Commento su Esodo 33:19

ויאמר אגי אעביר וגו׳ AND HE SAID, I WILL MAKE ALL MY GOODNESS PASS [BEFORE YOU] — The time has arrived when you shall see of My Glory so much as I will allow you to see according as I wish, and therefore I find it necessary to teach you a set form of prayer. Just now when you felt the need to pray for mercy on Israel’s behalf you besought Me to remember the merits of the patriarchs and you thought that if the merits of the patriarchs are exhausted there is no more hope — I will therefore cause all the attribute of My goodness to pass before you on the rock whilst you are placed in the cave.

AND I WILL PROCLAIM THE NAME OF THE ETERNAL BEFORE THEE. I will proclaim before you the Great Name, for you will not be able to see Him. AND I WILL BE GRACIOUS [through it] TO WHOM I WILL BE GRACIOUS, AND WILL SHOW MERCY [through it] TO WHOM I WILL SHOW MERCY. This means that by this proclamation you will know the attributes of graciousness and mercy, by which people are shown grace and mercy through My name and through My goodness. It is with reference to this [knowledge received by Moses] that G-d said of him, he is trusted in all My house,⁴⁹⁵Numbers 12:7. for a man’s goodness is in his house.

אני אעביר כל טובי על פניך, this will not be denied due to My not being unwilling to bestow these insights. As proof,

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.

וחנותי את אשר אחון, there I will explain to you My attributes.

I will cause all My goodness to pass. This refers to the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. God revealed to Moshe that the moment of their proclamation would be an auspicious time to make requests of Him. And will proclaim the Name, Ad-noy. The Thirteen Attributes were to be preceded by the Divine name (see v. 6). I will be gracious … I will be compassionate. At that time God would bestow His graciousness upon those whom He deemed worthy, regardless of whether they had requested it and He would have compassion on those who sought His compassion.

וקראתי בשם ה' לפניך, “I will proclaim the name Hashem before you.” I will let you hear My ineffable Name, seeing that it is not given mortal man to view a visual imagine of My essence.

The time has come for you to see of My Glory. . . [Rashi knows this] because it is evident from the verse as a whole that even without Moshe’s request, God needed to show him and teach him the order of prayer. This is because “I will cause all My goodness to pass. . .” does not answer Moshe’s request, which was to see Hashem’s Glory. Thus Rashi says that God anyway needed to teach him the order of prayer, for it can be seen from what Moshe had said that [he thought] once the merit of the Patriarchs is exhausted, no longer is there any way for someone to make a request, Heaven forbid. For Moshe said (32:13), “Remember Avraham. . .” Therefore [said Hashem], I need to teach you the order of prayer, by which someone who makes a request can have it accepted. And when I show you this order, you will receive what you requested: seeing Hashem’s glory. This means seeing Hashem’s back, which is the tefillin knot [see Rashi on v. 23,] rather than seeing His face. [His face cannot be seen] because it says (v. 20), “For no man can see My Presence and live.” (Re”m)

VV. 19 u. 20. Die Antwort auf diese Bitte wird ihm in zwei Sätzen; V. 19 sagt ihm, was ihm gewährt werden würde, V. 20 was ihm versagt bleiben müsse. Der erhöhte Grad der Erkenntnis, die Intuition, wird ihm gewährt: אני אעביר וגו׳ על פניך וקראתי וגו׳, nicht bloß das Wort, sondern die Anschauung soll ihm werden, schauen soll er und während er schaut, soll das Wort ihm das Geschaute deuten; allein das zu Schauende ist eben nichts anderes als das, worauf sich bereits seine erste Bitte bezog: die Wege Gottes in der Einheit ihrer Vielheit. Diese Einheit, dieses Prinzipium, das in jedem Teile dieser Mannigfaltigkeit, wie das eine Licht in dem siebenfarbigen Strahlenspektrum, zur Verwirklichung kommt, heißt "טובי", ,טוב .(Ps. 25, 7) חטאות נעורי וגו׳ למען טובך ד׳ die "Güte" Gottes, wie ,טוב ד׳ gut, ist ein wesentlich relativer Begriff, es ist an sich das Heilentsprechende, allein dieses Heil selbst ist durch die Eigentümlichkeit des Objekts bedingt, dessen Heil vollzogen werden soll. Indem Gott Mosche Anschauung כל טובו vorüberführen will, soll er die ganze Mannigfaltigkeit der Erscheinungen sehen, in welchen sich die eine Güte Gottes seinen Geschöpfen, insbesondere seinem Menschen gegenüber bewährt. Es ist ja eben die durch die sittliche Freiheit des Menschen gegebene Mannigfaltigkeit seiner Erscheinungen, die die Mannigfaltigkeit der ihn zu seinem Heile erziehenden Gottesführungen bedingt. Es ist überall dasselbe Heil, überall dieselbe Güte. Das gewöhnliche Auge sieht eine gegensatz- und widerspruchsvolle Mannigfaltigkeit. Mosche Auge soll die Einheit in all dieser Mannigfaltigkeit, diese höchste Harmonie aller Harmonien, nicht nur ahnen, denken, begreifen lernen, er soll sie schauen, אעביר כל טובי על פניך, und gleichzeitig will Gott ihm das Geschaute in Worten deuten: וקראתי בשם ד׳ לפניך. Es könnte dies ganz in dem Sinne zu verstehen sein, wie wir diesen Ausdruck קרא בשם ד׳: Menschen im Namen Gottes auf- und heranrufen, bei Abraham etc. kennen. Gott will ihn lehren, wie das von ihm zu Schauende zur Gottesverkündigung an die Menschen in die Sprache der Menschen zu kleiden wäre. In der Tat wird auch (Rosch Haschana 17 b) die Ausführung dieser Zusage (Kap. 34, 5) also gefasst: אמר ר׳ יוחנן אלמלא מקרא כתוב אי אפשר לאומרו מלמד שנתעטף הכ׳׳ה כשליח צבור והראה למשה סדר תפלה, Gott lehrte ihn, wie die Menschen Ihn sich zu verkünden hätten. Allein in allen den sonstigen Stellen, die das Heranrufen der Menschen im Namen Gottes bedeuten, ist בשם und ד׳ den Akzenten nach verbunden. Hier aber und Kap. 34, 5 ist בשם mit קרא zu einem Verbalbegriff verbunden und ד׳ als Objekt beigefügt. Demgemäß hieße es: und ich werde Gott mit Namen vor dir verkünden, oder, was dem Sinne nach dasselbe ist: mit Namen vor dir nennen, d. h. ich werde die ganze Mannigfaltigkeit meiner einheitlichen Güte an deinem schauenden Blick vorüberführen, und jede Nuance dieser Mannigfaltigkeit durch einen sie bezeichnenden Gottesnamen dir zum Begriffe bringen. — וחנתי וגו׳: ich werde nämlich vor deinen Augen חנינה und רחמים üben. Ich werde dich sehen lassen, wie meine חנינה und רחמים sich verschiedentlich gestaltet nach der Besonderheit dessen, dem ich sie gewähre; ich werde dir nicht nur zeigen, wie meine einheitliche Güte sich in der Mannigfaltigkeit der רחמים ,חנינה. usw. manifestiert, sondern wie selbst diese einzelnen Manifestationen sich wieder nach der Verschiedenheit der von ihnen zu umfangenden Individualitäten verschiedentlich nuanzieren. Du sollst kennen lernen, wie individuell meine Führung ist. — Eben dieses Individuelle der göttlichen Führungen, dass Gottes חן sich verschiedentlich gestaltet nach dem את אשר יחון, sein רחמים verschiedentlich nach dem את אשר ירחם, entzieht sie ja der Einsicht des Sterblichen, die notdürftig sich zu einer Erkenntnis von Generellem zu erheben vermag, der aber jede Individualität als verschleiertes Geheimnis gegenüber steht. Daher irren wir so leicht in Beurteilung der "Wege Gottes" und vergessen, dass, wo nach unserer Beurteilung uns צדיק ורע לו und רשע וטוב לו erscheint, wir nicht nur in Erteilung der Prädikate צדיק ורשע irren können, sondern uns ganz gewiß die Fähigkeit abgeht, in jedem konkreten Falle mit Sicherheit das רע לו und טוב לו auszusprechen, da nur die tiefste Einsicht in die Individualität eines Menschen bestimmen kann, was ihm in Wahrheit רע und was in Wahrheit ihm טוב sein möge. Aus diesem Gesichtspunkte können beide Aussprüche sehr wohl neben einander bestehen, dass, wie es die Ansicht R. Joßis (Berachot 7 a) ist, Mosche die Lösung dieses Rätsels der göttlichen Waltung gezeigt worden, und dass nach der Ansicht R. Meïrs (daselbst) ihm gleichwohl dieses Rätsel Geheimnis geblieben. Selbst wenn Gott ihn die Lösung dieses Rätsels durch Veranschaulichung des Individuellen seiner Führung erschauen ließ, wie dies in וחנותי את אשר אחון וגו׳ liegt, so wird doch die immerhin menschliche Einsicht selbst eines Mosche nicht hingereicht haben, nach diesem Kanon nun einen jeden vorkommenden Fall der göttlichen Waltung zu beurteilen. — —

וחנותי את אשר אחון ורחמתי את אשר ארחם, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful.” I will explain to you the guidelines according to which you will choose which of My attributes to use at a particular time or occasion. However, as to your request for a visual revelation of My Essence, this is not something that can be granted to any living human being at any time.

ויאמר אני אעביר את כל טובי על פניך, “I will let all My goodness pass before you (your eyes) [and identify each attribute of Mine. Ed.] This also is the completion of a subject G-d had already touched upon when He had said, (without specifying) in verse 17: (“I will also grant this wish of yours”). Concerning Moses’ plea to be granted a visual revelation of G-d’s essence, however, He told him that this wish could not be fulfilled as long as his soul was attached to a body; in other words, he would have to wait until after his death. When Moses first heard G-d say that He would not be able to make out G-d’s features, he thought that perhaps it is not clear so that he could not identify different features. In order to make clear to Moses that this was not the issue, He immediately told him what He would show him, i.e. from a safe distance when what he would see could not harm him physically; He told him that there was a “place” not far from where His essence was from which he could safely watch if not G-d’s “face” but His “back,” i.e. the result of His having visited that place. G-d’s attributes are recognisable by means of His manifest intervention in His universe and the changes that this intervention will result in. [Some of these words are mine. Editor.] Some scholars interpret this verse differently; they do not understand Moses as having asked to actually “see” G-d with his physical eyes, and they remind us that this same Moses at the burning bush had reacted to a vision of the Divine by hiding his face in fear. (Exodus 3,6) They therefore understand Moses as asking for a visual symbol that his request had been granted. This would serve as a covenant between G-d and himself. As a result, these sages understand Moses’ request as follows: “please show me Your glory by means of concluding a covenant with me, confirming what I requested and Your willingness to grant that request.” G-d consented to doing this, as we know from His saying: “I will let all My goodness pass before your eyes;” this was followed by G-d saying in Exodus 34,10: הנה אנכי כורת ברית נגד כל עמך אעשה נפלאות וגו', “Here I am concluding a covenant with you by displaying miracles in the presence of all of your people, etc. (Rash’bam) אעביר, “I shall proclaim;” We find this root in a similar context in Exodus 36,6, ויעבירו קול במחנה, “they proclaimed loudly throughout the camp, etc.;”

וקראתי בשם ה׳ לפניך AND I WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD BEFORE THEE, to teach you the formula when praying for mercy even though the merits of the patriarchs should be exhausted. And according to the manner in which you see Me doing this, cloaked — as it were — in the Talith and proclaiming the thirteen attributes of mercy, do you teach Israel to do. And because that they will make mention before Me of the attributes: “Merciful”, “Gracious!” thereby proclaiming that My mercies do not fail (even though the merits of the patriarchs are exhausted) (Rosh Hashanah 17b).

אעביר כל טובי על פניך וקראתי בשם ה' לפניך, G’d proclaims what He says using the name of Hashem, the “name” which informs people and teaches them about His existence as the G’d whose ways are those pf goodness. By saying that He will parade all of His goodness before Moses, He implies that if Moses had been capable of understanding all of the hidden aspects of G’d’s essence He would indeed have fulfilled all of Moses’ requests. Nonetheless, i.e. in spite of Moses’ or better, man’s inherent inability to understand all of this, G’d will reveal a fragment of His modus operandi; by doing this Moses would acquire a glimpse of G’d’s essence as portrayed in 34,5.

וחנותי את אשר אחון ורחמתי את אשר ארחם, “I will show grace to those to whom I choose to show grace, and I will treat with mercy those whom I deem fit to be treated with mercy.” By means of My proclaiming My Name, you will realize something about the facet of Me known as חנינה and the result of the exercise of this facet of My various characteristics you will know who has been the recipient of חנינה and who has been the recipient of mercy. The meaning of the line ולא יראני האדם וחי, is not- as many misunderstand- that as a result of man being granted a visual image of the essence of Hashem that he would die; rather, the meaning is that before a living human being would attain the spiritual capacity to view such an image his soul would depart from his body, for we know that even angels cannot experience the kind of visual image Moses requested, to wit: (Daniel 10,16) במראה נהפכו צירי עלי, “in the vision my joints shudder.” [Daniel who was shown the vision of an angel who experienced the overwhelming awe with which that angel related to his own vision. Ed.]

For My mercies are never exhausted. As opposed to the merit of the Patriarchs, where there is concern that it could possibly become exhausted.

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.

Von allen den verschiedenen Nuancen, unter welchen sich die eine "Güte" der göttlichen Waltung darstellt, werden hier nur חנינה und רחמים genannt. Sie sind die allgemeinsten und umfassendsten. הנן (verwandt mit הנן ,ענן), buchstäblich ja: begaben, ausstatten mit Kräften, Fähigkeiten und Mitteln, ist die früheste, die der Zeit nach erste Beziehung Gottes zu einem Wesen, ihr verdankt es sein Dasein, in tiefem Grunde ist ja חנן: werden lassen, Zukunft geben; und רחמים ist die zweite, fortan nimmer zu verlierende, das durch Gottes חנינה gewordene Wesen durch alle Phasen seines Daseins begleitende, die nicht von dem Wesen lässt, weil es durch sie geworden, weil sie der רחם, der "Mutterschoß" seines Werdens gewesen und darum auch der "schützende und erhaltende Mutterschoß" seines Daseins bleibt. Darum geht auch überall חנון dem רחום voran, und wird es in Stellen, in welchen, wie Kap. 34. 6; Ps. 86, 15 und 103,8. רחום voransteht, nur eine Wiedergewährung der חנינה bezeichnen.

כל טובי, “all My goodness;” G-d refers to the fact that He will treat not only the righteous with a positive attribute, but even the wicked, [by rewarding them for any good they have done in this life before they die. Ed.] וקראתי בשם ה' לפניך, “I shall proclaim the name of the Tetragram in your presence;” Rashi explains this as follows: I will teach you in which order to formulate your prayers for appealing to My attribute of Mercy even if by that time the merit of the patriarchs may have been exhausted; the order in which you and your people will appeal to Me will be patterned on the order in which I am about to reveal to you, after wrapping Myself in My tallit, [to prevent you from having to endure a visual revelation of My essence Ed.] I will call out to you the 13 attributes which follow in 23,57. This “tallit ”of Hashem, is referred to again in 34,5, as well as in Job 38,9: בשומי ענן לבושו וערפל חתלתו, “when I clothed it in clouds, swaddled it in dense clouds.”

וחנתי את אשר אחון I WILL BE GRACIOUS TO WHOM I WILL BE GRACIOUS i. e. in times when I shall be disposed to be gracious,

וחנותי את אשר אחון, I will grant you the degree of insights I grant all those who find favour in My eyes. I am in the habit of being very generous in the application of this principle.

That I will wish to be gracious. This is contrary to the verse’s apparent meaning, that God will be gracious to the people He is gracious to, and will be compassionate to the people He is compassionate to. [Rashi knows it does not mean this] because one who has received God’s graciousness does not need graciousness, and one who has received God’s compassion does not need compassion. Rather, it means: “At times I will respond, and at times I will not respond. . .”

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.

Dass der Inhalt der hier ausgesprochenen und Kap. 34, 6 verwirklichten Gewährung dem Gegenstande nach nur das הודיעני נא את דרכך der ersten Bitte in Erfüllung brachte, ist aus Ps. 103, 7 u. 8 klar, wo auf die Kap. 34, 6 Mosche gewordene Offenbarung mit den Worten hingeblickt wird: יודיע דרכיו למשה וגו׳.

וחנותי את אשר אחון, “I shall grant grace to those Whom I deem it fit to do so.” [G-d does not write a blank cheque for Moses, but reserves for Himself the right, when He deems it appropriate to answer negatively to a prayer, or to answer positively to the prayer of those whom His creatures consider as undeserving of His mercy. Ed.] According to our author, this phrase, sounding almost like a postscript, is to be understood as referring to Moses having said in verse 16: ונפלינו אני ועמך מכל העם, “so that we are distinguished, I and Your people when compared to any other nation.”

ורחמתי AND I WILL SHEW MERCY — those times that I shall desire to show mercy (Midrash Tanchuma 3:9:27). For the time being He only gave him (Moses) the promise: At times I will answer your prayer, at times I will not answer it. But at the time this was carried out (i. e. when He proclaimed the Attributes) He said to him (Exodus 34:10) “Behold, I make a covenant…” (I make this irrevocable) — thus assuring him that they (the 13 Attributes of Mercy when invoked in time of need) will never prove ineffective (Rosh Hashanah 17b).

ורחמתי את אשר ארחם, I will use My attribute of Mercy so that you will not die during the experience, just as it is My custom to extend mercy to all those who, in My opinion, qualify for such. In practice this means that I will put My hand over you shielding you, as we read in verse 22.