ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף שמות 33:13

Furthermore, there are commandments that are not obligatory for everyone, but only one individual can fulfill them on behalf of the public. For example, sounding the shofar on Yom Kippur and Memorial Day, the daily burnt offering, additional offerings, the public Torah reading, and similarly, one judge is sufficient to rectify all the perversions in a public setting. Each person is obligated to improve themselves, recognize the commandments of the Creator who formed them, and understand their own actions. Then they will know their Creator. Thus, Moses said, "Show me Your ways, that I may know You" (Exodus 33:13), and the prophet said, "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom" (Jeremiah 9:22), indicating that true wisdom is to know God. It is written in the Torah, "You shall know this day and consider it in your heart" (Deuteronomy 11:2), and David said, "Know the God of your fathers and serve Him with a whole heart" (1 Chronicles 28:9), for this is why humanity was created. And after one has rectified themselves, they may rectify others if they are able. Our ancient sages, may their memory be blessed, knew the secrets of the Divine Chariot (Merkavah) and the measurement of celestial heights. However, it should be emphasized that they only expounded upon these matters. Their words require interpretation, just as the words of the Torah do, as it is written, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). In the prophecy of Ezekiel, it is described as "the appearance of a man from above" (Ezekiel 1:26), and it further states, "in the likeness of the appearance of the glory of the Lord" (Ezekiel 1:28). At the end of it all, this book [the Sefer Yetzirah] alludes to this secret.

One of the deepest of mysteries, troubling Judaism from the dawn of its existence, is the ‎problem ‎of suffering. At a propitious moment of Divine compassion, Moses, the master of all ‎prophets, ‎pleaded before the Lord of All to be enlightened as to the workings of this ‎impenetrable ‎phenomenon.¹ I Moses knocked on the gates of heaven and cried out, “Show me ‎now Your ways, ‎that I shall comprehend You, so that I might find grace in Your eyes … instruct me ‎as to Your glory” ‎‎(Exodus 33:13, Exodus 33:18).‎

His petition to know the attributes of God is contained in the following words: “Show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight” (Exod. 33:13). Consider how many excellent ideas found expression in the words, “Show me thy way, that I may know thee.” We learn from them that God is known by His attributes, for Moses believed that he knew Him, when he was shown the way of God. The words “That I may find grace in thy sight,” imply that he who knows God finds grace in His eyes. Not only is he acceptable and welcome to God who fasts and prays, but everyone who knows Him. He who has no knowledge of God is the object of His wrath and displeasure. The pleasure and the displeasure of God, the approach to Him and the withdrawal from Him are proportional to the amount of man’s knowledge or ignorance concerning the Creator. We have already gone too far away from our subject, let us now return to it.