Seeing God

(12) Moses said to יהוה, “See, You say to me, ‘Lead this people forward,’ but You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. Further, You have said, ‘I have singled you out by name, and you have, indeed, gained My favor.’ (13) Now, if I have truly gained Your favor, pray let me know Your ways, that I may know You and continue in Your favor. Consider, too, that this nation is Your people.” (14) And [God] said, “I will go in the lead and will lighten your burden.” (15) And he replied, “Unless You go in the lead, do not make us leave this place. (16) For how shall it be known that Your people have gained Your favor unless You go with us, so that we may be distinguished, Your people and I, from every people on the face of the earth?” (17) And יהוה said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked; for you have truly gained My favor and I have singled you out by name.” (18) He said, “Oh, let me behold Your Presence!” (19) And [God] answered, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name יהוה, and the grace that I grant and the compassion that I show,” (20) continuing, “But you cannot see My face, for a human being may not see Me and live.” (21) And יהוה said, “See, there is a place near Me. Station yourself on the rock (22) and, as My Presence passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with My hand until I have passed by. (23) Then I will take My hand away and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”

כאשר ידבר איש אל רעהו, "as a man speaks to their friend." We understand this simile as emphasising the word רעהו, "their 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 human and invisible God is based on something deeper than the exterior sense of sight. If someone prepares to love their fellow the heart of that fellow responds to such invisible feelings. Alternatively, the meaning is that just as a "friend" will not love one unless they has reciprocated the feeling of love, so is God's attitude to us. If one wishes to gauge one's standing in the eyes of God one needs only to examine one's own attitude towards God and God's service. If one feels the urge to serve Adonai and delights in doing so, this is proof that God relates to such a person with love.

oפנים אל פנים, “literally: “face to face,” an obviously incorrect translation, seeing that God does not possess physical attributes; Our author takes it for granted that the reader is aware of this, and does not spell it out. The author does, however, indulge in presenting the reader with another insoluble problem, that of that either God or Moses must have changed position in order to speak to one another as if on the same level. The author therefore tells us, his readers, that he does not know if the expression means that God had raised Moses closer to God's level, or vice versa, i.e. that God had descended to Moses’ level. God 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.

אשר ידעו ה׳ פנים אל פנים WHOM Adonai KNEW FACE TO FACE — this means: that he was familiar with God and used to speak with God at any time he desired, just as it is stated that Moses said, (Exodus 32:30), “And now I will ascend to God”; (Numbers 9:8) “Stay and I will hear what God will command regarding you”.

WHOM THE ETERNAL KNEW FACE TO FACE. “[This means] that Moses’ heart was familiar with God and he spoke with God whenever he wished, as it is stated, and now I will go up unto the Eternal; Stay ye, that I may hear what the Eternal will command concerning you.” This is Rashi’s language. But it is not correct, for in that case [if the verse extols Moses’ familiarity with God] it should have said, “who knew the Eternal face to face.” Rather, this is similar to the expressions: and I know thee by name; Yet Thou hast said: I know thee by name. The verse thus states that there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel whom God so exalted as to communicate with him face to face. It is possible that [this is the intent of the verse]: because when two persons see one another face to face, they become acquainted with each other through that meeting, Scripture therefore says whom the Eternal knew face to face [indicating that God and Moses were like two people who know one another well; however, Scripture said only that God knew Moses, not vice-versa], since out of respect to the Most Exalted it did not want to mention that Moses also knew God that way.

...The whole thing is composed with the understanding of human beings in mind; since they think in terms of bodily shape, the Torah speaks in the language of human beings. Rather, this is a metaphor...and these are all parables. The truth is the human mind cannot understand the divine; it cannot grasp or fathom it.