Commento su Deuteronomio 34:10

אשר ידעו ה׳ פנים אל פנים WHOM THE LORD KNEW FACE TO FACE — this means: that he was familiar with Him and used to speak with Him at any time he desired, just as it is stated that Moses said, (Exodus 32:30), “And now I will ascend to the Lord”; (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 Him and he spoke with Him whenever he wished, as it is stated, and now I will go up unto the Eternal;³⁰⁷Exodus 32:30. Stay ye, that I may hear what the Eternal will command concerning you.”³⁰⁸Numbers 9:8. This is Rashi’s language. But it is not correct, for in that case [if the verse extols Moses’ familiarity with G-d] it should have said, “who knew the Eternal face to face.” Rather, this is similar to the expressions: and I know thee by name;³⁰⁹Exodus 33:17. Yet Thou hast said: I know thee by name.³¹⁰Ibid., Verse 12. The verse thus states that there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel whom G-d so exalted as to communicate with him face to face. Similarly, Eternal, what is man that ‘vateida’eihu’³¹¹Psalms 144:3. means “that You should bestow honor upon him by giving heed to him,” like What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him?³¹²Job 7:17. 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 G-d and Moses were like two people who know one another well; however, Scripture said only that G-d knew Moses, not vice-versa], since out of respect to the Most Exalted it did not want to mention that Moses also knew Him that way. Now, do not be surprised that Scripture speaks in praise of Moses saying, Whom the Eternal knew face to face, and it also states, And the Eternal spoke unto Moses face to face,³¹³Exodus 33:11. and with reference to all Israel it is likewise stated [the very same praise], The Eternal spoke with you face to face!³¹⁴Above, 5:4. For there [in the case of all Israel] he explained out of the midst of the fire,³¹⁴Above, 5:4. meaning to say that they heard His voice out of the midst of the fire only, and they did not actually see His Presence. Similarly he explained, and upon earth He made thee to see His great fire, and thou didst hear His words out of the midst of the fire.³¹⁵Ibid., 4:36.
And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the verse here states that G-d knew Moses face to face [to a degree that it was possible] to cleave to Him whenever the spirit³¹⁶Numbers 11:25. came upon Moses our teacher. It was so at the time of the Giving of the Torah, but the people perceived only the Voice out of the midst of the fire.³¹⁷See Exodus 19:20 (Vol. II, pp. 282-284). Thus Scripture explained that all prophecies of Moses were as on the day that the Torah was given, while the rest of the prophets had the hand of the Eternal upon them.³¹⁸See Ramban to Numbers 12:6. Understand this.

ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה, no other subsequent prophet ever attained the lofty spiritual stature of Moses. This explained the statement by our sages that no prophet is allowed to innovate something in the Torah since Moses had died. (Shabbat 104) This statement also explains the rule that no Rabbinical assembly may invalidate a decree by another such Rabbinical assembly which had preceded it, unless it could be proven to be more competent and consisted of a greater number than the Rabbinical assembly which had originated said decree. (Megillah 20)

ולא קם נביא עוד, and no other prophet arose, etc. The past tense קם means that as of the time when these words were written no other comparable prophet had arisen. The addition of the word עוד means that no comparable prophet would arise in the future either.

אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים, “whom Hashem had known face to face.” Rashi explains this strange expression as Moses feeling so familiar with Hashem that he would speak to Him at any time, without special preparation. Nachmanides questions this, writing that if this were correct the Torah should have made Moses the subject in our verse, not Hashem¸ and should have written אשר ידע את ה' “who was familiar with Hashem, who knew Hashem so well, etc.” According to Nachmanides the meaning of the verse is based on the statement ואדעך בשם, (Exodus 33,17) where it means: “I have known you by name.” Knowing someone by name presumes knowing someone closely, relatively intimately. In the case of Hashem, who had told Moses that it is impossible for a living human being to see His essence or comprehend it, he was granted the next best thing described by the Torah repeatedly in the above terms. Knowing someone by name also implies a degree of mutuality. While it is true that the term פנים בפנים occurred also as a mode of speech employed by Hashem vis a vis the whole people, (Deut. 5,4) the difference is that on that occasion it was G’d speaking out of the fire and the people having had to prepare themselves for that spiritual experience for three days beforehand. Moses was always on a level when he was spiritually prepared. [Likely as not, the term פנים אל פנים is a way of describing the difference between believing something and knowing something, the latter being superior to the former. Ed.]

He [Moshe] had an easy familiarity with Him, etc. Rashi is answering the question: How one can possibly speak of Hashem having a face when He has no image or form? Therefore he explains that the meaning is not according to the plain connotation, but rather it means like a person who has easy familiarity with his fellow and speaks to him any time he desires.

VV. 10 — 12. ולא קם נביא וגו׳ לעיני כל ישראל. Diese drei Schlussverse sind die Besiegelung des durch Mosche gebrachten Gottesgesetzes und sichern ihm seine ewige Unantastbarkeit und Unveränderlichkeit. Sie heben daher aus Mosche Sendung nur drei Momente und zwar die hervor, welche jeder etwaigen ganzen oder teilweisen Abrogierung des göttlichen Gesetzes durch irgend einen späteren Propheten, sowie jeder kecken oder leichtsinnigen Hintansetzung desselben einen ehernen Schild ewig entgegenhalten. Das לא des V. 11 und 12. Sowohl לכל וגו׳ des V. 10 bezieht sich auch auf das קם וגו׳ hinsichtlich der ידיעה פנים אל פנים als der אותות ומופתים במצרים und der יד חזקה ומורא גדול die er לעיני כל ישראל zu vollbringen hatte, steht Mosche einzig da.

ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה, “there never again arose in Israel a prophet of the stature of Moses;” the reason the word בישראל, “in Israel,” has been added here is to tell the reader that we do not need to be told that no such prophet arose amongst the gentiles, but that even among the Israelites there never arose a prophet to equal Moses in his stature. We had been given proof of this in Exodus 33,16, when the Torah wrote: נפלינו אני ועמך מכל העם אשר על פני האדמה, “and so that we are distinguished, I and Your people from all the people that are on the earth.”

'אשר ידעו ה, whom G’d had endowed with so much knowledge by turning His face to him. We have been told in Samuel I 10,6 that receiving even a small measure of prophetic insight makes the recipient an איש אחר, a different person. This is why the prophet Amos 2,11 when referring to the deeds of loving kindness performed by G’d for the people lists the fact that G’d gave many Israelites prophetic insights. The people, during Amos’ time, instead of availing themselves of the spiritual inspiration thus accessible, forbade these prophets to impart their visions, etc., reversing and frustrating G’d’s purpose. Seeing that all of G’d’s activity stems exclusively from His own personal knowledge (cannot be evaluated properly by His creatures, seeing that they are “only” His creature) the Torah records G’d as saying that אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים, that in His communications with Moses and granting him insights into His ways, He did so exclusively for Moses’ benefit. This expression ידע appears repeatedly in Scriptures in this sense of endowing someone with insights. One example is Psalms 144,3 מה אדם ותדעהו, “what did man do that You should take the trouble to grant him such insights?” Another such example is found in Exodus 33,17 ואדעך בשם, “I granted you some insights about My essence, by making you familiar with some of My attributes.” [my translation. Ed.] Compare also Exodus 2,25 Psalms1,6 and numerous other examples. [If I do not err, the author feels that seeing that G’d’s omniscience is axiomatic in Judaism, such phrases as the ones quoted cannot simply mean “G’d knew,” for there would be no point in the Torah stating the obvious. They must therefore imply that G’d communicated some of His knowledge. In Exodus 2,25 the Torah meant to tell us that the Jewish people would shortly become aware that G’d knew all about their condition and would do something about it, something that would also raise their spiritual level as a result. Ed.]

בישראל, "amongst the people of Israel." This is a hint that the greatness of Moses as a prophet was due in large measure to the people of Israel. This is supported by the statement in the Sifri that during all the years when the Jewish people were in G'd's disfavour, G'd did not even communicate with Moses. Our sages claim that the word בישראל means that whereas no comparable prophet arose in Israel, there was a prophet of comparable stature amongst the Gentiles, i.e. Bileam.

Die Unmittelbarkeit, in welcher Gott sich und seinen Willen Mosche für die von ihm zu vollbringende Sendung, zu welcher er ihn — ידעו (siehe Bereschit 18, 19 und Schmot 33, 12) — aus dem Menschenkreise hervorgehoben, kundtat, wird von keinem späteren Propheten erreicht, ihrer wird keiner in Jisrael wieder sich rühmen können. פנים אל פנים, Angesicht zu Angesicht empfing Mosche jedes Wort seiner Sendung, — Schmot 33, 11 und Bamidbar 12, 8 — kein nicht in solcher unverhüllter Unmittelbarkeit empfangenes Wort wird je an einem Laut der Mosche unvermittelt gewordenen Gottesworte rütteln können. Und die Gott und seine Allmacht bekundenden אותות ומופתים, mit welchen Mosche in seiner Gottessendung Israel aus Ägyptens Gewalt für Gott und sein Gesetz frei zu machen hatte, und die יד החזקה und מורא הגדול, die starke, sich ihr Eigentum nicht entreissen lassende Hand und die von jedem Ungehorsam zu fürchtende Größe, die sodann Mosche לעיני כל ישראל in Israel und gegen Israel für das von ihm gebrachte Gesetz und Israels Erhaltung für dasselbe zu vollbringen hatte: die stehen für alle Zeiten jeder äußeren Gewalt und jeder inneren Keckheit und Verirrung warnend entgegen, die es je unternehmen möchten, Israel in seinem Berufe zu entfremden und damit das Werk der Sendung Mosche zu gefährden. —

אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים, “who knew the Lord face to face.” This has been recorded in Numbers 12,8: פה אל פה אדבר בו ומראה לא בחידות ותמונת ה' יביט, “with him I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly and not in dark speeches and he beholds a visual image of the Lord.”An alternate interpretation: “G-d did know Moses face to face, but Moses did not know G-d face to face, for G-d Himself is on record as saying: כי לא יראני האדם וחי, “for no human being can see Me while he is still alive.” (Exodus 33,20)

פנים אל פנים, while in full possession of his faculties.