Here is a drash that I recently delivered at our Temple:
In the parsha for Pesach (which partially comes from Ki Tissa), I enjoyed how the dialogue between God and Moses felt like two guys haggling. The sounds and scents of the shuk were never too far from my mind as I read though this portion. In parshat Ki Tissa, where God chooses Moses to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, Moses proves to be suspicious customer.
This parsha starts with God promising freedom, land, and prosperity (“a land of milk and honey”) to the Israelites, but he adds “I will not go in your midst because you are a stiff-necked people.” Incredibly, Moses – that most humble man – is coy about receiving this blessing. He wants God to lead him, even though God has already told Moses that Moses must lead the Israelites himself. So, Moses adds a condition to the deal by asking for a sign from God that God is serious about his choice of Moses. So Moses first tries to make God feel guilty…and it works.
In Exodus 33:13, Moses says to God, (in a voice filled with compassion): “consider that this nation is Your people,” to which God says “I will go in the lead and lighten your burden”. Moses appealed to God, and it paid off! But incredibly, Moses still wasn’t satisfied. He wanted for God to prove his sincerity by showing Moses his presence (as if this conversation between Moses and God wasn’t proof enough). God complies, saying (in line 33:19) “I will make all of my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name Lord”. This is another incredible sentence, because God promises Moses two impossible things: a view of God, and the leadership that Moses requested. But God warns Moses to not look Him in the face, lest Moses die.
What fascinates me is what comes next, not for what is said, but for what is implied. God says, in line 33:23,”…you will see my back, but my face must not be seen.” This illustrates two important things: first, that God shows Moses His back! It’s not His face, but it’s definitely something significant. It’s God’s back! That counts as a sighting! Second, if you think about it, God does end up leading Moses, just as Moses had requested; if you’re looking at God’s back, then you must be following God. That is, God walks ahead of you. In other words, He’s leading you. By contrast, if you look God in the face, you’d be confronting God. That is, you’d be stiff-necked, which (as we learned earlier in this parsha) only gets God mad.
Moses does very well in this parsha, vis-à-vis God, as it were. I like how the interaction between God and Moses is so pliable. Although God starts out laying down some hard and fast rules with Moses, I’m impressed and surprised at how quickly God is willing to compromise and negotiate. I like how Moses knows how talk to God.
In the parsha for Pesach (which partially comes from Ki Tissa), I enjoyed how the dialogue between God and Moses felt like two guys haggling. The sounds and scents of the shuk were never too far from my mind as I read though this portion. In parshat Ki Tissa, where God chooses Moses to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, Moses proves to be suspicious customer.
This parsha starts with God promising freedom, land, and prosperity (“a land of milk and honey”) to the Israelites, but he adds “I will not go in your midst because you are a stiff-necked people.” Incredibly, Moses – that most humble man – is coy about receiving this blessing. He wants God to lead him, even though God has already told Moses that Moses must lead the Israelites himself. So, Moses adds a condition to the deal by asking for a sign from God that God is serious about his choice of Moses. So Moses first tries to make God feel guilty…and it works.
In Exodus 33:13, Moses says to God, (in a voice filled with compassion): “consider that this nation is Your people,” to which God says “I will go in the lead and lighten your burden”. Moses appealed to God, and it paid off! But incredibly, Moses still wasn’t satisfied. He wanted for God to prove his sincerity by showing Moses his presence (as if this conversation between Moses and God wasn’t proof enough). God complies, saying (in line 33:19) “I will make all of my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim before you the name Lord”. This is another incredible sentence, because God promises Moses two impossible things: a view of God, and the leadership that Moses requested. But God warns Moses to not look Him in the face, lest Moses die.
What fascinates me is what comes next, not for what is said, but for what is implied. God says, in line 33:23,”…you will see my back, but my face must not be seen.” This illustrates two important things: first, that God shows Moses His back! It’s not His face, but it’s definitely something significant. It’s God’s back! That counts as a sighting! Second, if you think about it, God does end up leading Moses, just as Moses had requested; if you’re looking at God’s back, then you must be following God. That is, God walks ahead of you. In other words, He’s leading you. By contrast, if you look God in the face, you’d be confronting God. That is, you’d be stiff-necked, which (as we learned earlier in this parsha) only gets God mad.
Moses does very well in this parsha, vis-à-vis God, as it were. I like how the interaction between God and Moses is so pliable. Although God starts out laying down some hard and fast rules with Moses, I’m impressed and surprised at how quickly God is willing to compromise and negotiate. I like how Moses knows how talk to God.
A friend of mine suggested that this was an instance of God "mooning" Moses, perhaps for his impudence.
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