Face-to-Face with the Eternal
Parashat Naso, Numbers 4:21:1–7:89
Daniel Nessim, Kehillath Tsion, Vancouver, BC
Is it possible to have a face-to-face conversation with God?
In Exodus 25:22, the Lord said that he would speak to Moses “from above the ark-cover, from between the two k’ruvim [or Cherubim] which are on the ark for the testimony.” We are also told in Exodus 33:11 that “Adonai would speak to Moshe face-to-face, as a man speaks to his friend.” That seems to flatly contradict what is said in Exodus 33:20: “a human being cannot look at me and remain alive.” Was Moses an exception to the rule? Is it possible for some people and not others to see God and live? How did this work and does it mean anything for us today?
The answer is in our parasha, Naso. Here we find a brief statement between the list of offerings of the leaders of the twelve tribes and the Lord’s instructions concerning the menorah inside the tent of meeting: “When Moshe went into the tent of meeting in order to speak with Adonai, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the ark-cover on the ark for the testimony, from between the two k’ruvim; and he spoke to him” (Numbers 7:89).
This statement gives us a number of insights:
First, Moshe would initiate the conversation, as we read, “When Moshe went into the tent of meeting in order to speak with Adonai.”
Second, the conversation was within the tent of meeting, not specifically the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies.
Third, Moshe was close enough to tell exactly where the voice was coming from, as “he heard the voice speaking to him from above the ark-cover on the ark for the testimony, from between the two k’ruvim.”
As Rashi comments, “When two Scriptural verses apparently contradict each other there comes a third and reconciles them.”
This week’s parasha tells us exactly how God would speak to Moses. There was a space between the wings of the cherubim, the holy angels above the Ark, and it was from between their outstretched wings that the voice of the Almighty was audible to Moses. Moses, on the other side of the parochet, the veil, did not actually see God, and there is no indication that the source of his voice was visible. The term “face-to-face” was clearly an expression of speech. Still, Moses talked with God!
As human beings we want interaction. As helpful as video services such as Zoom are, they can’t replace face-to-face conversation. Yet of all Israel, only one person was able to actually talk to Hashem “face-to-face.” What is more, that person was only able to talk to him in one place. After that one person died, there is no record of any other Israelite talking to God face-to-face like this. We could theologize about it and say that this distance is one of the consequences of our expulsion from Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden. But the events in Naso come well after we were cast out from that place where God would walk and talk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day.
So there is both something astonishing and wondrous about Moses speaking to Hashem. It is almost as if the curse had been rolled back a little bit, and even if just with this one man, and in this one place, God and man were once again talking face-to-face. The Tent of Meeting had just been completed. The venerable leaders of each of twelve tribes, excluding the Levites, had just given their offerings. Now, in the Tent of Meeting, Moses was meeting God.
We might think that it would have been wonderful if this custom had continued, perhaps through the Aaronic priesthood, to this day. The fact that it hasn’t gives pause for thought.
In Midrash Rabbah Rabbi Azariah tells a parable in the name of Rabbi Judah ben Simon:
There was an earthly king who had a dearly loved daughter. While she was small, he would speak with her publicly, but when she grew up as a woman, he realized that he needed to be more discreet, as talking to her in public was not suitable to her dignity. So he made a pavilion where he and his daughter could meet and talk.
In the same way, there is the sense that in God’s love for Israel, there was a time in the Garden when he could speak with us openly, but the time came when a more private, fitting place had to be made. That was the “pavilion” of the Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle. Israel, as a maturing child, was being given a permanent way in which to know her father was present and available to talk.
Like Moses, we are welcome to approach the Eternal on our own volition. There is no requirement that we wait for a summons. The Eternal is always there. Messiah, we are told in Hebrews 10:20, has not only made a way for us, but has made a way beyond the parochet so that there is no barrier between us and the voice of the Eternal. Some traditions say that voice was very quiet, and only Moses with his acute hearing could make out what was being said to him. Other traditions say the voice was majestic, as the voice from the mountain of God in the wilderness, but that only Moses could hear it. The priests outside heard nothing.
If we are able to enter the holiest place, past the parochet, can we hear the voice of God, whether a quiet whisper or a majestic, thunderous roar? Can we today discern exactly where that voice is coming from? Perhaps, as with Moses, the secret is to have a special place, a quiet place free from the distractions of the world around us. Perhaps in that special place, as with the Tent of Meeting, there is a way for us to meet with the Eternal.
All Scripture citations are from Complete Jewish Bible (CJB).