EE & R, 3_8: Between the Torah and the Prophets: Can Man See God?
(For the previous installment of "Exodus, Exile and Redemption," click here. For ToC, click here.)
The passage in the Torah that conveys the unknowability of God, in contrast to the core message of the prophets, contains another statement that, on its surface, directly contradicts their testimony. The knowability and visibility of God are intertwined in the passage, which makes clear that the unknowable God is likewise invisible: “For no man shall see Me and live” (Exodus 33:20). Yet prophets did, in fact, see Hashem. Isaiah said plainly, “I saw Hashem” (Isaiah 6:1), an apparent impossibility according to the Torah.
This aspect of the fundamental contradiction between the Torah and the Prophets is addressed by the Sages, whose resolution will guide us to an understanding of the core difference between the divine works and help reconcile their seemingly disparate messages. The Talmud recounts how Isaiah’s record of a theophany led the wicked King Manasseh to charge him with contradicting the great Moshe:
Manasseh said to Isaiah, “Your master Moshe said, ‘For no man shall see Me and live’, and you said, ‘I saw Hashem sitting upon a high and lofty throne’”! (Yevamos, 49b)
For this perceived offense, the wicked king executed the righteous prophet. Nonetheless, says the Talmud, the apparent contradiction demands resolution:
In any case, the verses seem to contradict each other. [Regarding] “I saw Hashem,” it is taught: “All of the prophets gazed through an obscure lens, but Moshe our master gazed through a clear lens.”
Rashi explains:
They gazed through an obscure lens, and thought they were seeing, but in truth, they did not see. Moshe, however, gazed through a clear lens and knew that he had not seen Him face to face.
When the prophet says, “I saw,” Rashi explains that it really means, “I thought I saw.” The prophets experienced an impression of sight, yet it takes Moshe’s clear vision to distinguish between actual seeing and the illusion of it. Moshe, with his unparalleled clarity, understood that what the prophets experienced was not true vision in the fullest sense.
The meaning of “seeing” varies from person to person, depending on their level of visual acuity. For instance, someone with poor vision may perceive only shapes or light, yet might still call that “seeing.” To those with full sight, however, the mere sense of light would not count as vision. In this way, the prophets’ vision compared to Moshe’s is like the sight of a person with dim vision compared to someone with perfect acuity. What is “seeing” to the prophets is as blindness to their master, Moshe.
This same notion applies to the contradiction regarding Hashem’s knowability. For Moshe, Hashem is unknowable; for the prophets, He is knowable – because there is knowing, and there is knowing. What does it mean to know something? Once again, it depends on the level of insight. To “know” something can either involve subjective experience, which incorporates the perspective of the knower, or objective knowledge, which exists independently of any observer. When it comes to Hashem, subjective knowledge is possible, as the prophets experienced divine qualities like kindness, justice and righteousness. However, true objective knowledge – understanding Hashem’s essence without any involvement of the human perspective – remains unattainable.
The intricacies of these two kinds of knowledge, and their respective applicability or lack thereof to God, will be discussed more fully later in this work. For now, we observe that while subjective knowledge of Hashem is accessible, the objective knowledge of His essence eludes human understanding.
In the realm of divine knowledge, both seeing and not seeing, knowing and not knowing, are not contradictions. Instead, they are distinct modes of perception, each with its own validity and limitations, reflecting the unique spiritual capacities of Moshe and the prophets. The prophets “saw,” and Moshe did not. The prophets “knew,” and Moshe did not.
This reminds me of the idea that when Moshe longed to enter the Land of Israel, it was not merely to walk it, but to fulfill the mitzvot ha’teluyot ba’Aretz. Hashem, in turn, showed him the entire land — and through the power of his vision, Moshe fulfilled the mitzvot with his eyes.