(7) Now Moses would take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, at some distance from the camp. It was called the Tent of Meeting, and whoever sought the LORD would go out to the Tent of Meeting that was outside the camp. (8) Whenever Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he had entered the Tent. (9) And when Moses entered the Tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the Tent, while He spoke with Moses.
(12) Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Lead this people forward,’ but You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. Further, You have said, ‘I have singled you out by name, and you have, indeed, gained My favor.’ Now, if I have truly gained Your favor, pray let me know Your ways, that I may know You and continue in Your favor. Consider, too, that this nation is Your people.”
(15) And he said to Him, “Unless You go in the lead, do not make us leave this place. For how shall it be known that Your people have gained Your favor unless You go with us, so that we may be distinguished, Your people and I, from every people on the face of the earth?”
(17)The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have asked; for you have truly gained My favor and I have singled you out by name.” (18) Then Moses said, “Oh, let me behold Your Presence!”
The Lord answered: “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name LORD, and the grace that I grant and the compassion that I show. But you cannot see My face, for man may not see Me and live. See, there is a place near Me. Station yourself on the rock and, as My Presence passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and shield you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”
Exodus 34: The LORD said to Moses: “Carve two tablets of stone like the first, and I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered. Be ready by morning, and in the morning come up to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to Me, on the top of the mountain. No one else shall come up with you, and no one else shall be seen anywhere on the mountain; neither shall the flocks and the herds graze at the foot of this mountain.”
(4) So Moses carved two tablets of stone, like the first, and early in the morning he went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, taking the two stone tablets with him. (5) The LORD came down in a cloud; He stood with him there, and proclaimed the name LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed:
יְהוָ֣ה ׀ יְהוָ֔ה
אֵ֥ל רַח֖וּם וְחַנּ֑וּן
אֶ֥רֶךְ אַפַּ֖יִם וְרַב־חֶ֥סֶד וֶאֱמֶֽת
נֹצֵ֥ר חֶ֙סֶד֙ לָאֲלָפִ֔ים נֹשֵׂ֥א עָוֺ֛ן וָפֶ֖שַׁע
וְחַטָּאָ֑ה וְנַקֵּה֙
לֹ֣א יְנַקֶּ֔ה פֹּקֵ֣ד ׀ עֲוֺ֣ן אָב֗וֹת עַל־בָּנִים֙ וְעַל־בְּנֵ֣י בָנִ֔ים עַל־שִׁלֵּשִׁ֖ים וְעַל־רִבֵּעִֽים׃
(6) The LORD! the LORD!
A God compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness (emet) ;
extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin;
Yet He does not remit all punishment,
but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children,
upon the third and fourth generations.”
(10) He said: I hereby make a covenant.... 28) And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights...and he wrote down on the tablets the terms of the covenant...Then Moses came down from Mount Sinai. And as Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant, since he had spoken with Him.
אילפי ואמרי לה אילפא רמי כתיב
(שמות לד, ו) ורב חסד וכתיב ואמת בתחלה ואמת ולבסוף ורב חסד
ויעבור ה' על פניו ויקרא
א"ר יוחנן אלמלא מקרא כתוב אי אפשר לאומרו מלמד שנתעטף הקב"ה כשליח צבור והראה לו למשה סדר תפלה
אמר לו כל זמן שישראל חוטאין יעשו לפני כסדר הזה ואני מוחל להם
ה' ה' אני הוא קודם שיחטא האדם
ואני הוא לאחר שיחטא האדם ויעשה תשובה אל רחום וחנון
The sage Ilfai raised a contradiction:
It is written in the list of God’s attributes: And abundant in kindness. And it is written in the same verse: And truth which implies the attribute of justice.
He answered: Initially, at the time of
judgment God employs strict justice--
truth.” But in the end, when God sees that the world cannot survive on judgment based only on truth and justice, And abundant in kindness, i.e., God is merciful.
The verse states: “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed” (Exodus 34:6). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Were it not explicitly written in the verse, it would be impossible to say this...but the verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, wrapped Himself in a prayer shawl like a prayer leader and showed Moses the structure of the order of the prayer. He said to him: Whenever the Jewish people sin, let them perform this service before Me and I will forgive them.
The verse “The Lord, the Lord,” should be understood as follows: I am He before a person sins, and I am He after a person sins and performs repentance, as God does not recall the first sins, since He is always “God, merciful and gracious”
״זֶה אֵלִי וְאַנְוֵהוּ״
אַבָּא שָׁאוּל אוֹמֵר: ״וְאַנְוֵהוּ״ — הֱוֵי דּוֹמֶה לוֹ, מָה הוּא חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם — אַף אַתָּה הֱיֵה חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם.
This is my God and I will glorify Him” (v'anaveihu) (Exodus 15:2).
Abba Shaul says: Ve’anveihu should be interpreted as if it were written in two words: Ani vaHu, me and Him [God].
Be similar, as it were, to Him, the Almighty: Just as God is compassionate and merciful, so too should you be compassionate and merciful.