Can we understand God?

(1) And the LORD spoke unto Moses: ‘Depart, go up hence, thou and the people that thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land of which I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying: Unto thy seed will I give it— (2) and I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite— (3) unto a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people; lest I consume thee in the way.’ (4) And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned; and no man did put on him his ornaments. (5) And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Say unto the children of Israel: Ye are a stiffnecked people; if I go up into the midst of thee for one moment, I shall consume thee; therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.’ (6) And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Horeb onward. (7) Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp, afar off from the camp; and he called it The tent of meeting. And it came to pass, that every one that sought the LORD went out unto the tent of meeting, which was without the camp. (8) And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the Tent, that all the people rose up, and stood, every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the Tent. (9) And it came to pass, when Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the door of the Tent; and [the LORD] spoke with Moses. (10) And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent, all the people rose up and worshipped, every man at his tent door. (11) And the LORD spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he would return into the camp; but his minister Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tent. (12) And Moses said unto the LORD: ‘See, Thou sayest unto me: Bring up this people; and Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me. Yet Thou hast said: I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in My sight. (13) Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight, show me now Thy ways, that I may know Thee, to the end that I may find grace in Thy sight; and consider that this nation is Thy people.’ (14) And He said: ‘My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.’ (15) And he said unto Him: ‘If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. (16) For wherein now shall it be known that I have found grace in Thy sight, I and Thy people? is it not in that Thou goest with us, so that we are distinguished, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?’ (17) And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name.’ (18) And he said: ‘Show me, I pray Thee, Thy glory.’ (19) And He said: ‘I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.’ (20) And He said: ‘Thou canst not see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.’ (21) And the LORD said: ‘Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock. (22) And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand until I have passed by. (23) And I will take away My hand, and thou shalt see My back; but My face shall not be seen.’

R. Simeon b. Lakish said : It is better than a He sought that God should show him His ways, and He granted it ; as it is said, "Show me now Thy ways" (ibid. V. 13). Moses said before Him, "Lord of the Universe, why is there a righteous man enjoying prosperity and a righteous man afflicted with adversity ? Why is there a wicked man enjoying prosperity and a wicked man afflicted with adversity?" He answered him, "Moses, the righteous man who enjoys prosperity is the son of a righteous father ; the righteous man who is afflicted with adversity is the son of a wicked father ; the wicked man who enjoys prosperity is the son of a righteous father; the wicked man who is afflicted with adversity is the son of a wicked father." The teacher stated above: "The righteous man who enjoys prosperity is the son of a righteous father ; the righteous man who is afflicted with adversity is the son of a wicked father." But it is not so ; for lo, it is written, "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children" (Exod. xxxiv. 7) and it is also written, "The children shall not be put to death for the fathers" (Deut. xxiv. 16)! We set these verses one against the other and conclude there is no contradiction ; because the former passage refers to those children who continue in their fathers' ways, and the latter to those who do not continue in their fathers' ways. But [we may suppose that] God answered Moses thus wise, "The righteous man who enjoys prosperity is perfectly righteous ; the righteous man who is afflicted with adversity is not perfectly righteous ; the wicked man who enjoys prosperity is not perfectly wicked ; the wicked man who is afflicted with adversity is perfectly wicked." This is opposed to the teaching of R. Meir ; for R. Meir said that God granted two of Moses' requests and refused one. As it is said, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious" (Exod. xxxiii. 19), i.e. although he may not be deserving; "And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (ibid.), i.e. although he may not be deserving. "And He said, Thou canst not see My face" (ibid. v. 20). It has been taught in the name of R. Joshua b. Karhah : Thus spake the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses, "When I was willing [that thou shouldest see My face] thou wert not willing ; so now that thou art willing, I am not willing." This disagrees with the teaching of R. Samuel b. Nahmani in the name of R. Jonathan, viz. By virtue of three [meritorious acts] Moses became worthy of three [favours]. By virtue of "Moses hid his face" (Exod. iii. 6), he was granted the shining of his countenance (cf.ibid. xxxiv. 29 f.). By virtue of "For he was afraid" (ibid. iii. 6), he merited "And they were afraid to come nigh him" (ibid, xxxiv. 30). By virtue of "[He was afraid] to behold God" (ibid. iii. 6), he merited "The similitude of the Lord doth he behold" (Num. xii. 8). "And I will take away My hand, and thou shalt see My back" (Exod. xxxiii. 23). Rab Hanna b. Bizna said in the name of R. Simeon Hasida : This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses the knot of the Tefillin.

(15) Rabbi Yanai said: We don't have the ability to explain the success of the wicked or the suffering of the righteous. Rabbi Mattia son of Heresh said: Be the first to greet every person. And better a tail to lions than a head to foxes.

(1) And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him: ‘Up, make us a god who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.’ (2) And Aaron said unto them: ‘Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.’ (3) And all the people broke off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. (4) And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said: ‘This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.’ (5) And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said: ‘To-morrow shall be a feast to the LORD.’ (6) And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to make merry. (7) And the LORD spoke unto Moses: ‘Go, get thee down; for thy people, that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have dealt corruptly; (8) they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said: This is thy god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.’ (9) And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people. (10) Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation.’ (11) And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said: ‘LORD, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, that Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? (12) Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying: For evil did He bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people. (13) Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou didst swear by Thine own self, and saidst unto them: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.’ (14) And the LORD repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people. (15) And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand; tables that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. (16) And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. (17) And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses: ‘There is a noise of war in the camp.’ (18) And he said: ‘It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear.’ (19) And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount. (20) And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. (21) And Moses said unto Aaron: ‘What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them?’ (22) And Aaron said: ‘Let not the anger of my lord wax hot; thou knowest the people, that they are set on evil. (23) So they said unto me: Make us a god, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. (24) And I said unto them: Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off; so they gave it me; and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.’ (25) And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose—for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies— (26) then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said: ‘Whoso is on the LORD’S side, let him come unto me.’ And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. (27) And he said unto them: ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.’ (28) And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. (29) And Moses said: ‘Consecrate yourselves to-day to the LORD, for every man hath been against his son and against his brother; that He may also bestow upon you a blessing this day.’ (30) And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people: ‘Ye have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up unto the LORD, peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin.’ (31) And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said: ‘Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them a god of gold. (32) Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.’ (33) And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book. (34) And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; behold, Mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.’ (35) And the LORD smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.