(2010/5770)

In Parashat Ki Tisa, Moshe makes a seemingly difficult request of Hashem, “Hareini Na Et Kevodecha,” “Please show me your glory” (Shemot 33:18). Hashem responds, “Ani A’avir Kol Tuvi Al Panecha…Lo Tuchal Lireot Et Panai Ki Lo Yireani HaAdam VaChai,” “I will pass before you and show you My glory…but I will not show you My face, because man is not able to see Me and live.” Hashem agrees to pass in front of Moshe, but Moshe will see only Hashem’s back. Many ask an apparently obvious question. How could Moshe make a request to see Hashem’s face? After accepting the Torah, and living in the Anan, the heavenly cloud, for 40 days on Har Sinai during Matan Torah, without seeing Hashem’s face, how could he make the request now? If Hashem wanted to show Moshe His face, why wouldn’t he have done it on Har Sinai?

The Gemara (Berachot 7a) says that Moshe was not asking to see Hashem’s face, per se; rather, he was asking to see the inner workings of Hashem. Moshe was curious to see Hashem’s reasoning in His dealings with the world, and specifically the reason for “Tzadik VeRa Lo VeRasha VeTov Lo,” why bad events befall good people and vice versa. Hashem responds to this lofty request with the answer that He will merely pass by Moshe, and Moshe will get a glimpse into how Hashem runs the world. The answer that Hashem gives Moshe can be a lesson for all of us.

The Chatam Sofer in his commentary on the Torah states that when Hashem passed by Moshe, he saw Hashem’s Tefillin knot on the back of His head. Moshe sees Hashem’s Retzu’ot, His Tefillin straps, and sees what they represent. Hashem’s left Retzu’ah represents the Midah of Din, of judgment. Hashem’s right Retzu’ah represents the Midah of Rachamim, of mercy. (This is also the reason for standing with the right hand over the left hand while davening Shemoneh Esrei, so that Hashem will judge us with Rachamim and not Din.)  Hashem shows Moshe his Tefillin with the two Retzu’ot to show that Hashem acts with both Din and Rachamim. Hashem doesn’t act just randomly, but decides carefully how one’s life will go. There is a reason for all of Hashem’s decrees, and even though one may not be able see the reason at the moment, there still is one. Although a Tzadik might appear to be judged with the Midah of Din, there might be a hidden Midah of Rachamim that no one can see at the time. Everything that Hashem does is done for the best, even though it may not appear that way at the time. Gam Zu LeTovah (it is all for the best) is a message that Moshe learned directly from Hashem, and it should be the mantra of how Jews live their lives.