24,29). If you deduct the 40 years the Israelites marched through the desert and the 14 years which Joshua spent in the land of Israel prior to his death (seven years of war and seven years of distributing the country and allocating it to the various tribes) you will note that at this time Joshua was 56 years old. How is it then that the Torah refers to him as a נער, “a lad?” The answer is that the word נער means “personal valet.” The master is known as איש, whereas the valet is known as נער by comparison. This is spelled out in greater detail in Esther 2,2 where the text speaks of נערי המלך משרתיו, “the lads of the king, i.e. his personal valets.” The word משרתיו in that verse is used to define who were the people called נערי המלך.

ויהושוע בן נון נער, “Joshua son of Nun, a lad,” Ibn Ezra writes that seeing that we know that Joshua lived to the age of one hundred and ten, and we have a tradition that he spent seven years conquering the land of Canaan, and seven more years settling the people on their respective portions of that land, he was 96 years of age at the time the Israelites crossed the Jordan. This means that at this time he was already 56 years of age. We must therefore wonder at why the Torah describes him as נער, “a (mere) lad.” He therefore understands the verse to mean that Joshua, who was the personal valet of Moses, was charged with the kind of errands one charges a lad to do for one. Nachmanides writes that there is no need to resort to this explanation of the word נער in our verse, as there are many instances when a person who performs valet service for others is referred to as נער, and this in no way poses a problem. The person for whom the service is performed is known as איש, which automatically makes the one performing the service a junior to the איש, i.e. a נער. As to the unusual vowel chirik instead of the usual segol under the letter ב in the word בן נון, Nachmanides explains this as a mark of distinction for the bearer, meaning that there was no one who could match Joshua in wisdom and understanding. [an allusion to בינה understanding. Insight. Ed.] An alternative explanation is that the subject here is that בינה מוליד נון reminiscent of Psalms In that verse ינון is a reference to the Messiah, and future Jews are credited to the Messiah as if they were his biological offspring (including the people being resurrected in due course) all on account of the meritorious deeds performed by the Messiah (Alshich)

And Moses said before Hashem: "See — You say to me: Bring up this people, yet You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. And You said: I have made you great by name, and you have also found favor before Me."

ראה אתה אמר אלי SEE. THOU SAYEST UNTO ME — Set Thy eyes and Thy heart to Thy own words (Think for a moment of what Thou, Thyself, hast told me) אתה אמר אלי וגו׳ ואתה לא הודעתני וגו׳ THOU SAYEST UNTO ME [BRING UP THIS PEOPLE] AND NEVERTHELESS THOU HAST NOT LET ME KNOW [WHOM THOU WILT SEND WITH ME] — for what You have said to me (Exodus 23:20) “And I will send an angel before thee” is not “letting me know”, for I am not satisfied with it. ואתה אמרת ידעתיך בשם YET THOU HAST SAID, I HAVE KNOWN THEE BY NAME — I have distinguished you from all other human beings by a characteristic (שם) which shows my importance in Thy eyes, for, see, Thou hast said to me, (Exodus 19:9) “Behold, I come unto thee in a thick cloud etc.… and also in thee they shall believe for ever”.

AND MOSES SAID UNTO THE ETERNAL: ‘SEE, THOU SAYEST UNTO ME: BRING UP THIS PEOPLE.’ This happened on Mount Sinai, when Moses went up there on the nineteenth of Tammuz. It was not necessary though for Scripture to say, “and Moses went up to G-d, and he said to him, ‘See, Thou sayest unto me, etc.,’” for it is known that as long as the Glory dwelled upon Mount Sinai, all communications [to Moses] took place there. Similarly Moses said, and now I will go up unto the Eternal, and it is also said, And Moses returned unto the Eternal, meaning that he returned to the place where he had stood before the Eternal. AND THOU HAST NOT LET ME KNOW WHOM THOU WILT SEND WITH ME. “And that which You said to me, Behold, I send an angel before thee, — that is not ‘letting me know,’ for I am not satisfied with it.” This is Rashi’s language. But it is not correct to fit this thought into the language of the verse. Besides, why should Moses have said this only now [that he was not satisfied with the angel], and when the matter was communicated to him he remained quiet? Did Moses think to gain because of the incident of the calf? Instead, the purport thereof is as follows: The Holy One, blessed be He, had told Moses here, and I will send an angel before thee, and Moses told Him, Thou has not let me know who is that angel whom Thou wilt send with me, and whether it is that first angel in whom is Thy Name. This is the sense of the expression, Yet Thou hast said: I know thee by Name, meaning that You have known me and exalted me by [the knowledge of] Your Name. And so also did Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explain the verse here. In his opinion the angel he [i.e., Moses] wanted was Michael. With his good sense [Ibn Ezra] understood the verses to imply that the first angel was pleasing to Moses and to Israel. He could not, however, know the truth, since he neither heard it [from others] nor did he prophesy it [on his own].

"And Moses said: See" — as though saying, see the distress in which I find myself. I will now explain the grammatical analysis of this section. The Gaon said that "I have known you" means "I have honored you." This is not correct, for immediately afterward comes "that I may know You," in parallel with "as You have known me."

ראה, do not turn your face away but take my comment seriously. אתה אומר אלי העל את העם הזה, when You said to me in verse 1 “lead up this people, etc.,” ואתה לא הודעתני את אשר תשלח עמי, the promise that You would send an angel with me (verse 2) was to take effect only once the people would enter the land of Canaan, at which time the promise that with the help of the angel we would dispossess the Canaanites would be fulfilled. But, in the meantime, who is going to be our protective force? How can we be without either an angel or Your personal presence? Moreover, ואתה אמרת ידעתיך בשם, when You paid me such a compliment, surely this did not mean that You will leave me to my own devices on this journey? Surely, such feelings as expressed in Zeacharyah 11,9 where You are quoted as saying: “I am not going to tend you, let the one that is to die die, and the one that is to get lost get lost, and let the rest devour each other’s flesh.” “Surely, You had intended for me to be the angel who leads the people of Israel.”

ראה אתה אומר אלי, "See, You are saying to me, etc." Moses refers to the fact that on the one hand he was the leader (messenger) who was charged with leading the Israelites towards the land of Canaan, whereas on the other hand G'd had just told him that He would send an additional supernatural messenger, an angel, to lead the Israelites. Moses wanted to know more about the nature of this supernatural messenger that would accompany the Israelites. This is why he said: ואתה לא הודעתני את אשר תשלח עמי, "You have not told me whom You are going to send with me." Moses made his consent to the new arrangement dependent on knowing more about the nature of that angel. In the event that G'd would tell him that his consent was not needed, Moses added: ואתה אמרת ידעתיך בשם, "You have said 'I know you by name,' meaning that you have elevated me beyond the level of the Patriarchs (compare Exodus 6,3). He implied that his status of being familiar with the attribute י־ה־ו־ה was such that he was entitled to be consulted. The word ידעתיך in this verse corresponds to the word נודעתי in Exodus 6,3. Moses quoted something G'd had said to him: וגם מצאת חן בעיני "you have also found favour in My eyes," as additional proof that he expected G'd to consult him about any new arrangements. We find in Yalkut Shimoni item 173 (on Parshat Shemot) that during the dialogue between G'd and Moses at the burning bush, G'd showed Moses part of the future including Rabbi Akiva expounding the Torah and its intricacies such as the meaning of the various "crowns" on top of some of the letters. Moses was so impressed that he suggested to G'd to send Rabbi Akiva as the redeemer of the Jewish people instead of himself. G'd had answered him at that time that He specifically wanted Moses to fulfil that role. The Midrash obviously understood this as proof that Moses more than anyone else had found favour in His eyes. The upshot of the allegorical conversation is that Moses realised that although Rabbi Akiva was superior to him intellectually, G'd preferred him for other reasons. He was correct in interpreting this as proof that he had found favour in the eyes of G'd. [I believe that the reason the author quotes the story in the Yalkut is because the Torah did not previously report G'd telling Moses that he had found favour in the eyes of G'd. Ed.] As a result of all these considerations Moses asked G'd to reveal more to him about His attributes.

ראה אתה אומר אלי, “See, You say to me:” the reason why we always read this section (33.12-34.26) on the Sabbath of the intermediate days of the festival of Passover and Sukkot, is because in this section the Sabbath is mentioned in the midst of the three pilgrimage festivals. And the passage (by mentioning that we must observe the seven days of the festival) also hints that work is prohibited on the Intermediate Days of the festivals. (Compare Talmud Chagigah folio 18a) ואתה לא הודעתני, “and You have not informed me, etc.;” in verse 5 G-d had said: “and I will know what I can do for you.” In the meantime G-d had not revealed to Moses how He would punish the surviving members of Jewish people for their share in the episode of the golden calf. More specifically, He had not revealed if He was going to send an angel to lead them, or if He were to do this Himself, personally.

Behold, You say to me, “Bring up this people, etc.” This is one of the most difficult portions in the Torah, where all the commentators have gone out to gather but have not found a sufficient explanation of what Moses was seeking, besides the many questions that arise in the language of the debate between Moses and the Holy One, Blessed be He. I do not decree and say that my opinion is correct above all others, heaven forbid. Rather, I say that since the commentators are not of one opinion, and each one contradicts his fellow and piles upon him bundles of objections, nevertheless, the ideas they established are true in themselves, even if they do not preserve the exact form of the language. I too will answer with my portion and say:As above we have found a repeated matter, for initially the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses, Now go, lead the people, and afterward He repeated and said, Go, ascend from here, you and the people. Beyond the repetition, there are several changes in the language: from lead to ascend, the phrase you and the people, the addition in the second instance of whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, and many other variations in language. And regarding the sending of the angel, He first said, Behold, My angel shall go before you, and afterward He said, I will send before you an angel. From the necessity of all these precise inferences, it is reasonable to understand, that in the matter of the Golden Calf, the mixed multitude was the source of the sin, and Israel was drawn after them. Moses in his prayer distinguished between the two sections: he first prayed for the children of Israel, whose guilt was not so great, and afterward he also prayed for the mixed multitude, as explained above in the section about the Golden Calf. Correspondingly, when the Holy One, blessed be He, responded to him, He first responded regarding the children of Israel not to destroy them, and concerning them He said, And now, go lead the people. For the expression lead indicates that he should lead them with gentleness and tranquility. And He called them the people as a penalty because they were seduced by the mixed multitude. And He said, to the place of which I have spoken to you. For the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to fulfill His oath to Moses, and said, I will make of you a great nation. That is, to give the land to Moses’s descendants as if He had spoken to fulfill His promise to Moses himself. And now He returned and said that the destiny which He had spoken to make for Moses, He was now returning to Israel, and this is what is meant by to the place of which I have spoken to you. And because all the angels of mercy above are already prepared from the days of the forefathers to guard the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob on the way, therefore He said, Behold, My angel shall go before you — there is no need to send another angel because there is already an angel prepared for this. And concerning Israel He said, Nevertheless, on the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them, to punish them little by little. But regarding the mixed multitude he said, And the Lord struck the people because they made the calf for we have already said that Israel did not know and did not understand the schemes of the mixed multitude, and the ox knows its owner — these are the mixed multitude, as it is in the Midrash. (See Leviticus Rabbah 27:8) And afterward, God reconsidered the evil [decree] also regarding the mixed multitude and said, Go, ascend from here, you and the people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt. For it is known that Moses did not consult with the Divine Might and Moses brought them up on his own initiative, and He did not mention the term “lead” which indicates gentleness and tranquility, but rather ascend from here, you and the people. This means: you ascend and bring them up as well against their will, since they always choose to return to their source, Egypt. And He said, to the land which I swore to Abraham, etc. He did not simply say “to your forefathers” because the mixed multitude were not from their seed. And what He said which I swore, etc. is to tell you that even though I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, To your descendants I will give it, and they [the mixed multitude] are not from their seed, and therefore I am not obligated to bring them to the land because of the oath and covenant with the forefathers, nevertheless I will bring them there for Your honor since you accepted them, as it says whom you brought up, etc. And I will send an angel before you, for they do not have angels ready for them from the days of their forefathers; therefore, I need to command an angel to guard them on the way, either another angel, or to command this angel that goes for the sake of Israel [to also guide them]. And what He said, For I will not go up in your midst, etc., that is because of the mixed multitude, for it is a stiff-necked people, therefore I do not want to go in their midst, and “with the thorns, the cabbage is [also] smitten” (Baba Kamma 92a), for they are the reason that I will not go personally even with you and with Israel. And Moses said to the Lord: “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’” Regarding the mixed multitude, not in the way it was said about Israel (Exodus 3:17) and I say I will bring you up from the affliction of Egypt. Rather, You attributed the bringing up to me, saying just as You brought them up from the land of Egypt of Your own accord, so shall You bring them up from here, as it is written Go, ascend from here, you and the people whom you have brought up, etc. Meaning, just as You brought them up from Egypt, so shall You bring them up from here. And You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. This matter of whom You will send with me as Your messenger, You have not made known to me. For what You said, I will send an angel before you — in this they [Israel] are not yet distinguished from other nations, because every nation has a minister and angel above. You should have been concerned for my honor, since they left Egypt at my word and attached themselves to You. You should have distinguished them from all the peoples and walked in their midst. And even if you say there is a reason for what You said, For I will not go up in your midst, etc., nevertheless, You should have informed me that Your messenger will go with me at the very least, for I too need divine support and help to guide them on the straight path. And this angel sent before them is only to drive out the seven nations, while the main thing is missing from the book, for we still need to know the way of the Lord according to the Torah. And You said, ‘I have known you by name.’ Some say that this refers to what was said, And My name YHWH I did not make known to them (Exodus 6:3), implying ‘but to you I made Myself known by My name YHWH.’ According to our approach, it refers to the name “Ehyeh” [I will be], as it is written (Exodus 3:12), For I will be with you — the name “Ehyeh” will be with you always. And this is what I need now, because initially You said, “I have known you by name,” meaning that the Name itself would be with me, but now You have retracted from this promise. Not only do You Yourself not want to be with me, as You said, For I will not go up in your midst, but even Your messenger is not with me but rather “before me,” as You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. This is very far from the promise of I have known you by name. Regarding this, Moses did not yet ask anything, but only expressed astonishment that “You have not made known whom You will send with me.” Afterwards, he presented a premise for his request, as He said, And you have also found favor in My eyes, meaning, “Even though I could have already asked You for something because I have found favor, nevertheless I did not ask for anything because the time was not so pressing.” Therefore he said, “And now the time has come when I need to request something, which is: If I have indeed found favor in Your eyes, please make known to me Your ways.”“And it is not enough that You make them known to me, while I remain ignorant and do not understand, but rather that I may know You.” Give me a heart to understand so that I may know Your way, so that I may benefit from this — that I may find additional favor in Your eyes beyond the first favor. This is because through knowledge of intellectual concepts, the concept becomes united with the thinker, becoming one, and his mouth becomes like Your mouth. I will benefit from this in that favor will extend from me to others as well, which was not the case previously when favor extended only from You to me. And when You make known to me Your ways and grant me understanding, the concept will adhere to the thinker, and my finding of favor will increase and extend from me to all who cleave to me, which includes the mixed multitude. Through this, they will be called Your people and not just “my people.” This is what is meant by See that this nation is Your people, and do not say to me again “that you have brought up, etc.”

ויאמר משה ראה אתה אומר אלי, “Moses said: “See, You say to me: “take up this people, etc.” The instructions which Moses claimed to have received at Mount Sinai occurred on the 19th of Tammuz. The Torah did not have to write at that time that Moses ascended the Mountain, seeing that as long as the glory of G’d hovered over the Mountain, it was clear that G’d spoke to Moses from that location. ואתה לא הודעתני את אשר תשלח עמי, “yet You have not told me whom You will send to be with me.” Rashi understands Moses as referring to G’d’s having said that He would send an angel along (compare 32,20) as something which he was not even willing to consider as a הודעה, an “official information.” Nachmanides claims that this is not the correct meaning of what we read here at all. It does not jive with the syntax employed by the Torah. Furthermore, if correct, why would Moses say this to G’d at this juncture instead of in 32,20 when he had been told to get moving with the people? Did he then intend at this point to gain some advantage of what had happened on account of the golden calf? I believe (Nachmanides speaking) that what happened was as follows: G’d had told Moses that He would send an angel ahead of the people, to which Moses replied that he had not been told the “name” of that angel, i.e. the category of that angel and his terms of reference. He wanted to know if that was the same angel that had traveled with the Jewish people before the unhappy events with the golden calf, an angel who was high up in the celestial hierarchy, so that our sages describe him as an angel אשר שם ה' בקרבו, who clearly represented Hashem, the essence. as G’d Himself had said at the time כי שמי בקרבו, for My name (essence) is within him.” (Exodus 23,21) This is what Moses meant when he continued in a plaintive voice ואתה אמרת ידעתיך בשם, “and You Yourself have said to me that You had become as intimate with me as is possible, i.e. You expressed Your approval of me.” Moses indicated that he would not settle for anything less at this time.

ראה אתה אומר אלי העל, as we know from 32,34 לך נחה את העם, ואתה לא הודעתני, but You have not informed me about Your going with us, seeing You only spoke about sending an angel. I do not want this, but I want You, personally, to go with us.

ואתה לא הודעתני, “and You have not informed me;” Moses means that not only did G–d not inform me of details about the angel which He had said that He would send to walk ahead of the Jewish people (Exodus 32, 34); it is not only that You Yourself will not walk in front of us, but You did not even name the angel You have assigned for this task. We are now no better off than any human being on earth, each one of whom has an angel walking in front of him. (Compare Psalms 91,11) where David refers to this with the words: כי מלאכיו יצוה לך לשמר לך בכל דרכיך, “for He will order His angels to guard you wherever you go.” Seeing that this is so, how do I benefit from Your having told me that I have found favour in Your eyes? Even Avraham’s servant, Eliezer, had been assured of the same kind of angel, without having been told by G–d that he had found favour in His eyes? (Compare Genesis 24,7)

"And now, if indeed I have found favor before You, make known to me now the way of Your goodness, so that I may know Your mercies, in order that I may find favor before You. And may it be revealed before You that this people is Your people."

ועתה וגו׳ NOW THEREFORE etc. — If it is true that I have found favour in Thy eyes, הודיעני נא את דרכך LET ME KNOW THY WAY — let me know what is the reward which Thou givest to those who find favour in Thine eyes. ואדעך למען אמצא חן בעיניך means, that I may know by this (by Your letting me know Your way) the nature of the reward You bestow — what is this “finding of grace” which You have granted to me (Hebrew: which I found in Your eyes). The explanation of למען אמצא חן accordingly is: that I may find out (אמצא) how great is the reward attendant on this “finding of grace”. וראה כי עמך הגוי הזה AND CONSIDER THAT THIS NATION IS THY PEOPLE so that You should not say, as You have said, (Exodus 32:10) “And I will make thee a great nation”, whilst these (the whole people) You will abandon! Consider that they are Your nation from of old, and if You reject them, surely I cannot rely upon it that those who are born of me will endure — rather let me know through this people the reward that is to be paid me (by sparing them). Our Rabbis have given a Midrashic explanation of this in Treatise Berakhot 7a but I come (my purpose is) to explain the verses in a manner fitting to them and in their context.

ועתה, since You had agreed that I should be the angel, הודיעני נא את דרכך, acquaint me with Your two miraculous ways, 1) how simply by Your knowledge of something You can make these figments of Your will or imagination become automatically a reality as demonstrated whenever You perform supernatural miracles, and 2) how by Your unfailingly accurate knowledge of future events, such knowledge does not impair the freedom of choice of man to do what he wants. ואדעך, so that I will know You, as knowledge of Your actions does convey some inkling of the considerations which resulted in such actions. למען אמצא חן בעיניך, by possessing such knowledge and an appreciation of Your mode of operation I will myself attain favour in Your eyes. A similar thought has been expressed in Jeremiah 9,23 “let the one who wants to boast, boast about the degree of knowledge about Me that he has acquired for I, the Lord, am fond of those who make knowing Me better their principal objective.” וראה כי עמך הגוי הזה, for Your name will only be recognised among this people and not among the nations of the world. Compare psalms 76,2 on this subject, i.e. נודע ביהודה אלוקים בישראל גדול שמו, “G’d is known in Yehudah; His name is great in Israel (exclusively). Seeing that this is so it is not appropriate for You to withhold from me the answer to what I have requested on account of their sin “ Moses’ argument is in line with what we were told in Sanhedrin 11 and Baba Batra 134 that there were at different times (Hillel’s students) 30 people whose personal stature was such that they deserved that the Presence of G’d rest on them. If it did not, this was only because their contemporaries did not deserve that G’d’s presence manifest itself in their lifetime.

ואדעך למען אמצא חן, "in order that I will know You and continue to find favour in Your eyes." Seeing that it is not good manners for a servant to tell his master that he wants to get to know him better, Moses added the word למען, "for the sake of, etc.;" he explained that his request was not for his own satisfaction but in order for him to be a more effective leader of his people. This is what he meant when he referred to "finding favour in Your eyes." וראה כי עמך הגוי הזה, "and consider that this nation is Your people." Moses carried on this conversation with G'd in complete privacy. He therefore reminded G'd that the souls of the Jewish people were part of G'd Himself, as I have explained in Deuteronomy 32,9 on the words: כי חלק ה׳ עמו, "for His people are a part of G'd." G'd Himself also alluded to this in Exodus 20,20 when He said: "I am the Lord your G'd." I have explained this more thoroughly in that context. When Moses said: וראה, he referred to this as a known fact, implying that inasmuch as there was something divine about the Jewish people, how could G'd despise something that was itself divine?

הודיעני נא את דרכיך, “please instruct me in Your ways.” Moses wished G-d to instruct Him of His attributes. Once he had been instructed in those, he would be able to determine if he wished for the Jewish people to be led by one or more of G-d’ attributes or by is essence. (B’chor Shor) ואדעך, “so that I will know You more intimately and be able to cleave to You more closely;” As result, I will be able to find favour in Your eyes. וראה כי עמך הגוי הזה, “and consider that this nation is Your people.” And choose for them what is good for them.

הודיעני נא את דרכיך, “make Your ways known to me.” According to the plain meaning of the text the word דרכיך means “Your attributes.” The “ways” of the Lord are His attributes, His virtues. This is the way David used the expression in Psalms 103,7 where he wrote יודיע דרכיו למשה, “He would make Moses conversant with His attributes.” The fact is that in that psalm David immediately proceeds to list these attributes of the Lord, such as רחום וחנון ה' ארך אפים ורב חסד, “the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger abounding in steadfast love.” Moses attempted to gain an understanding of G’d’s essence by means of being told His attributes. G’d’s activities were to be the clue to understanding His essence. G’d responded to him in the following way: “I will allow all My goodness to pass before you” (verse 19). Moses’ second request, i.e. הראני נא את כבודך, “let me see Your glory” (verse 19), was denied. In response to this second request G’d told Moses that it is not given to mortal man to have a vision of G’d’s glory while alive. Solomon elaborates concerning these two requests of Moses in Proverbs 25,2 where he writes: “it is the glory of G’d to conceal a matter; but it is the glory of kings to search out a matter.” The meaning of that verse is that knowledge of the Lord consists of two aspects, one of which is granted to man whereas the other is denied to man. The knowledge which is granted to man is not something which is self-evident to everyone but requires serious study and investigation. Solomon means that by careful analysis of how G’d responded to a variety of events we can form a reasonably accurate picture of His essence. This is what Jeremiah 9,23 had in mind when he wrote: “but only in this should one glory; in his earnest devotion to Me. For I the Lord act with kindness, Justice, and equity in the world.” In other words, knowledge of G’d means familiarity with His attributes; man is to recognize the extreme wisdom with which the Lord acts as a leader in His universe. It is not possible to get to know G’d in abstract terms by talking about attributes in a theoretical way; the only way to obtain a working knowledge of the Lord is to study His actions to the extent He has revealed them throughout history. G’d is distant from us by reason of the essence of His glory, whereas on the other hand, He is most close to us by reason of His actions, i.e. His constant involvement in all that goes on in our lives. This can best be illustrated by means of a parable using the sun as our example. On the one hand, the sun and its effect on our lives is visible and is felt on an ongoing basis; on the other hand, it is millions of miles removed from us. In spite of the great distance the sun is separated from us we are unable even to look at it without becoming blinded. If this is true of a visible and tangible body such as the sun, how much more so is it true of the essence of G’d. This is what Solomon meant in the verse we quoted earlier. A rational/investigative approach to Moses’ request “please me know Your ways.” Moses referred to the way G’d revealed Himself when He created the universe and man. Just as He knows man, seeing that every creator is thoroughly familiar with his creatures, so Moses asked to be thoroughly familiar with G’d by means of His various creative acts. He who is familiar with all that G’d has accomplished will find favour in His eyes. This is the reason Moses added the words: “so that I may find favour in Your eyes.” Moses added a further justification for his request, saying “see, this is Your nation;” he meant: “if I am to be an effective leader for Your nation, I must know how You would proceed to act in the event different scenarios develop.” [This is a free translation of the author’s words; a literal translation would not help the reader. Ed.] G’d responded to this request by saying: פני ילכו, “My Presence will go (accompany you every step of the way).” The word פנים in this instance (verse 14) is an expression denoting anger just as in Samuel I 1,18 where Chanah is described as being no longer angry when she had been reassured by the High Priest Eli who had become privy to the nature of her prayer. The wording there is ופניה לא היו לה עוד. Obviously this cannot mean that she no longer had a face or a presence, but must mean that her countenance which previously had reflected her anger or anguish no longer reflected such feelings. What Moses requested when he said: “please show me Your ways,” was something that it is possible for G’d to grant, i.e. a display of His adjectives, attributes. This is why He said: “I will let all My goodness pass before you, i.e. I will display all these adjectives of Mine to you.” G’d referred to the description of the מעשה בראשית, the story of creation, as reported in Genesis chapter one which concluded with the words that after G’d had reviewed it He described it as “very good.” [Perhaps we are justified in understanding the author to mean that this chapter of the Torah was inserted in response to Moses’ request at this time. Ed.] When G’d used the expression: “it was very good,” He meant that having reviewed the universe’s response to His creative directives convinced Him that nature would accomplish the task the Creator had set for it. By piecing together the various directives G’d had employed in creating the universe, Moses was able to obtain a good picture of G’d’s various attributes in action. Concerning Moses’ second request that G’d reveal to Him His essence, i.e. הראני נא את כבודך, G’d responded that this was a request which could not be granted to mortal man by reason of the fact that he was only a mortal creature. G’d “softened” His refusal by adding: “there is a place beside Me,” i.e. I will grant you as much insight into the nature of My being as it is possible for man while a living human being to absorb. When G’d added; וראית את אחורי, He referred to all the tangible matter He had created. A creator or artist leaves behind him tangible traces of the objects he has formed. G’d meant that the physical world such as it is is the evidence which reveals something about the nature of the Creator who called it into existence. The word אחורי is similar in meaning to “something which was left behind, thrown away, discarded.” G’d meant to convey that His discards are a far cry from granting insight into His true essence. This may be the reason why Onkelos translated the words את אורי as ית דבתראי, “that which is behind Me.” He meant all the evidence of My creative activity I have left behind for all to see. All of them are only incidental to me, not related to My essence. The words ופני לא יראו, “My face is not subject to being seen by man,” mean that the true essence of G’d cannot be comprehended by man at all. According to Onkelos who renders the word ופני as ודי קדמאי, the meaning is that there are imposing creations, i.e. supra-terrestrial beings, beings which have no bodies, which can also not be properly understood by man. G’d relates to these beings as being “in front” of Him rather than the terrestrial beings which He described as being “behind” Him.” This means also that seeing these beings are “in front” of G’d they are constantly under His active supervision. In order to make it quite clear to Moses that these latter insights had been denied him, the Torah writes (34,6) that ויעבור ה' על פניו. In this instance the meaning of the word ויעבור is equivalent to Samuel I 20,36 והוא ירה החצי להעבירו, “he shot the arrows past him (compare Moreh Nevuchim 1,21). It means that someone has failed to achieve a certain objective and reached a different objective instead. In other words, G’d deliberately deflected Moses’ request and channeled it into something else. The words על פניו in 34,6 are a substitute for the name of the Lord. The message of the whole verse is that the Lord, the Creator, withheld from Moses the type (the ability to foresee) of Divine supervision accorded to the beings which are described as על פני. The fact that Moses had requested to be granted these types of insights becomes clear from the response of G’d rather than from the words הראני נא את כבודך which Moses used in 33,19. Instead of complying with Moses’ request, G’d responded by revealing to Him the thirteen attributes, i.e. G’d fulfilled his request הודיעני נא את דרכיך, “please make me familiar with Your attributes.” According to Onkelos who translates the words ויעבור ה' על פניו in 34,6 as ואעבר ה' שכנתיה, G’d’s Shechinah passed in front of Moses, something also known as כבוד נברא. When G’d spoke of והיה בעבור כבודי in 33,22, this lends strong support to Onkelos’ interpretation. In that event the words על פניו in 34,6 refer to Moses. The meaning of על פניו would be the same as לפניו, “in front of him.” We have similar construction of the expression על פניו in Genesis 32,22 ותעבור המנחה על פניו, “the gift passed before him.” Another way of explaining the words ויעבור ה' על פניו is that the voice of the Lord passed in front of Moses. It is not unusual to find the ,עבר or העברה in connection with a voice or with a sound. We find an example of this in Exodus 36,6 ויעבירו קול במחנה, “they made a voice (command) traverse the camp.” The word ויקרא in 34,8 refers to that voice which called out. The repetition of the word השם is similar to the repetition of the word אברהם אברהם in Genesis 22,11 or the word משה משה in Exodus 3,4. This, at any rate, is the opinion of Maimonides in his Moreh Nevuchim 1,21. [At this point the author copies the relevant pages from the Moreh Nevuchim. I have not included this as the Hebrew in the M.N. is itself a translation from the Arabic. Ed.] Rabbeinu Saadyah Gaon explains the words כי לא תוכל לראות פני to mean that “you, Moses are incapable of seeing the ‘beginning’ of the light whereas you will be able וראית את אחורי ‘to see the end of the light’” (compare Emunot Vedeyot 2,12). G’d applied the cover to Moses’ eyes while the beginning of the light passed before him whereas He removed this cover when the end of the light passed before him. It is possible that Ezekiel’s comment (Ezekiel 1,27) “I saw a gleam of amber from what appeared to be his loins up, and from what appeared to be his loins down, I saw what looked like fire,” relates to this phenomenon. The former refers to the beginning of the light, whereas the latter statement refers to the tail-end of the light mentioned by Rabbi Saadyah Gaon. Concerning this same phenomenon, Chabakuk said (Chabakuk 3,5) “pestilence marches before Him and plague comes at His heels.” In that verse too, the word “before Him” refers to what comes at the beginning, and the word “at His heels,” refers to what comes at the end. Psalms 50,3 speaking of “devouring fire preceded Him, whereas around Him storms swirled fiercely,” suggests that it is impossible to escape the fire that precedes the Lord, whereas the storm swirling around Him may be capable of being survived. When the Torah speaks here about וראית את אחורי, it refers to the aspect of G’d’s “light” man can endure, whereas whatever is described as “in front of Him,” is what man cannot endure if he becomes a witness to it. A Kabbalistic approach: When Moses asked: “please show me Your ways,” he meant “the paths of goodness by means of which you G’d guide and govern Your universe. It is the means by which You become known.” These are the paths of righteousness and kindness, the mark of the righteous person who is the foundation of the earth. Of such a righteous person David said in Psalms 145,17: “the Lord is righteous in all His ways.” These ways which Moses requested are the same as the ones described by Solomon as the ones which he considered beyond his ability to understand when he wrote: in Proverbs 30,18-19: “three things are beyond me, and four I do not know. The way an eagle flies in the sky, the way of a serpent over a rock, how a ship makes its way across the seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.” Solomon meant that the activity of the Just in this world which is described as “the foundation of the earth” is beyond his ability to understand. This is why he included in the random examples he chose both activities in the air, on the water, and activities performed by man. These three realms comprise the totality of the terrestrial universe. The birds roam the atmosphere; the free-roaming beasts roam the earth, the dust; the people traveling in ships roam the waters, and the human species comprised of males and females are what are meant by “the way of a man with a virgin.” Whereas Solomon understood these phenomena, what he did not understand was what is meant by the “activity of the righteous, the Just.” Moses sought clarification of the very thing Solomon failed to understand. [If I understand this correctly, both Moses and Solomon failed to understand how the activity of the Just is responsible for the continued existence of the universe so that it is termed “the foundation of the world.” Ed.] Moses said ואדעך, “so that I will know You,” meaning “so that I can properly appreciate Your uniqueness.” למען אמצא חן בעיניך, “in order that I may find favour in Your eyes.” This teaches us that a person who properly appreciates the unity and uniqueness of the Lord will find favour in His eyes. וראה כי עמך הגוי הזה, “and see that this nation is truly Your people.” He meant that seeing he was in charge of leading this people, G’d’s people, it was imperative that G’d should grant him these insights in order for him to discharge his duties optimally. When G’d responded by saying פני ילכו, this was a reference to the angel Mattatron who is the instrument by means of which the Lord is known throughout the universe for the marvelous and sometimes dreadful events which He orchestrates. Observing these phenomena set in motion by this angel is what was meant in Exodus 14,31 when the Torah wrote: “Israel saw the great hand which the Lord had employed against Egypt, and the people were afraid and they believed in the Lord.” The words והניחותי לך, “I will give you rest,” are derived from the word נחת רוח, “peace of mind.” G’d told Moses that he should not worry that He, G’d, would apply the yardstick of the attribute of Justice in its full measure when relating to the Jewish people but only what is known as the attribute of Justice in its diminished form. This form of the attribute of Justice co-opts a measure of the attribute of Mercy. The “messenger” (Mattatron) to whom G’d referred at this time is known as the attribute of כבוד, more popularly known as the Shechinah. This is the reason Onkelos translates the words פני ילכו as שכנתי תהך, “My Shechinah will go.” Moses was not satisfied with this response, seeing that it represented the attribute of Justice, albeit, the watered down variety. This is why he insisted אם אין פניך הולכים אל תעלנו מזה, “if Your Presence does not go along do not bring us forward from here.” Moses meant that he did not want any intermediary to be the agent that would accompany the Jewish people on their journey. After all, when G’d took the people out of Egypt He had employed two attributes, both the יד החזקה and the כח גדול, “the strong hand (attribute of Justice) as well as the attribute of Mercy (Exodus 14,11). Our sages in the Haggadah shel Pessach used this wording to state that the process of redemption (killing the firstborn of Egypt while saving the firstborn of the Jews) was possible only because G’d did not entrust this to any of His agents. G’d personally involved Himself in that redemption. Moses demanded no less at this time. G’d consented to Moses’ request in this regard, saying: “also the thing that you have said I shall do for you have found favour in My eyes” (verse 17). Seeing that G’d had responded favourably to his last request, Moses was now encouraged to ask for even more by saying: “please show me Your glory.” In this matter Moses did not elicit a positive response, G’d explaining that it was impossible to grant this request. Onkelos translates the words לא תוכל לראות פני, as לא תיכול למחזי אפי שכינתי, “you cannot see the face of My Shechinah.” Seeing that in Psalms 104,17 the Shechinah is referred to in terms of חסידה ברושים ביתה, that “the stork makes its home in the lofty cypress,” a simile for the far end of the אצילות, (a region of the celestial world), the near end of that region is understandably described as the “face,” פנים. When G’d said “there is a place beside Me,” He referred to the tail-end of that celestial region we described as אצילות, meaning that this was a region Moses would be able to see. This was not a new concession on the part of G’d, but merely a repetition in different words of what He had said previously when He told Moses: “I will make all My goodness pass before you.” The expression אחורי derived from אחור refers to the “West.” similarly to Psalms 139,5 אחור וקדם צרתני, “You have shaped me at the rear and at the front (to look alike from both sides).” [the reference is to Adam prior to Eve having become a separate body. Ed.] It is well known that the Shechinah‘s residence is in the West. [Man (Adam) looked both to the west and to the east simultaneously at that stage of his existence. Ed] Though he was able to view the “western” end of the Shechinah he was not able to view its “eastern” end. Seeing that Moses had already attained a level enabling him to comprehend the emanations כבוד ותפארת, G’d said to Moses that he would enable him to comprehend the higher emanation חכמה also. This is the true meaning of the words וראית את אחורי. The letter א at the beginning of the word אחורי is not part of the word itself, which is derived from חיור a form of light. G’d told Moses that he would be able to see a reflection of G’d’s “Light.” The emanation חכמה, “wisdom” (its source) is also sometimes called לבנון, [from לבן “white,” i.e. reflecting all the light aimed at it. Ed.] “Seeing” that emanation חכמה was not merely for the sake of seeing it, but as our sages said (Berachot 7), G’d showed Moses the knot with which the phylacteries of the head are to be tied. The knot is formed in the shape of the letter ד, and it is a well known fact that the letter ד represents the foundation of all wisdom. This is spelled out in the Sefer Yetzirah in connection with the meanings of the letters בג’ד כפר’ת. Solomon has already alluded to this in Song of Songs 7,6 where he wrote ודלת ראשך כארגמן, “and your crowning braid is like purple.” He meant that this was the highest level of insight that could be achieved by man, the emanation כתר, the highest of the emanations, is not subject to man’s comprehension. This was meant by ופני לא יראו. After these introductory remarks by G’d the Torah proceeds to describe (34,5) that G’d “descended” in a cloud and “stood” beside Moses proclaiming the holy name of the Lord.” The expression וירד, a word which we normally translate as “He descended” is here an expression of השגה, “achievement,” attainment.” The word is used in Talmudic Hebrew when describing that someone “descends” into the deeper meaning of something and as a result gains full understanding. The meaning of the entire verse is that Moses now attained a comprehension of the meaning of the holy name of G’d, the attribute כבוד, which is also known as שם with the vowel kametz. The word occurs in that connotation both in Genesis 2,10 and in Samuel II 6,2. In Genesis the meaning of the word is that from that location and upwards the disembodied beings, angels, would ascend to the higher celestial regions. In the book of Samuel where the author speaks of the Holy Ark, the meaning of that word is justified also as the “ark” is also known as shem, i.e. representing the name of G’d. We find that Moses had already been described as shem in 33,2. When the Torah writes at this juncture: ויקרא בשם ה’, the meaning is that the attribute כבוד proclaimed this name of the Lord. The word בשם in this verse is a possessive clause of the word י-ה-ו-ה. This is also the way Onkelos understood it when he translated the sequence as בשמא דה’, “in the name of the tetragram.” When the Torah continues (verse 6) with ויעבור ה’ על פניו, the word Hashem here is a reference to the attribute כבוד. Seeing that this attribute is equivalent to the Shechinah, Onkelos translates the words as ואעבר ה’ שכינתה “G’d let His Shechinah pass before him (Moses).” The word ויקרא “He called out,” refers again to the subject, i.e. the attribute כבוד. It was this attribute which proclaimed the thirteen attributes of G’d and their functions which were revealed to Moses at this stage. These attributes were part of the emanation תפארת, “harmony,” the sixth emanation [commencing with the emanation מלכות at the lower end of the scale. Ed.] This emanation is equated with the attribute of Mercy, and all the 13 מדות, “virtues,” mentioned here are merely different nuances of the attribute of Mercy and how and when it is invoked. The word ויעבור introduces the point when G’d fulfills His previous promise אני אעביר כל טובי לפניך, “I will let all My goodness pass before you” (33,19). The Zohar (Parshat Vayakhel page 202), when referring to our verse refers to these 13 virtues as מכילין דרחמי, “degrees of mercy.” After Moses had learned how to employ prayer in order to activate these various forms of Mercy, he asked G’d to be constantly personally present during the Israelites’ trek to the Holy Land. The line אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך אדו-ני, ילך נא אדו-ני בקרבנו means that “if I have found favor in the eyes of the attribute of Justice, let the Shechinah go in our midst.” Onkelos also understands this verse in the same manner. Moses’ prayer focused on the constant presence of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire as evidence of the presence of the Shechinah. [Remember that the Tabernacle had not been built yet at this time. Ed.] The people needed the presence of the Shechinah precisely because they were a “stiff-necked people” as the presence of the attribute of Justice in its diminished form on a constant basis was preferable to the sudden manifestation of the attribute of Justice in its most severe form should the people become guilty of another serious sin. What Moses asked for here was a presence of the Shechinah in a more manifest form than what G’d had spoken of in 33,2 when He had said: “I will send My angel before you.” The kind of angel G’d had referred to at that time was one of the disembodied spirits. G’d now consented to Moses’ request to upgrade the manifestation of the Divine presence accompanying the Jewish people. He assured him of an upgrading involving two attributes: 1) The Shechinah would remain manifest amongst the people. To this end G’d said “Here I will make a covenant with the people in the presence of the entire nation, etc.” (34,10). This was a reference to a special angel whose presence symbolized this covenant. 2) He added that this angel (read Shechinah) would perform manifest miracles for the people indicating its presence. The miracles would be of the quality never before performed and witnessed by human beings. In order to prove that Moses had attained close contact with the emanation תפארת, G’d added the peculiar phrase את מעשה ה’ כי נורא הוא, switching from the attribute אדו-ני which had been used so far to the tetragrammaton. Not only this, but the Torah should have continued in the plural after having spoken of a variety of miracles and should have written: את מעשי ה’ כי נוראים הם, “the works of Hashem which are awesome.” The reason the Torah employs the singular is that it refers to the emanation תפארת which is equivalent to the attribute of Mercy. When G’d added the words אשר אני עושה עמך, “which I perform with you,” this was an assurance that G’d would relate to Moses personally with the attribute of Mercy. After this paragraph both Moses and the people of Israel were assured that G’d would relate to them primarily by drawing on the attributes of תפארת and כבוד. This had been the intent of Moses when he had asked that G’d demonstrate the distinction of the Jewish people compared to other nations, begging ונפלינו אני ועמך. When Moses said אני, he meant the attribute תפארת, whereas when he said ועמך he referred to the attribute כבוד, i.e. the Shechinah. [Moses, the most humble individual that ever lived, would certainly not have referred to himself before mentioning his people. This why a translation of these words as “I and your people,” would be totally out of character]. We have now explained the entire paragraph. I have already explained under the heading “mystical dimension” on Parshat Yitro on chapter 20 verse 1 that Moses attained familiarity with the seven lower emanations. These seven emanations were symbolised in the text by the seven occasions on which the word קול or קולות appears in connection with the revelation at Mount Sinai. I have elaborated on the subject there. When Moses in our paragraph requested הראני נא את כבודך, he obviously requested a dimension of insight over and beyond the seven emanations with which he had already become familiar. He was not granted this. This is also the opinion of Nachmanides in his discussion of the matter from a Kabbalistic vantage point. Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra (in the abbreviated version of his commentary on verse 14) takes a different view of the meaning of the words פני ילכו , saying that this refers to the angel Mattatron, an angel whose “face” indicates anger. He claims that when Moses said to G’d אם אין פניך הולכים, he referred to manifestation of G’d in His attribute of Mercy, the attribute of תפארת, the manifestation of Mercy which is apt to pardon and to forgive. Once G’d agreed to this request, Moses pressed his advantage asking הראני נא את כבודך, a reference to the כתרים, the attributes of חסד and תפארת. Moses phrased it thus, cautiously, in order not return empty-handed after having offered this prayer. At that point he was told לא תוכל לראות את פני, i.e. “this ‘beginning’ (highest) of all the attributes, you cannot see.” According to Ibn Ezra’s understanding of our paragraph Moses never attained any level beyond תפארת. He only attained the lower levels מלכות, יסוד, נצח, הוד, and תפארת. Nonetheless, we believe that the opinion of Nachmanides is more likely the correct one.

הודיעני נא את דרכך, You Yourself ought to inform me of the way we should travel, by showing me the way we can follow You.

ועתה אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך,”and now, if I indeed have found favour in Your eyes;” Moses is hinting that perhaps plans indeed to go personally in front of the Israelites again, and he wishes to be given details of where and how they are going to continue journeying from now on. If informed of these details he will be certain that he has found favour in the Lord’s eyes.

And He said: "My Shechinah will go, and I will grant you rest."

ויאמר פני ילכו AND HE SAID, MY FACE SHALL GO WITH THEE Understand this as the Targum renders it: My Shechinah will go — I will no more send an angel with you, but I Myself will go. פנים here has the sense of “Self” as in (II Samuel 17:11) “and that thou go in the battle in thine own person (פניך)”.

PANAI’ (MY PRESENCE) SHALL GO. In the opinion of all commentators this means, “I myself will go.” And they brought a parallel expression to this from the verse, ‘upanecha’ (and thine own person) shalt go to battle.

The Gaon said that "My face" means "My wrath," as in "and her countenance was no more troubled" (I Sam. 1:18). But what will he do with the phrase "if Your face does not go" (v. 15)? In my view the meaning of "My face" is "I Myself," as in "and your face going among them" (II Sam. 17:11).

פני ילכו, when you are moving toward the Holy Land My presence will walk before you. The emphasis here is on the word “before” instead of G’d saying “among you” [the author is reading this into the text as G’d left the definition of where His presence would be wide open. Ed.] והניחותי לך; will give you rest from your enemies around you, so that you will bring the people into the land in safety.

ויאמר פני ילכו, "He said: 'My presence will go with you.'" Many commentators have addressed themselves to these verses. I believe the correct approach to these verses must be based on a comment in Tikkunim 18 that the Torah refers to the שכינה as פני ה׳, seeing this is the aspect of G'd visible to the Celestial Beings. This is also the allusion contained in the words of Exodus 23,15 ולא יראו פני ריקם, "they shall not see My Face (while) empty-handed." In our verse G'd is responding to Moses' arguments and informs him that He Himself will go with him as His attribute פני השם, i.e. the שכינה. Concerning the matter of Moses having reservations about such an arrangement, G'd added: והניחותי לך, "I will give you rest." G'd also meant that He would allow an extra-terrestrial light to rest on Moses, one that would not fade; at the same time whatever degree of spiritual light Moses had enjoyed thus far would continue, although seen from Israel's vantage point the Divine Presence שכינה would be perceived as preceding the people on their journeys. This was an aspect of G'd's attribute of דין, Justice, as is evident from the name with which G'd identified Himself here. [I believe that having said that the expression פני השם referred to the way G'd is manifest in Heaven, the author concludes that this is an aspect of דין, seeing there is no need for the attribute of Mercy in the Celestial Regions. Ed.] Moses responded to this offer by saying: "If Your presence will not go with me," in verse 15.

והניחותי לך, “and I will give you rest.” I will go with you until the conquest and give you rest from all your enemies.” Moses had quoted G-d to this effect when discussing the commandment to wipe out Amalek utterly In Deuteronomy 25,19. (Rash’bam)

“And He said, ‘My Presence will go and I will give you rest.’” The commentators are divided about the word Panai [My Presence/Face] — whether it refers to a face of anger or a face of mercy. Will go implies the future, whereas Moses said If Your Presence does not go — in the present tense, immediately — do not bring us up from here. This could be interpreted either as [God promising that] His anger will immediately depart from them, or that His face of mercy will immediately go with them. According to our approach, He answered two matters simultaneously: Regarding Moses’ amazement that He had not informed him that He would send His messenger to assist him, He said My Presence will go, similar to and your presence going in the midst (Second Samuel 17:11), because it was said And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face From those faces, the light of God’s face would shine upon Moses’ face, and through this, the Holy One Blessed be He would give Moses rest [direction] as if God Himself was actually going with him. And even though this divine influence came only periodically, it would still be sufficient for Moses to be able to lead the people and guide them in the ways of God. That is the meaning of and I will give you rest. Moses replied: “This is obvious, and I am not asking for this, but rather if Your light doesn’t certainly go with us, do not bring us up from here.” And without finding favor [in God’s eyes], this is something that must happen, for we have no ascent at all without this. And if so, my request returns to its place: what will You do for me because I have found favor in Your eyes? That is the meaning of And how shall it be known that I have found favor in Your sight — I and Your people?“ That the favor should extend from me to Your people as well. Is it not by Your going with us actually at all times, that You cleave to me by making Your ways known to me? And by this alone we shall be distinguished — I and Your people — from all the people, etc.

פני ילכו והנחותי לך, “My Presence will go and put your mind at rest.” Nachmanides writes that the commentators agree that G’d agreed that His essence would go with the people. We find similar words with the same meaning in Samuel II 17,11 פניך הולכים בקרב, when Chushai advises Avshalom to personally lead his troops against his father David. [the word פניך, meaning that Avshalom would prove that he was serious in his rebellion, that his innermost self was involved, and knowing this his supporters would not need to fear that he might change his mind at the last moment, leaving them to appear as the rebels and having no longer a cause to fight for. Ed.]

פני ילכו, I, Myself, will go, as you have requested. Compare Samuel II 17,11 where we encounter the identical expression ופניך הולכים בקרב, “You G’d personally will be along during the battle.” והניחותי לך, My presence will remain with you until I have brought you to settlement after you have conquered the land of Canaan and you have rest from all your enemies. Moses had confirmed this promise in Deuteronomy 3,20 as well as in Deuteronomy 25,19, the wording being unmistakable והיה בהניח ה' לכם מכל אויביך מסביב, “it will be when the Lord will give you rest from all your enemies surrounding you, etc.” Anyone who translates the words והניחותי לך as G’d telling Moses that He will put his mind at rest by agreeing to his request is in error. If that could be the meaning, we would have to ask why only in this instance did G’d use such language when on the many other occasions G’d agreed to a request by Moses He never added the words: “so as to put your mind at rest?”

And he said before Him: "If Your Shechinah is not going among us, do not bring us up from here."

ויאמר אליו AND HE SAID UNTO HIM — This is what I desired: for if it is to be by an angel rather do not bring us up from here.

AND HE [Moses] SAID UNTO HIM: IF ‘PANECHA’ (THY PRESENCE) GO NOT WITH ME, CARRY US NOT UP HENCE. The meaning thereof according to Rashi is as follows: “This is what I desired, for if it be by an angel, rather do not carry us up from here.” But G-d forbid! that Moses should say, If Thy presence go not, after he had already been promised, My presence shall go!And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained that G-d said to Moses: “I Myself will go, and only you will I give rest, for only with you will I go [but I will not dwell in the midst of the people].” But Moses replied: “If Your presence does not go with the whole nation, carry us not up hence.” This is why Moses used the plural, “carry us up.” But this interpretation too, does not fit the verses properly. For Moses said at first, Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me — in the singular. Now even at the time of G-d’s good-will, before the sin [with the golden calf occurred], He also said, Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared, [and yet this promise too is expressed in the singular — to Moses]! And if you will say that the singular there [before ‘thee’, to keep ‘thee’ etc.] refers to Israel [as one unit], then here also it could be explained to refer to all Israel! Besides, if it is so [as Ibn Ezra interpreted], that Moses requested of G-d that He inform him who is the angel He would send with him, then we see that Moses was satisfied with the angel, concerning whom it is said, for My Name is in him, and G-d answered him with a double, and redoubled, beneficence, over and above that which he had asked for — that He Himself would go!But this section of Scripture cannot possibly be grasped by one who has not heard the secrets of the Torah. The following is its meaning by way of the Truth. Moses said, and Thou hast not let me know who is the angel Thou wilt send with me, and he requested that He fulfill two things He had said to him: firstly, that I know thee by Name, meaning [G-d said to Moses] that “I will be known to you by My [Great] Name, for your sake” [and this was now Moses’ request, that he be not divested of this highest degree of prophecy on account of the incident of the calf]. It is possible that the phrase, yet Thou hast said, [I know thee by Name], is based upon what He had said to Moses [with reference to the patriarchs], but by My Name the Eternal I made Me not known to them, as I have explained [there]. And secondly Moses had been told: and thou hast also found grace in My sight, meaning that he will find grace, which is the cleaving of knowledge. And Moses continued, Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, in the attribute of justice, show me now the paths of the ways even as Thou art known by Thy Name, that I may know Thee to declare Thy Unity, to the end that I may find the great grace; and consider that this nation is Thy people — Thou art their Father, and they are ...

אם אין פניך הולכים, now already when we are still encamped, seeing that You have withdrawn Your presence, then You better do not bring us any further from here for it would be preferable for us to remain here in the desert than to enter the Holy Land without Your Presence among us. By staying right here, we would at least be exposed to the manifestation of Your continued Presence. “do not make us leave this place.” We would rather remain in the desert than enter the Holy Land unaccompanied by Your Shechinah, for without it we would undoubtedly incur exile in just a short while.

ואם אין פניך הולכים, "Unless Your face will go, etc." Moses was not satisfied with G'd's previous offer and said that unless G'd's face would go with them as of now the people would be lost, and there was no point in even beginning their ascent towards the Holy Land. His reasoning was that the only way he could be certain that he had indeed found favour in G'd's eyes was the method employed by G'd in accompanying the Jewish people. He referred to Israel's distinction of G'd relating to them as the Attribute represented by His Ineffable Name. Moses was dissatisfied that only he and not the entire people should be the beneficiaries of the "great light" which G'd had promised to bestow on Moses in verse 14. [The author appears to feel that the fact that G'd did not tell Moses in verse 14 that His Attribute would walk with the people instead of ahead of the people, made Moses refuse the offer. Ed.] He prayed for G'd to accompany the people as His attribute of the Ineffable Name, i.e. as the attribute of Mercy. G'd agreed to this request also when He said: "I will also carry out this matter which you have spoken of for you have found favour in My eyes." G'd was careful to let Moses know that His consent was due to His fondness of Moses, not because of His being fond of the people.

ויאמר אם אין פניך הולכים, “he said (Moses to G-d) unless Your essence will go etc;” This is a completion of verse 12.

אם אין פניך הולכים, “If Your essence will not be going…” according to Rashi these were the terms under which Moses was willing to settle for the presence of an angel. He did not mean that his previous words should have been understood as a kind of ultimatum to G’d, seeing that G’d had already assured him with the words פני ילכו, that He, personally, would accompany the people [or Moses, as became clearer in Joshua 6,14 when the angel that had first been appointed here, replaces the one whose stature had been approved by Moses who had remained with the people as long as he lived. Ed.] Ibn Ezra explains that the initial promise by G’d to personally come with him was addressed only to Moses, but not the people as a whole. Moses, in remonstrating, had in mind the people whom he also wanted to benefit from G’d’s personal Presence, rather than that of only an angel of relatively low standing in the celestial hierarchy. This is why he said to G’d: אל תעלנו מזה וגו', “do not lead us up from here” (in the plural mode). Nachmanides rejects this interpretation also, seeing that in his opening remarks Moses had spoken in the singular mode: לא הודעתני את אשר תשלח עמי, “You have not informed me whom You would send with me.” Besides, the whole argument of distinguishing between the angel being for the sake of Moses or the people respectively, is not valid, as in better times before the sin of the golden calf, in 32,20 G’d had said to Moses:הנה אנכי שולח מלאך לפניך לשמרך בדרך, “here I will send an angel ahead of you (sing.) to watch over you (sing.) on the way, etc.” If Ibn Ezra were correct in his distinction between angels for the benefit of Moses and the people, respectively, why did Moses not protest G’d’s promise already in 23,20? This whole paragraph in the Torah is so fraught with mystical aspects which only selected few are privy to, that it is not appropriate to comment on them here in such a public forum. Thus far Nachmanides. Seeing that I have not attained such insights as are required, I have only touched on the subject ever so slightly, limiting myself to the plain meaning of the text.

אם אין פניך הולכים, this is not a harping on a request already made and granted, but it is an introductory remark to an additional request by Moses. במה וודע...ופלינו אני ועמך?; Moses asks that he personally will be perceived as enjoying G’d’s special regard, by being distinguished in some visible manner. He argues that if he were to be thus recognisable as G’d’s intimate, this would reflect also on the people he is leading and would show the nations of the world the uniqueness of Israel and its relationship to its G’d.

ויאמר אליו, “He said to him:” this whole conversation is difficult to understand seeing that G–d had already assured Moses that He, would walk with them personally as He had said: “I will personally go with you” (33,14). Furthermore, why did Moses say afterwards in verse 16: “how can I know that both I and Your people have found favour in Your eyes, except by the fact that You will walk with us and we will be distinguished vis a vis any other nation?” G–d had already agreed to do what Moses had asked of Him! We may have to understand the whole dialogue between G–d and Moses as follows: G–d’s words: והניחותי לך, “and I will give you rest,” at the end of verse 14 are addressed to Moses personally, but are not a promise to the people. G–d did not promise that the people can feel at “rest,” i.e. reassured so that they would not have to worry about their future. They will not be able to experience the glory of My presence. When Moses heard this, he continued that unless the people can see that You have agreed to personally lead us as You have done in the past, even I do not know that I have found favour in your eyes. At that point G–d responded that He would walk with the people as before the episode of the golden calf. An alternate interpretation: after the words: פני ילכו, “I will personally go (with you),“ Moses understood that G–d’s anger had ceased, and that He now related to the people as He had done when He had said: (Leviticus 17,10) ונתתי פני, “I’ll set My face against him.” (At that time individual wrongdoing had been the subject.) Once My anger has receded from that level, G–d meant, I will give you rest, but not immediately. Upon hearing this, Moses continued pleading saying that this was not good enough for him until the relationship between G–d and Moses as well as the people had been completely restored. G–d’s response to Moses’ “ultimatum” which had been accompanied by Moses refusing to move from that place any further, was: “| have decided to go along with your conditions.” ואתה לא הודעתני, (returning to verse 12) “and You have not informed me, etc.” first G–d had told Moses that henceforth He would send an angel ahead of the people on their journeys who would expel the Canaanites from their country (compare verse 2 in our chapter). A few verses later (verse 5) Moses had been told to divest the people of their jewelry. Even at that stage G–d had not yet revealed if He, personally, would again walk ahead of the people on their journey through the desert, even though they already had taken off their jewelry at His command. When You said to me: ידעתיך בשם, “I know you by name,” (verse 12) I assumed that You would tell me the name of the angel, i.e. his specific attribute, Moses, at that stage had still been afraid to demand from G–d that He walk with him and the people personally, as G–d had warned that if Ed.] He were to do so any infractions would result in the people being consumed by His wrath (פן אכלך בדרך, verse 3 in our chapter). This is also why he phrased verse 13 with the reference to דרכיך, “Your ways.” The reason he referred to “Your ways” in the plural, was that he did not know which of G–d’s ways (attributes) would be most advantageous for the Israelites. He therefore resolved to ask G–d to reveal all His attributes to Him so that he would know what the situation that the Jewish people found themselves in needed to be appealed to. Thereupon G–d responded by saying: פני ילכו, “I, personally will go,” as this will be most beneficial for you. This is very similar to what we read in Samuel II 17,11: ופניך הולכים בקרב, “and that you yourself will march into battle. [Chushai advised Absalom that in his revolt against his father David, he should march at the head of his troops. Our author shows that the word פנים described the essence of a person as well as the Essence of the Lord. והניחותי לך, “I will grant you peace of mind seeing that you are in such an emotional uproar. You will now be able to make an intelligent choice. Nonetheless, Moses was still afraid of the possibility that G–d would suddenly annihilate the people if they would anger Him once more. At any rate, he now knew that the word פני G–d had used was meant in its beneficial sense of the word. He realised beyond any doubt that G–d’s personal presence among the Israelites was a great compliment for the people. When Moses realised that this was a time when G–d was very well disposed toward him, he decided to pursue requesting still more details about G–d’s attributes and what each stood for. He went as far as requesting a visual revelation of G–d’s essence. G–d answered him that while he could an experience aural revelation of this, a visual revelation is impossible as long as his soul inhabited a body.

"And by what shall it be known here that I have found favor before You, I and Your people — is it not by Your Shechinah going with us? And so we shall be distinguished, I and Your people, from every people that is upon the face of the earth."

ובמה יודע אפוא FOR WHEREIN SHALL IT BE KNOWN HERE [THAT I AND THY PEOPLE HAVE FOUND FAVOUR IN THY EYES] — i. e. wherein shall the “finding of favour” be known, הלא בלכתך עמנו IF NOT BY YOUR GOING WITH US!? And yet another thing do I ask You: that You should not let Your Shechinah rest upon the other peoples of the world (Berakhot 7a). ונפלינו אני ועמך SO SHALL WE BE DISTINGUISHED, I AND THY PEOPLE — through this very thing we shall become different from all the peoples. נפלינו is of the same root and meaning as in (Exodus 9:4) “And the Lord shall make a separation (והפלה) between the cattle of Israel etc.”

V’NIPHLINU’ (SO THAT WE BE DISTINGUISHED) I AND THY PEOPLE. This means that our portion be that which is unique, something which is not to be found amongst all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

"We shall be distinguished" — this is derived from the root of "Hashem shall set apart" (above, 9:4), one of the words whose root contains the letter heh.

ובמה יודע איפא, even though we may indeed enter the Holy Land and the angel will drive out the Canaanites, how would anyone become aware that what was happening was orchestrated by Divine forces? After all, people get driven out from their land in war all the time! There is nothing supernatural in such a phenomenon. הלא בלכתך עמנו ונפלינו, Moses refers to statements such as the ones he made in his song after the Egyptians drowned in Exodus 15,13-14 נחית בחסדך עם זו גאלת נהלת בעזך שמעו עמים ירגזון; “In Your love You led the people You redeemed; in Your strength You guide them to Your holy abode.” The people hear and tremble;” the reason the people tremble is because they watch miracles happening, indicating that the Jewish nation is a nation apart. As a result, they will lose their courage to resist the conquest, as Rachav testified even almost 40 years later when she told the spies that everyone is aware of the miracle G’d had wrought on behalf of His people and that no one has any courage left which would make him fight with a chance of success. (Joshua 2,10-11)

במה וודע...ופלינו אני ועמך?; Moses asks that he personally will be perceived as enjoying G’d’s special regard, by being distinguished in some visible manner. He argues that if he were to be thus recognisable as G’d’s intimate, this would reflect also on the people he is leading and would show the nations of the world the uniqueness of Israel and its relationship to its G’d.

And Hashem said to Moses: "Even this thing which you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor before Me, and I have made you great by name."

גם את הדבר הזה THIS THING ALSO — that My Shechinah shall not rest henceforth upon the other nations of the world, אעשה I WILL DO. And thus He did, for the prophetical words of Balaam (the heathen prophet) were not uttered by reason of the Shechinah resting upon him, but, as Scripture describes it, (Numbers 24:4) “[he saw the vision of the Almighty] fallen, but with eyes uncovered” (i. e. whilst fallen into a sleep his mental eyes were open and he saw in a dream what the Almighty was to reveal unto him) in a state of mind similar to that described by Job (Job 4:12) “a word was by stealth conveyed (יגנב) to me” — they (the heathen prophets) used to hear God’s message through a medium.

I WILL DO THIS THING ALSO THAT THOU HAST SPOKEN. Perhaps this manifestation of G-d’s good-will was at the end of the second [period of] forty days, in accordance with the opinion of our Rabbis, when the Holy One, blessed be He, became completely appeased with him, and He said to him, Hew thee two Tablets of stone like unto the first.

כי מצאת חן בעיני ואדעך בשם. "for you have found favour in My eyes and I have become intimate with you by My revealing to you My attribute י־ה־ו־ה." When Moses had previously referred to his having found favour in G'd's eyes he had reversed the relationship of his finding favour and his being granted an insight into the meaning of the Ineffable Name (verse 12). The Torah revealed here that the revelation of the meaning of the attribute of the name י־ה־ו־ה was the mark of the highest degree of finding favour in G'd's eyes. After all, even Noach had found favour in G'd's eyes (Genesis 6,8) but G'd's attribute י־ה־ו־ה had not been revealed to him. The Torah also wanted to make it abundantly clear that the reason G'd had revealed this most elusive attribute of His to Moses was because he had found favour in His eyes. There was a causal relationship between these two experiences. This relationship had not been recognisable when Moses referred to this in verse 12. If not for the present verse, we would have assumed that one could become privy to the revelation of G'd's supreme attribute without first having found favour in His eyes.

גם את הדבר אשר דברת אעשה, “also the request you have made (now) I will fulfill;” “you have requested to take you into My confidence concerning My attributes, I will reveal them to you.” G-d did so by revealing the 13 attributes.

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will also do this thing of which you have spoken.’” Even though you had almost despaired of the promise I have known you by name, nevertheless I am withdrawing from My anger and promising you also this great thing. And I will know you by name by virtue of your finding favor, even though you did not ask because of finding favor but rather [you asked] Make me know Your ways. Nevertheless, since the words I have known you by name came from your mouth, I will also do this thing because of your finding favor, and I will know you by name as before.

גם את הדבר הזה אשר דברת, your request to distinguish you in a visible manner I will also comply with, something in addition to the fact that I, personally, will accompany you on your journeys. The result of G’d granting Moses’ request was that his face radiated light when he descended from the Mountain the third time, as we know from 34,10. I will explain this in still greater detail there.

And he said: "Show me now Your glory."

ויאמר הראני נא את כבדך AND HE SAID I BESEECH THEE, SHOW ME THY GLORY — Moses saw that the hour was propitious and that his petitions were being favourably received, he therefore made a further request — that God should let him behold a reflection of His Glory.

AND HE [Moses] SAID: ‘SHOW ME, I PRAY THEE, THY GLORY.’ Moses desired that he should actually see in clear sight the Glory of G-d. It is possible that Thy Glory here means the Great Glory — the clear vision. And G-d answered him, I will make the measure of all My goodness pass before thee, that you will comprehend and understand all My goodness more than all men, but the vision of the Presence that you have asked for, you will not be able to see.

"Your glory" — this means Your very essence, for it is also written "for the sake of My glory" (v. 22).

את כבודך, how every creature, every phenomenon in this universe derives from You, even though these phenomena do not appear to be even faintly related to one another. This is what Isaiah 6,3 meant with the words מלא כל הארץ כבודו, “all the earth is filled with His glory.”

הראני נא את כבודך. "Please show me Your glory." While it is true that our sages in the Mechilta on Exodus 15,2 have said that the Israelites became privy to visions not even granted to the prophet Yecheskel when they stood on the beaches of the sea of reeds. We have already heard that G'd spoke with Moses "face to face," and these visions were only of "G'd being a consuming fire." When G'd told Aaron and Miriam that He had revealed Himself to Moses far more clearly than to them (Numbers 12,7), this referred to a level below that which Moses aspired to now when he asked to see G'd's glory in our verse. Moses perceived that the time was opportune for him to ask to be granted still further insights and this is why he now chose to ask.

הראני נא את כבודך, “please give me visual access to Your Glory.” Moses asked for a visual appearance of G-d’s essence;

הראני נא את כבודך, “please show me Your glory.” There is an emanation called כבוד beyond what is generally perceived as כבוד, “glory.” Seeing that Moses had already achieved seven emanations at the time of the revelation at Mount Sinai, he now asked for still greater insights into the workings of G’d, and better understanding of G’d’s essence. The כבוד mentioned in this verse is the emanation כתר, the highest (10th) of the emanations. It is a reference to the tetragram, i.e. the level of י-ה-ו-ה, and this is the reason the word כבדך here is spelled without the letter ו before the ד. Also, the addition of the word את in front of כבדך which is always an allusion to something additional may refer to the emanation חכמה which Moses included in his request. Our sages, when dealing with the word את when applied to what appears to be a reference to G’d,- a problem seeing that G’d has no-one beside Him,- have stated that in Deut. 6,13 where the Torah writes את ה' אלוקיך תירא, “fear the Lord your G’d,” that the word את is meant to include a measure of reverence for the Torah scholars. Alternatively, the word כבדך does not refer to this highest emanation but to the כבוד אחרון, i.e. that Moses requested the insights into G’d’s workings to be made visible to his physical eye rather than to his mental eye. We need to examine how Moses could have assumed that the abstract, i.e. any aspect of G’d’s כבוד, could possibly have qualified for perception by the human eye. Moses who was on a level where his physicality had receded into an insignificant aspect of his being, [had he not gone without food and drink for 40 days? Ed.], was not conscious of such limitations as he had not really experienced them. He did not think in terms of his physical attributes losing their effectiveness as he had long since ceased to rely on his physical attributes. He thought in terms of what he would retain of his physical attributes after he would leave an earthly existence. He hoped to attain already at this time what he felt sure he would attain as soon as he would die. G’d told him that this was not possible. The fact that his soul was housed in a functioning body made the granting of such a request impossible.

And he said, “Please show me Your glory.” Our Sages said (Yalkut Shimoni 33:395) that Moses asked to see the reward for commandments in the World to Come, which is called “glory,” as it is said, The wise shall inherit glory (Proverbs 3:35). And He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you.” This refers to both the reward of this world and the abundant good stored up for the righteous [in the World to Come]. However, “you cannot see it all; you will see only its edges.” You will see the reward of this world, which is called My back, like something secondary that one throws behind oneself. But My face, meaning the reward of the World to Come where the righteous see the face of the Divine Presence — while a person is entangled in physical matter, he cannot see this, as it is written, No eye has seen, etc. (Isaiah 64:3). Regarding this, He said, You cannot see My face, for the face itself is the reward of the righteous who enjoy the light of His blessed countenance. This is what is meant by, And you will see My back, but My face shall not be seen. Our Sages said (Berakhot 7a) that He showed Moses the knot of the tefillin. For we find that the name Shaddai is engraved on the tefillin: the Shin and Yod are in front — the Yod on the hand tefillin and the Shin on the head tefillin — which spells “Yesh” [existence], alluding to the reward of the World to Come, which has real existence and substance, as it is written, That I may cause those who love me to inherit substance [yesh] (Proverbs 8:21). And on the back is the Dalet in the knot of the tefillin, alluding to the reward of this world, which comes from the four [dalet] directions of the world, as it is written, You shall spread out to the west and to the east, etc. (Genesis 28:14). Similarly, God said to Moses, Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift your eyes westward and eastward, etc. (Deuteronomy 3:27), hinting to him that he could see only “that which is behind,” [as per the Aramaic translation]. So too it is said, And the Lord showed him all the land… to the most distant Sea [Yam] (Deuteronomy 34:1). Our Sages interpreted (Sifrei 31:2) “to the most distant day [yom],” meaning until the resurrection of the dead, but not including it. For the reward of the resurrection of the dead, God did not show him, as he could not see it or understand its essence at all. Therefore, the word et [את, meaning “the”] is used with My back but not with My face, which the Targum translates as “that which is behind Me,” meaning that which is secondary to Him and outside of Him. But with My face, the word “et” is not used, because the reward is not secondary to His blessed face; rather, the light of His face is itself the reward, as it is written, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him (Isaiah 40:10). And this is the secret of the large ayin and dalet in the verse Shema Yisrael, to say that the human eye cannot see except for the dalet [the number four], meaning the reward of this world. And similar to this we explained in our work Olalot Ephraim regarding what Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said: “The reason I am sharper than my colleagues is because I saw Rabbi Meir from behind; had I seen him from the front, I would have been even sharper” (Eruvin 13b). This means that he only grasped from him those insights that were secondary to him [Rabbi Meir], like something trivial that a person throws behind him. And had I [Rabbi Yehuda] grasped the light of his face, meaning the essential insights that are referred to as “face,” certainly I would have been even sharper.

ויאמר, הראני נא את כבודך. “I said: please reveal to me Your glory.” Moses requested that G’d show him His true face in a vision, something our sages are in the habit of referring to as אספקרלריא המאירא, “a clear, unambiguous visual image.” G’d answered him that what He would do was to parade before him a number of phenomena, each of which represented some of the ways in which He demonstrated His earnest desire to be of benefit to His creatures; as a result of viewing these phenomena one after another, he, more than any other human being, would develop an appreciation of what G’d’s essence was all about; however, it was impossible to do more without terminating Moses’ life, as it was not given to mortals to get a still deeper insight into what an Eternal G’d, the Creator of the universe, was truly like.

הראני נא את כבודך, at first glance we must surely wonder how Moses could have had the audacity to demand to see G’d and to ask for such as a means to derive personal satisfaction from it. It is totally incompatible with the attitude Moses displayed at the burning bush when the very thought of seeing something Divine filled him with fear and he was afraid to look. (Exodus 3,6). There can be no question but that what motivated Moses to formulate the above request was only that G’d would fulfil his two wishes, 1) to distinguish him individually, and 2) to personally travel with the people. To this effect he added הראני נא את כבודך, referring to previous occasions when a covenant had been concluded between G’d and Avraham, and as a sign of this Avraham had witnessed the entire procedure of the covenant between the pieces in Genesis 15,18. Moses, as Avraham before him, asked for some sign that the covenant would endure. We read about this occurring in 34,6 and 10 where Moses has a special personal revelation which includes G’d revealing to him 13 of His attributes, each of which is of relevance when inducing forgiveness and repentance. In verse 10 in that chapter G’d promises to make this special relationship manifest by hitherto unheard of miracles. The distinction G’d provided for Moses personally was such that the people did not dare approach him as the light radiating from his forehead blinded them (34,30)

And He said: "I will cause all My goodness to pass before you, and I will call in the name of Hashem before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy."

ויאמר אגי אעביר וגו׳ AND HE SAID, I WILL MAKE ALL MY GOODNESS PASS [BEFORE YOU] — The time has arrived when you shall see of My Glory so much as I will allow you to see according as I wish, and therefore I find it necessary to teach you a set form of prayer. Just now when you felt the need to pray for mercy on Israel’s behalf you besought Me to remember the merits of the patriarchs and you thought that if the merits of the patriarchs are exhausted there is no more hope — I will therefore cause all the attribute of My goodness to pass before you on the rock whilst you are placed in the cave. וקראתי בשם ה׳ לפניך AND I WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD BEFORE THEE, to teach you the formula when praying for mercy even though the merits of the patriarchs should be exhausted. And according to the manner in which you see Me doing this, cloaked — as it were — in the Talith and proclaiming the thirteen attributes of mercy, do you teach Israel to do. And because that they will make mention before Me of the attributes: “Merciful”, “Gracious!” thereby proclaiming that My mercies do not fail (even though the merits of the patriarchs are exhausted) (Rosh Hashanah 17b). וחנתי את אשר אחון I WILL BE GRACIOUS TO WHOM I WILL BE GRACIOUS i. e. in times when I shall be disposed to be gracious, ורחמתי AND I WILL SHEW MERCY — those times that I shall desire to show mercy (Midrash Tanchuma 3:9:27). For the time being He only gave him (Moses) the promise: At times I will answer your prayer, at times I will not answer it. But at the time this was carried out (i. e. when He proclaimed the Attributes) He said to him (Exodus 34:10) “Behold, I make a covenant…” (I make this irrevocable) — thus assuring him that they (the 13 Attributes of Mercy when invoked in time of need) will never prove ineffective (Rosh Hashanah 17b).

AND I WILL PROCLAIM THE NAME OF THE ETERNAL BEFORE THEE. I will proclaim before you the Great Name, for you will not be able to see Him. AND I WILL BE GRACIOUS [through it] TO WHOM I WILL BE GRACIOUS, AND WILL SHOW MERCY [through it] TO WHOM I WILL SHOW MERCY. This means that by this proclamation you will know the attributes of graciousness and mercy, by which people are shown grace and mercy through My name and through My goodness. It is with reference to this [knowledge received by Moses] that G-d said of him, he is trusted in all My house, for a man’s goodness is in his house.

Regarding "as I pass" — in Abraham it is written "he called in the name of Hashem" (Gen. 12:8), and it is human beings who are summoned to worship Hashem; therefore the phrase "in the name" is connected with the glorious Name. Not so in "Hashem called in the name of Hashem" (below, 34:5), for there it is Hashem who is the caller — and so too here: "I will call out in the name of Hashem before you" (v. 19).

אני אעביר כל טובי על פניך, this will not be denied due to My not being unwilling to bestow these insights. As proof, אעביר כל טובי על פניך וקראתי בשם ה' לפניך, G’d proclaims what He says using the name of Hashem, the “name” which informs people and teaches them about His existence as the G’d whose ways are those pf goodness. By saying that He will parade all of His goodness before Moses, He implies that if Moses had been capable of understanding all of the hidden aspects of G’d’s essence He would indeed have fulfilled all of Moses’ requests. Nonetheless, i.e. in spite of Moses’ or better, man’s inherent inability to understand all of this, G’d will reveal a fragment of His modus operandi; by doing this Moses would acquire a glimpse of G’d’s essence as portrayed in 34,5. וחנותי את אשר אחון, I will grant you the degree of insights I grant all those who find favour in My eyes. I am in the habit of being very generous in the application of this principle. ורחמתי את אשר ארחם, I will use My attribute of Mercy so that you will not die during the experience, just as it is My custom to extend mercy to all those who, in My opinion, qualify for such. In practice this means that I will put My hand over you shielding you, as we read in verse 22.

אני אעביר כל טובי על פניך, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, etc." G'd referred to all His "positive" attributes which he employs for the benefit of His creatures. When G'd added the words על פניך, this is the reason for G'd doing what He said He was about to allow Moses to perceive. Moses' פניך, is a reference to the manner in which Moses had achieved the intimacy with G'd thus far, as we explained earlier. וקראתי בשם השם לפניך, "and I will proclaim the name of G'd before you." G'd announced to Moses that He would "parade" each of His attributes before him identifying them by name; it is possible, that G'd meant that He would explain to Moses that all these attributes were in fact part of the INEFFABLE name. There is no greater revelation man can experience than to have all this explained to him by means of his sense of hearing. When G'd added: וחנותי את אשר אחון, "I will be gracious to whom I choose to be gracious to," this was a hint that Moses' timing to ask for such revelations was particularly appropriate.

ויאמר אני אעביר את כל טובי על פניך, “I will let all My goodness pass before you (your eyes) [and identify each attribute of Mine. Ed.] This also is the completion of a subject G-d had already touched upon when He had said, (without specifying) in verse 17: (“I will also grant this wish of yours”). Concerning Moses’ plea to be granted a visual revelation of G-d’s essence, however, He told him that this wish could not be fulfilled as long as his soul was attached to a body; in other words, he would have to wait until after his death. When Moses first heard G-d say that He would not be able to make out G-d’s features, he thought that perhaps G-d thought that he was not sufficiently alert to different features. In order to make clear to Moses that this was not the issue, He immediately told him what He would show him, i.e. from a safe distance when what he would see could not harm him physically; He told him that there was a “place” not far from where His essence was from which he could safely watch if not G-d’s “face” but His “back,” i.e. the result of His having visited that place. G-d’s attributes are recognisable by means of His manifest intervention in His universe and the changes that this intervention will result in. [Some of these words are mine. Editor.] Some scholars interpret this verse differently; they do not understand Moses as having asked to actually “see” G-d with his physical eyes, and they remind us that this same Moses at the burning bush had reacted to a vision of the Divine by hiding his face in fear. (Exodus 3,6) They therefore understand Moses as asking for a visual symbol that his request had been granted. This would serve as a covenant between G-d and himself. As a result, these sages understand Moses’ request as follows: “please show me Your glory by means of concluding a covenant with me, confirming what I requested and Your willingness to grant that request.” G-d consented to doing this, as we know from His saying: “I will let all My goodness pass before your eyes;” this was followed by G-d saying in Exodus 34,10: הנה אנכי כורת ברית נגד כל עמך אעשה נפלאות וגו', “Here I am concluding a covenant with you by displaying miracles in the presence of all of your people, etc. (Rash’bam) אעביר, “I shall proclaim;” We find this root in a similar context in Exodus 36,6, ויעבירו קול במחנה, “they proclaimed loudly throughout the camp, etc.;” כל טובי, “all My goodness;” G-d refers to the fact that He will treat not only the righteous with a positive attribute, but even the wicked, [by rewarding them for any good they have done in this life before they die. Ed.] וקראתי בשם ה' לפניך, “I shall proclaim the name of the Tetragram in your presence;” Rashi explains this as follows: I will teach you in which order to formulate your prayers for appealing to My attribute of Mercy even if by that time the merit of the patriarchs may have been exhausted; the order in which you and your people will appeal to Me will be patterned on the order in which I am about to reveal to you, after wrapping Myself in My tallit, [to prevent you from having to endure a visual revelation of My essence Ed.] I will call out to you the 13 attributes which follow in 23,57. This “tallit ”of Hashem, is referred to again in 34,5, as well as in Job 38,9: בשומי ענן לבושו וערפל חתלתו, “when I clothed it in clouds, swaddled it in dense clouds.” וחנותי את אשר אחון, “I shall grant grace to those Whom I deem it fit to do so.” [G-d does not write a blank cheque for Moses, but reserves for Himself the right, when He deems it appropriate to answer negatively to a prayer, or to answer positively to the prayer of those whom His creatures consider as undeserving of His mercy. Ed.] According to our author, this phrase, sounding almost like a postscript, is to be understood as referring to Moses having said in verse 16: ונפלינו אני ועמך מכל העם, “so that we are distinguished, I and Your people when compared to any other nation.”

אני אעביר כל טובי על פניך, “I shall make all My goodness pass before you.” We would have expected the Torah to write לפניך instead of על פניך, just as the Torah wrote וקראתי בשם ה’ לפניך in the second half of this verse. According to the plain meaning of the text, I believe that Moses had difficulty with understanding the term ארך אפים as part of the nuances of the attribute of Mercy. He could not understand why G’d had not said ארך אף, “holding back anger (sing.), but had said “holding back angers” (pl.). G’d answered him that He practiced this nuance differently when relating to a righteous person who had sinned and when relating to an habitual sinner. When Moses heard this he exclaimed that the wicked should get their just deserts and perish. G’d responded that Moses would experience in his own lifetime that this nuance of G’d’s attribute of ארך אפים was indeed necessary. When Moses prayed for forgiveness after the sin of the spies (Numbers 14,17-18) we find him asking G’d to apply this very nuance of the attribute of Mercy when he said ועתה יגדל נא כח ה’ כאשר דברת לאמור ה’ ארך אפים ורב חסד וגו’. In other words: Moses reminded G’d of what He had told him here that the attribute of Mercy reflecting G’d’s patience with man would be applied differently to the righteous and to the wicked, but it would be applied in some measure to both the righteous and the wicked. Seeing that this was so, G’d had to use the plural, i.e. על פניך, to allude to the fact that the time would come when Moses himself would invoke this aspect of G’d’s Mercy against his better judgment. An alternative way of understanding the unusual wording in our verse, i.e. the expression על פניך instead of לפניך, is that it was a reference to the rays of light which Moses would emit from his forehead when he would return from his final visit on Mount Sinai with the second set of Tablets. By allowing all of His goodness to literally pass over Moses’ face, enough would be stored there to enable him to radiate it for the rest of his life unless he covered his face with a veil of some sort (compare Shemot Rabbah 16,11 in reference to Exodus 34,29). A Midrashic approach (Shemot Rabbah 45,6) to our verse, i.e. the words כל טובי. The word כל refers to an additional dimension of this attribute, a dimension which appears to the recipient as if some disaster struck him. וחנותי את אשר אחון, “and I shall show favor when I choose to show favor, etc.” At this particular time G’d showed Moses all the kinds of reward in store for the righteous, each one in accordance with the deeds he had performed while alive. Moses would look at the various treasures and ask: “whose treasure is this?” G’d would answer that it was in store for Torah scholars. Of a different kind of treasure G’d would say that it was in store for people who had shown honor and respect to Torah scholars. Eventually, G’d showed him another treasure greater than any of the previous ones. When Moses inquired who this treasure was for, G’d answered that it was reserved for people who perform good deeds (practical good of immediate benefit to their fellow man). G’d added that whereas the people who had various merits to their credit would receive part of the treasures Moses had been shown first, the ones who did not have such merits would receive part of that great treasure He had shown Moses last. This is what is meant by the words: “I shall show favor to the ones I choose to show favor to.” A Kabbalistic approach: The 'goodness' referred to in “I shall make all My goodness pass before you” is the attribute known as כל as in such verses as (Exodus כי לי כל הארץ (19,5, or in כי כל בשמים ובארץ, (Chronicles I 29,11) i.e. the word כל is a reference to an attribute of G’d.

וקראתי בשם ה' לפניך, “I will proclaim the name Hashem before you.” I will let you hear My ineffable Name, seeing that it is not given mortal man to view a visual imagine of My essence. וחנותי את אשר אחון ורחמתי את אשר ארחם, “I will show grace to those to whom I choose to show grace, and I will treat with mercy those whom I deem fit to be treated with mercy.” By means of My proclaiming My Name, you will realize something about the facet of Me known as חנינה and the result of the exercise of this facet of My various characteristics you will know who has been the recipient of חנינה and who has been the recipient of mercy. The meaning of the line ולא יראני האדם וחי, is not- as many misunderstand- that as a result of man being granted a visual image of the essence of Hashem that he would die; rather, the meaning is that before a living human being would attain the spiritual capacity to view such an image his soul would depart from his body, for we know that even angels cannot experience the kind of visual image Moses requested, to wit: (Daniel 10,16) במראה נהפכו צירי עלי, “in the vision my joints shudder.” [Daniel who was shown the vision of an angel who experienced the overwhelming awe with which that angel related to his own vision. Ed.]

וחנותי את אשר אחון, there I will explain to you My attributes.

וחנותי את אשר אחון ורחמתי את אשר ארחם, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful.” I will explain to you the guidelines according to which you will choose which of My attributes to use at a particular time or occasion. However, as to your request for a visual revelation of My Essence, this is not something that can be granted to any living human being at any time.

And He said: "You are not able to see the face of My Shechinah, for no man can behold Me and survive."

ויאמר לא תוכל וגו׳ AND HE SAID, THOU CANST NOT [SEE MY FACE] — and even when I make all My goodness pass before you I shall not allow you to see My face.

FOR MAN SHALL NOT SEE ME AND LIVE. This does not mean that man could see Him, but must immediately die; it means that before he could grasp the sight, his soul would depart from him, for even of the vision of the angels it is said, by reason of the vision my pains are come upon me, [and I retained no strength].

"Shall not see Me" — with a qamatz, as in "and I said, no one sees me" (Isa. 47:10); compare "to bring us out of Egypt" (above, 14:11) and "if Hashem returns me" (II Sam. 15:5). The meaning of "and live" is "and survive," for he would otherwise die immediately — for Manoah said, because he had seen the angel: "Because we have seen God we shall die" (Judg. 13:22), and Jacob too said: "I have seen God face to face and my life was spared" (Gen. 32:31) — and that was only an angel; how much more so regarding the glorious Name Himself. Some say that "no man shall see Me and live" means that one who sees Him will live forever — but this contradicts the plain sense of the language. Others say that the word לא serves a later clause, so the sense is: "No man shall see Me, and not the living" — meaning, only the angels could.

ויאמר לא תוכל לראות, your inability to see what you would like to see is not due to My depriving you, personally, of such an experience, but is rooted in man’s inability to “see” such things unless you had died first, as an eye of flesh and blood cannot “see” such things. You would be fatally blinded before understanding anything you would “see.”

ויאמר לא תוכל לראות, He said: "you are not able to see, etc." G'd meant that it was not He who withheld visual insights from Moses, it was simply that being a mortal human being, a composite of flesh and spirit, made such a thing impossible. This is why G'd added the word וחי, "and remain alive," to explain to Moses that because G'd wanted Moses to remain alive He could not grant his wish at this time. This would correspond to the thoughts expressed by the Psalmist when he said: (Psalms 84,11) "better a day in Your courtyard than a thousand (days in Your palace)." Alternatively, we may understand this verse to mean that even if man were חי, i.e. a perfectly righteous individual, immortal, G'd cannot be "seen" by man. We would have to understand the word חי in the sense it is used in Samuel II 23,20 where Benayahu son of Yehoyadah is described as בן איש חי, "a perfectly righteous individual." The letter ו at the beginning of the word וחי in our verse indicates that it adds something to what had already been stated, i.e. the inability to "see." Still another way of understanding the words כי לא יראני האדם וחי, is that even after death it is impossible for man to "see" G'd. G'd asks: How can you expect to "see" G'd while still alive? Whatever "light" the righteous will be able to "see" in the hereafter does not come close to what you Moses are asking of Me at this time.

כי לא יראני האדם וחי, “for as long as a human being is alive, he cannot experience My essence visually.” According to Rabbi Shimon the Yemenite,” the definition of a human being is that he is alive. But even celestial creatures named חיות are named thus to remind us that though they “live” forever, they too are not able to have a visual experience of G-d’s essence (Torah Shleymah 131 on our verse.) If you were to counter that Isaiah 6,2 claimed to have experienced such a visual revelation when he said: ואראה את ה׳אדוני יושב על כסא, “I have seen G-d seated on a throne,” this did not describe what is known as a clear vision, but as something at best like a reflection from a mirror; he had been screened by a partition at the time.

כי לא יראני האדם וחי, “for man cannot both have a visual perception of My essence and remain alive at the same time.” According to the plain meaning of the text this line means that man cannot live on physically if he is granted a vision of G’d’s essence. We find something similar in Judges 13,22 where Manoach voices the opinion that he and his wife are going to die forthwith as they believed they had “seen G’d.” If he thought that even seeing an angel of the Lord was beyond living man’s capacity to endure, the same applies all the more so to someone who beheld an even higher celestial being. Of course, the difference is that the essence of G’d, unlike the appearance of a angel, is never something that can be perceived with the human eye. After death, such essence does become visible to the soul’s mental eye; this is what our sages meant when they said (Sifra Vayikra first section chapter 2,12) that whereas during their life on earth they cannot see Him, they are able to do so after they have died.” This concept is confirmed by David in Psalms 22,30 where he writes: “all those at death’s door whose spirits flag shall bow down before Him.” [If they could not see Him how would they know before whom and when to bow down? Ed.] We also find a statement in the Jerusalem Talmud Avodah Zarah 3,1 that shortly before his death Rabbi Avuhu was granted a vision of the reward in store for him in heaven. He marveled at the vastness of that reward, exclaiming: “is all this for Avuhu?” A Kabbalistic approach to the words: “for man cannot see Me and remain alive.” It is noteworthy that G’d did not say כי לא יראה אותי but כי לא יראני האדם וחי. Had the Torah used the former wording we would have concluded that man’s inability to behold G’d was due to an objective reason, i.e. that G’d had categorically ruled this out. By using the wording in front of us, the Torah made it plain that our inability to behold Him is rooted in subjective causes, i.e. as long as man is subject to influences originating in his body he cannot qualify for such insights as looking upon the essence of G’d. Proof that theoretically, man can behold G’d is found in Isaiah 6,1 who said: ”I have seen the Lord.” [In fact King Menashe used this line as the excuse for condemning Isaiah to death as a false prophet citing our verse as proof that seeing G’d while in a mortal shell is impossible. Ed.] Another verse in which “seeing” G’d is reported as something a number of people were able to do is Exodus 24,10: ויראו את אלו-הי ישראל, “they saw the G’d of Israel.” In that verse the word את which does not appear in our verse of כי לא יראני האדם וחי gives food for thought. I have explained in that instance that the word את in the verse in Parshat Mishpatim refers to these people having had a vision of the Shechinah rather than of the essence of G’d. This is also why Ezekiel used the word את when describing his vision in Ezekiel 2,2 ואשמע את מדבר אלי. Clearly, the word את with the vowel tzeyreh is a reference to a noun, i.e. the Shechinah. We find the word את being used in a similar capacity in Psalms 145,20 ואת כל הרשעים ישמיד, “He will destroy all the wicked people,” where that word also refers to a certain attribute of G’d (the attribute of Justice) carrying out this retribution, seeing that the attribute of Mercy is the one which ensures that the ones who love the Lord stay alive as mentioned in the first half of that verse. The word אדם in our verse is preceded by the letter ה meaning that the verse speaks about someone familiar to the reader. Had the verse intended to make an all-encompassing statement including all humans, the Torah should have written כי לא יראה אותי אדם וחי, “for man will not see My essence and live.” This would have proved conclusively that G’d had initiated this denial of man’s insight on a unilateral basis. The failure of the Torah to use the wording we just described makes it clear that the denial of the insight Moses requested was not rooted in the nature of the essence of G’d Himself. Ezekiel could not have had the visions he described in chapter one of his book (the famous Maaseh Merkavah 1,10), if the inability to see the essence of the Lord had been decreed by Him as something absolute. This then is the true meaning of the words: “for man (such as he is) cannot see Me and live.” Rabbi Akiva adds (in the Sifra mentioned earlier) that the chayot (high-ranking angels) which Ezekiel depicted as the carriers of G’d’s throne in his vision, cannot see Him either. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai adds further that even the ministering angels who are equipped with eternal life (not subject to the limiting factor וחי, “while alive”) cannot behold the essence of the Lord either.

And Hashem said: "Behold, there is a place prepared before Me, and you shall station yourself upon the rock."

הנה מקום אתי BEHOLD, THERE IS A PLACE BY ME — On the mountain where I am continually speaking with you there is a place prepared by Me for your sake where I will hide you that you may not be hurt by the vision. From there you will see what you will be permitted to see. A Midrashic explanation is that by the word מקום Scripture is speaking of the place where the Shechinah is and that He therefore said, “The place is by Me” and He did not say, “I am in the place”, because the Holy One, blessed be He, is the “place” of the Universe (comprises the Universe) but His Universe is not His place (does not encompass Him) (Genesis Rabbah 68:9).

BEHOLD, THERE IS A PLACE BY ME — on this mountain, where My Glory resides. AND THOU SHALT STAND UPON THE ROCK — which was upon the mountain, as it is said, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb.

"You shall stand on the rock" — this is the top of the mountain, for it is written elsewhere: "Stand there for Me at the top of the mountain" (below, 34:2). God said that He would stand there Himself; and on account of the Glory, He Himself would place Moses in the cleft of the rock — for it is written "I will place you," not that Moses would enter on his own. Now I will give the overall sense of this section. The Gaon said that Hashem told Moses: bring up this people from the place where they sinned, and in another place I will forgive them; and Moses replied: if Your anger does not relent now, in this very place, do not take us away from here. In my view, the correct explanation is this: because Hashem had told him "I will send an angel before you" (v. 2), Moses replied, "You have not told me whom You will send with me" (v. 12) — whether it is the one of whom it is written "for My name is within him" (above, 23:21). Hashem answered him: "I Myself will go and I will give you rest" (v. 14) — meaning, for you personally I will go, but I will not dwell in the midst of the children of Israel. Moses therefore replied: "If Your face does not go with this nation" — as he himself said above, "see that this is Your nation" (v. 13) — "do not take us up" — in the plural. The clearest proof of this interpretation is: "By what shall it be known that I have found favor in Your eyes, I and Your people — is it not by Your going with us?" (v. 16). Hashem replied: "This thing also, which you have spoken, I will do, for you have found favor in My eyes" (v. 17). Therefore Moses rejoiced and said: "Let Hashem go in our midst" (below, 34:9) — the opposite of "I will not go up in your midst" (v. 3). Moses then sought to behold Hashem, and Hashem replied: "No man can see Me and live" (v. 20) — and this is the truth, for the senses can only perceive accidents, not essences. This explains "they saw the God of Israel" (above, 24:10), and likewise "I saw Hashem" (Isa. 6:1), and all of Ezekiel's prophecy — all is in divine visions. Hence the text says here "you shall see My back" (v. 23), while elsewhere it says "the form of Hashem does he behold" (Num. 12:8). These matters require a lengthy explanation. The Gaon said that "the face" refers to the face of the light — by analogy, the face of the sun — and "the back" refers to what remains of that light after it has clung to something. But all this is unnecessary. Before I explain this, let me say: know that Hashem did not speak with Moses face to face until the third forty-day period onward; it was because Hashem passed before his face that the skin of his face shone. For at the beginning of Moses' prophecy it was through the angel appearing in the bush, and there it is written "And Hashem said" (above, 3:7), and likewise "Hashem went before them by day" (above, 13:21) — for the messenger speaks in the name of the sender. The day on which Moses saw what he sought was for him like the day of the giving of the Torah to Israel; no human being before him or after him attained his level. Our Sages said that He showed him the knot of the tefillin — and their words are correct, though not as the scholars of our generation interpret it literally, for it is a deep secret. The author Abraham [ibn Ezra] says: I have already explained that the Name that is written but not read as written is the Name of the Essence, and the Essence is the Glory. When you combine the sum of all the letters it amounts to seventy-two; therefore our Sages said it is the Explicit Name. When you combine the first square with the middle square you truly get the same value as the Name — likewise from the combinations of the five planets, and also when you combine the letters that one pronounces in half the Name, you get the value of the Name. When you combine the squares of the even-numbered letters at the first level, they equal the combined value derived from half the Name. When you multiply the first half of the Name by the second half you obtain the squares of the odd-numbered letters. And if you subtract the first square from the second, the remainder equals the cube of the second letter; and if you subtract the second square from the third, the remainder equals the cube of the third letter. This glorious Name is the One who stands by His own self, needing nothing prior to Him. When you contemplate Him from the perspective of number — which is the foundation of all — every number among the units is the one that is all. Therefore the mystery of the prayers and the praises, and the meaning of "I will be magnified and I will be sanctified" (Ezek. 38:23), and "in you I will glorify Myself" (Isa. 49:3). The One has no form, yet He is in a general sense the source of all forms, for all proceed from Him. The celestial bodies — the luminaries and the stars — have no front or back; how much less then the higher soul of man, and still less the ministers of the Most High, and still less the Most High of the Most High. The extension between two points — the near point, which is the prince of the face and the prince of power, and the far point, the limit of that power — constitutes a directional line. The movement of man is forward; that of a celestial body is to the right; that of a plant is upward. Moses, peace be upon him, was able to know and see with the eye of his mind how all creatures are attached to the Creator — which is called "the back." Yet by the way of the Glory, no created being has the capacity to know this, and this is "no man can see Me and live" — because the human soul is joined to the body. After the death of the enlightened person, his soul will attain a level that it could not attain during his earthly life. Moses became a universal being, and therefore Hashem said "I have known you by name" — for only He knows the particulars and their components in a universal manner. Because the most honored thing on earth is man, the cherubim were in human form. The most honored among men is Israel; therefore the text speaks of the knot of tefillin. So it is written in the Shi'ur Qomah, for Hashem is the Creator of every body and of everything that is exalted in the body; what is base in the body is its accidental properties. Rabbi Ishmael said: Whoever knows the measure of the Creator is assured a place in the World to Come — and I and Rabbi Akiva are guarantors for this. This is the meaning of "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). Know that all plants and living things on earth, birds, animals, beasts, reptiles, and all mankind, are bound to the forty-eight configurations of the celestial sphere — and this is the meaning of "which Hashem your God has apportioned to all the peoples" (Deut. 4:19). Those who added illumination to their own understanding perhaps knew this and did not wish to reveal the secret to students, as the faithful witness attests: "but He has not given them to you" (Deut. 29:25). Know that the conjunctions number a hundred and twenty — the combinations of seven — and the greatest conjunction in terms of its total number is one, and the second conjunction is twenty-one, and correspondingly the conjunction of five. This number proceeds from seven conjunctions; the conjunction of three is thirty-five, which also proceeds from seven conjunctions, and so too the conjunction of four. The conjunction of six is seven, and the conjunction that encompasses all the nations of the earth according to the sign of each boundary among the seven boundaries that comprise the entire inhabited world — about these it is written: "You have established all the boundaries of the earth; summer and winter You have formed them" (Ps. 74:17), for the change varies in all the boundaries — You formed them — and the change does not come from the sun itself, only from its inclination toward the north or toward the south. The second conjunction of the two superior planets in the sign of Aries recurs every nine hundred and sixty years, and they both cycle from the sign of their conjunction to the ninth sign every twenty years, and so they cycle twelve times until two hundred and forty years, and then begin again in the same manner through the earth signs, and through the air signs, and through the water signs. Let it not occur to you that the four qualities exist in the heavens, with heat in the sun, cold in the moon and Saturn — God forbid, God forbid — for the higher beings are noble, and about them it is written: "for He commanded and they were created. He has established them forever and ever; He gave a decree that shall not be transgressed" (Ps. 148:5–6). Rather, they were created as they are for the sake of those who receive from them. The ministers cannot alter their courses, nor can any of them transgress the decree Hashem has given it; and all the hosts of heaven and the lower beings receive from them according to their respective constitutions. Therefore they neither benefit nor harm of themselves. Whoever worships the celestial host will receive no more than what was already decreed for him according to the constellation of his birth — unless the higher power watches over him beyond what the stars decree, because he cleaves to that power, in which case he is rescued from the decrees. I will give you a meaningful parable: suppose the stellar configuration indicated that a river would flood over a certain city and sweep away people or kill them, and a prophet came and warned them to return to Hashem before the day of disaster came, and they returned to Him with all their heart; and because they cleaved to Him, He put it into their hearts to go outside the city to pray to Hashem. They did so; on that day the river suddenly rose as usual — as we have seen with our own eyes many times — and flooded the entire city. Yet Hashem's decree was not nullified, and it was He who saved them. Think of the ministers as horses galloping along a road; they do not gallop to cause harm or benefit, that is simply their way. Think of a blind man on that road who does not know the horses' habit of when they turn right or left; he relies on a sighted man who knows their course, and that man guards him — for when they run to one side, he leads the blind man to the other side, the horse's gallop does not change, and the blind man is saved. For this reason Hashem said, after "He has apportioned them" (Deut. 4:19): "But you Hashem has taken to be His own inheritance" (Deut. 4:20) — and likewise: "For not like these is the portion of Jacob; for He is the Maker of all things" (Jer. 51:19). This is the meaning of "we shall be distinguished, I and Your people" (v. 16 above). And this is what our Sages meant when they said: Israel has no mazal, so long as they observe the Torah; but if they do not observe it, the mazal dominates them — as is proven by experience. For whenever there is a conjunction in the sign of Aquarius with an evil configuration, evil will come upon Israel, as those versed in the science of the stars will confirm. At the time of the Egyptian bondage there was in the celestial configuration a conjunction that would have kept Israel in exile for many more years; but because they cried out to Hashem and returned to Him, Hashem saved them. What happens to the collective also happens to the individual — therefore: "One who keeps the Torah, happy is he" (Prov. 29:18). Thus, "I have known you by name" (v. 12 above) is like "Hashem knows the way of the righteous" (Ps. 1:6). And "Show me now" (v. 18 above) is not sight by the physical eye. And "upon your face" (v. 19) means upon your inner face, which is the face of the heart. The meaning of "all My goodness" is that it is not the whole, not all, not accompanied by the whole. The meaning of "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious" applies to Moses — for I will cause all My goodness to pass before your face, and before I pass I will have mercy on you; and this is expressed by My covering you with My palm. The palm is like a covering, like one who shields the substance of the sun with his palm so that one's soul does not depart from one's body. "You shall see My back" — from the perspective that He is all, and His glory fills all, and all proceeds from Him, and all forms together constitute the whole — and this is "the form of Hashem does he behold" (Num. 12:8).

הנה מקום אתי, there does exist a place from which visions of G’d can be obtained, the place where both Moses and the prophet Elijah stood in a cave or beside a cave as described in Pessachim 54 as one the 10 items G’d created at dusk on the sixth day of creation.

ונצבת, “you shall stand;” the meaning of the word is to remain stationary, not advancing or planning to advance. על הצור, “on the rock;” another way of sayings: “on the top of the mountain.” This has been spelled out in Exodus 34,2.

הנה מקום אתי ונצבת על הצור, “Behold there is a place by Me, and you shall stand upon the rock;” the author refers to an explanation he has found in a Midrash known as Socher tov (chapter 90) in which a Rabbi Chanina queries why, i.e. to what purpose, one of the Lord’s names is מקום, “place,” (Genesis 19,27). He answers that essentially far from G–d being in any place, G–d and place are identical, i.e. anything we call “place,“ is in reality occupying part of G–d’s place as He created space. Our author feels that one could still have been in doubt whether this means that any מקום on earth or in the universe is always to be understood as secondary to Him, or if on occasion it is used as primary to anything surrounding the subject under discussion. By referring to מקום אתי, “a place next to Me,” G–d reminded Moses that any “place” is always secondary to Him.

"And it shall come to pass that when My Glory passes by, I will place you in the cleft of the rock, and I will shield you with My Word until I have passed."

בעבר כבדי WHEN MY GLORY PASSETH BY – i. e. when I shall pass before you. בנקרת הצור IN A CLEFT OF THE CRAG — נקרה is similar in meaning to the verbs in (Numbers 16:14) “Wilt thou bore out (תנקר) the eyes of these men?”; (Proverbs 30:17) “The ravens of the valley shall pick it out (יקרהו)”; (2 Kings 19:24) “I have digged a well (קרתי) and drunk strange waters”. All these have the same derivation. נקרת הצור thus means a place dug out of the rock. ושכתי כפי AND I WILL SHELTER [THEE] WITH MY HAND — Hence it is evident that permission has been given to the destructive agencies to wound. The Targum renders ושכתי כפי by ואגין במימרי “I will protect thee with My word” This is merely a circumlocution in a manner more respectful to the Most High God and the Targum did not translate it literally because He (God) does not need to cover a person with the hand actually in order to protect him.

"I will cover you" — whether written with a shin or a samekh, the meaning is the same. Commentators have said that "My palm" here means a thick cloud, as in "He covers the light with His palms" (Job 36:32) and "I have inscribed you on My palms" (Isa. 49:16). But it means nothing other than its plain sense.

והיה בעבור כבודי, “it will be when one of My attributes passes;” I am placing you into the cleft in the rock in order that you will not need to look at My essence with your face (to protect you) ושכותי כפי, “I will cover you with the palm of My right hand;” this is a simile for a cloud G–d will place between Himself and Moses. We find a similar expression in Lamentations 3,41:נשא לבבינו אל כפים אל אל בשמים, “let us lift up our hearts with our hands to G–d in heaven.” In other words: “I will act as a protective cloud in front of you to prevent you from seeing ‘Me’ with your eyes.

"And I will remove the word of My Glory, and you shall see that which is behind Me — but that which is before Me shall not be seen."

והסרתי את כפי AND I WILL REMOVE MY HAND — The Targum renders this by ואעדי ית דברת יקרי “I will remove the guidance of My Glory”; it means: when I shall remove the guidance of My Glory from before thine eyes — to go right away from that place, וראית את אחרי THEN THOU SHALT SEE WHAT IS BEHIND ME — He showed him the Tephillin-knot which is placed behind the head (cf. Berakhot 7a; Menachot 35b).

BUT MY FACE SHALL NOT BE SEEN — meaning the clear countenance, as I have explained. It is possible that the word achorai (My back — and thou shalt see ‘My back’) is of similar usage as in the verse, Thou hast hemmed me in behind and before, in accordance with the opinion of our Rabbis.

"My face shall not be seen" — these are what are seen; it is not like "they shall not appear before Me empty-handed" (below, 34:20), where the males are the ones who appear.

וראית את אחורי, where you will be able to glimpse how all the celestial forces below My level of Divinity carry out their activities; but ופני לא יראו, but understanding of how My execution of My thoughts translates into something concrete, neither you nor anyone else will be capable of “seeing.”

וראית את אחורי, "you will see My back, etc." The essence of G'd is, of course, not divisible into "front" and "back." G'd is aware of the desire of all His creatures to "see" how His light spells the continued existence of His universe. At the same time it is impossible by definition that any creature can behold this light as it would spell its doom. What did G'd do? He surrrounded His Essence with a kind of "curtain" or screen in order to diffuse the light which would otherwise have proved too blinding. The creation of such a screen created the impression in the beholder that there is something in "front" and something at the "back" of such a screen. When we look at man who is composed of spirit and body, we peceive his body as his "back," and his spirit as his "front", or "face." The "light" that G'd's Essence has made accessible to the spiritually most advanced human being is called "back," whereas the "light" He has screened out is called "front" as it is beyond the screen. This is what G'd meant when He said: "you will see "My Back" but you cannot see "My Face." It is also possible that the very mention by G'd of His "face" immediately after mention of His "back," i.e. אחורי ופני, indicated that even the part of Him that He described as "My Back" contained a "face;" however, G'd had arranged that only the rear of that two sided spirit or "light" would be visible so as to provide the prophet with some idea of when he faced a Divine presence. The word אחורי may have been employed to indicate that Moses would be very close to perceiving G'd's Essence, that He did not "hide" behind multiple screens. If there had remained several "screens" between G'd's Essence and Moses, G'd would have spoken of Achorey Achoray, and not simply of Achoray. Any intelligent and sincere servant of G'd will make only minimum eye contact with his Creator [in other words not look at Heaven beseechingly while engaged in prayer. Ed.] when bowing down during prayer.

וראית את אחורי, “you will see My back;” you will see an aura of light which will linger after My essence has passed. The light which precedes Me and which is too dazzling, you will not see.

וראית את אחורי, after I shall have passed before you during the concluding of the covenant you will be enabled to see this aspect of Me. Jeremiah 34,18 describes the formality of walking between the two halves of the calf which had been cut in half as such a solemn undertaking to honour the covenant concerning releasing former Jewish slaves that he adds the warning that people not honouring the covenant would pay with their lives and not even be given burial. We have therefore several instances where the word ויעבר, passing between the two halves symbolising the two parties to a covenant, is of the essence.

והסירותי את כפי, “and I will remove My hand;” so that Moses’ experience will parallel someone seeing someone’s back, being unable to identify that person.