A Brief Insight while on the Road in Europe
In memory of the victims of the Pittsburgh shooting.
ויאמר לא תוכל לראת את פני כי לא יראני האדם וחי
And He said, “You will not be able to see My face, for No Human Being shall see Me and live.”
Shemot 33:20
Faith is deeper than knowledge. While scientific data is absorbed only in the brain, faith permeates all parts of the human personality. Nothing is untouched, all spiritual limbs quiver, and everything is transformed. It is thus more difficult to acquire faith than knowledge, and faith has a more radical effect on the human being.
Faith is difficult, especially in times of misery. Huge effort is required to maintain it, apply it and cherish it.
“To relate your Kindness in the morning and Your faith in the nights”[1] can be understood in the following way. If one invests in one’s faith by singing God’s praises during times of prosperity and good health, then, in the loneliness of difficult and sorrowful times, one may be able to continue believing in God’s faithfulness even when there is little evidence of such Divine allegiance.
An X-ray
Moshe requested of God, “Please show me Your glory.”[2] He was eager to understand God’s presence, as well as His way of dealing with the world and with every human being. God responded back, “You will see My back, but My face will not be seen.”[3]
Indeed, this metaphor has great meaning. In our world everything looks topsy-turvy, confusing and contrary to what reason dictates. The world stands with its back to reason. It’s not that Moshe simply “saw” God’s back and not His front; it’s that he saw the front from the perspective of the back. It was as if he was looking at an X ray whereby what is last is really first and what is in the front is really in the back.
Had he been able to see the front as the front and the back as the back, everything would have made sense. He would have realized that time is broken eternity, there where the real clock ticks to infinity. We are only able to see its flipside, like the letters on an ink stamp, which is a mirror image. Had Moshe indeed seen the final imprint he would have immediately departed from this world, since humans, being bound by the limitations of time, can never grasp this face-to-face encounter and survive.
Perhaps, to die is to be permitted to see the full story, in its infinity. For some, this takes a lifetime to realize; for others, it is altogether beyond their grasp. And then there are those individuals who, however young, seize it at a moment’s notice.
Notes:
[1] Tehillim 92:3.
[2] Shemot 33:18.
[3] Ibid. 33:23.
I believe that faith must be our sight in this world. We cannot fully comprehend the plan of the Holy One. Rabbi Soloveitchik pondered this problem of righteous suffering in Kol Dodi Kofek. He wrote, “In man’s limited view, the absolute good in creation is not apparent. The contrast is striking and undeniable. There is evil that is not susceptible to explanation and comprehension. Only by comprehending the world in its totality can man gain insight into the essence of suffering. However, as long as man’s perception is limited and fragmented, so that he sees only isolated portions of the cosmic drama and the might saga of history, he cannot delve into the recesses of evil and the mystery of suffering. To what might this situation be compared? To a person who views a beautiful tapestry, the work of a fine artisan, which contains, woven into it on its front a representation dazzling to the eye. To our great sorrow, we see this image (i.e., the world) from the obverse side. Can such a sight become a sublime esthetic experience? Thus, we are incapable of comprehending the panorama of reality without which one cannot uncover God’s master plan – the essence of the works of the Holy One.” Habbakuk 2:4 See the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright, but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.