Hol HaMoed Pesach
Exodus 33:12-34:26
Numbers 28:19-25
Ezekiel 37:1-14 by Rabbi Pinchas Lipner
Although our souls always thirst after truth and desire to understand G-d's essence, it seems that in our most difficult times we feel even more compelled to question and understand that which we are unable to understand.
In this age of scientific enlightenment, of cloning and trips to other planets, our egos reject the concept that there is much that we (try as we might) will never understand by nature of our human limitations.
Science seems to promise us that in time all can be known and understood. It calls to mind the story of the scientist who challenged the Almighty by saying, "We don't need you any more. We can create life ourselves." G-d then answered, "Please show Me." The scientist bent down to scoop up some earth at which point G-d said, "Oh, no you don't. You must start with your own material."
In the Torah passage for Shabbat Pesach we read in Exodus 33:16 that Moses asks of G-d, "Show me your glory." The Zohar (the foundation of Jewish mysticism) asks a question that is addressed by our sages in every age: "How did Moses dare to ask this?"
It then suggests that because Moses rose so high spiritually that he was able to neither eat nor drink for 40 days and nights (while he received the Torah) and was nourished by heavenly light, he thought himself worthy to ask this of G-d. G-d, however, answered, "You will not be able to see My face" (Exodus 33:20).
Although Moses had undergone an enormous spiritual ascent, he was told that as long as his soul was attached to his body, his request was impossible.
There is an entire literature surrounding Moses' quest for the unattainable. Rambam (Maimonides) in his responsa (1:615) says that Moses actually only wished to hear G-d's voice directly and not through an angelic translation. This, too, was impossible.
Had G-d's voice reached him directly, his soul would touch the heavenly source and would never return to the physical world. According to the Rambam (Yesodei HaTorah 1:10), Moses desired to know G-d in a manner different from human perception. G-d therefore explained to him that no living man could grasp such a thing clearly.
G-d did inform Moses of everything no man before or after him would ever know. Still, this knowledge was limited in that Moses saw only G-d's "back," so to speak (Exodus 33:23). This was not the familiarity Moses was seeking.
In Rambam's Moreh Nevuchim (1:10), he explains further that although Moses was not granted his wish to know G-d's essence, he was granted his wish to attain an understanding of G-d's conduct in the universe.
Rabbeynu Bachya explains this with the following example: It is possible to learn about the sun by examining its movements, but looking directly at the sun will damage the eyes. How much more so regarding the shining light of G-d's glorious throne. We can learn about G-d from Creation but not by studying G-d Himself.
Today as we pray for salvation for Jews in Israel and everywhere, we may be frustrated by our inability to understand the age-old question of why righteous people suffer and wicked people often thrive. We must settle for the understanding that if we could know all, we would be G-d. It is enough to know that He knows and that there is, as Tevye sang in "Fiddler on the Roof," a vast eternal plan. May He send the Messiah speedily to end all suffering and pain.
Shabbat shalom and chag sameach
The writer is dean of Hebrew Academy in San Francisco.