Q:
When Hashem came down to talk to Avrohom Avinu, did Avrohom Avinu see the face of Hashem?
A:
When Hashem spoke to Avrohom Avinu, did Avrohom see His face?
That’s a good question. It’s not as naïve as you might think.
Actually even Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t see it because Hashem has no face. Hashem is ruchniyus. And to see ruchniyus, you have to be ruchniyus. And so לא יראני האדם וחי – no man can see Me while he’s still alive. While you’re still gashmi, you’re still partly materialist, you can’t see Me.
Moshe Rabbeinu was still a man. He ate. It was only forty days that he didn’t, but otherwise he ate. He was a man, he was a human being. And therefore, he wasn’t able to see a spiritual thing. And if Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t see, then Avrohom Avinu surely didn’t see.
But he saw plenty. By means of studying the wisdom of Hashem that He revealed in His creation he saw plenty. And we can still look forward to the hope, if we see even a fraction of what Avrohom saw, it would be a great happiness for us. There’s a lot to see. It’s almost face to face. It’s like seeing somebody who just turned a corner. You see the back of his coat as it’s flying around the corner.
Avrohom Avinu almost saw Hashem, because he looked so carefully in the world and he was so clearly impressed with His Presence that he was almost, kavyachol, so to speak, on the heels of the Shechina.
TAPE # 166 (April 1977)
