פרשת כי-תשא תשכ"ז - תפילות משה

And He said: ‘Thou canst not see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.’

And he said: ‘If now I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray Thee, go in the midst of us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance.’

ראה אתה אמר אלי SEE. THOU SAYEST UNTO ME — Set Thy eyes and Thy heart to Thy own words (Think for a moment of what Thou, Thyself, hast told me) אתה אמר אלי וגו׳ ואתה לא הודעתני וגו׳ THOU SAYEST UNTO ME [BRING UP THIS PEOPLE] AND NEVERTHELESS THOU HAST NOT LET ME KNOW [WHOM THOU WILT SEND WITH ME] — for what You have said to me (Exodus 33:20) “And I will send an angel before thee” is not “letting me know”, for I am not satisfied with it.

ואתה אמרת ידעתיך בשם YET THOU HAST SAID, I HAVE KNOWN THEE BY NAME — I have distinguished you from all other human beings by a characteristic (שם) which shows my importance in Thy eyes, for, see, Thou hast said to me, (Exodus 19:9) “Behold, I come unto thee in a thick cloud etc.… and also in thee they shall believe for ever”.

ועתה וגו׳ NOW THEREFORE etc. — If it is true that I have found favour in Thy eyes, הודיעני נא את דרכך LET ME KNOW THY WAY — let me know what is the reward which Thou givest to those who find favour in Thine eyes.

ועתה וגו׳ NOW THEREFORE etc. — If it is true that I have found favour in Thy eyes, הודיעני נא את דרכך LET ME KNOW THY WAY — let me know what is the reward which Thou givest to those who find favour in Thine eyes. ואדעך למען אמצא חן בעיניך means, that I may know by this (by Your letting me know Your way) the nature of the reward You bestow — what is this “finding of grace” which You have granted to me (Hebrew: which I found in Your eyes). The explanation of למען אמצא חן accordingly is: that I may find out (אמצא) how great is the reward attendant on this “finding of grace”.

וראה כי עמך הגוי הזה AND CONSIDER THAT THIS NATION IS THY PEOPLE so that You should not say, as You have said, (Exodus 32:10) “And I will make thee a great nation”, whilst these (the whole people) You will abandon! Consider that they are Your nation from of old, and if You reject them, surely I cannot rely upon it that those who are born of me will endure — rather let me know through this people the reward that is to be paid me (by sparing them). Our Rabbis have given a Midrashic explanation of this in Treatise Berakhot 7a but I come (my purpose is) to explain the verses in a manner fitting to them and in their context.