Parasha: Ki Tisa · Aliyah: Fourth (Netzach)

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.

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.

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 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.

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.