As Heard from Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT”L

“And he said: Show me Your Glory.” (33:18)

Any manifestation of Hashem’s Presence is called His “glory” (as in 16:7, 16:10, 24:16, 24:17) because it is His glory when men are more aware of Him. (More Nevuchim 1:64)

Moshe had already seen the glory of Hashem more than any person before or after. He had seen the burning bush which was “a great vision” (3:3), and had heard Hashem speaking to him there. And Hashem Hashem had spoken to Moshe frequently in the period that followed, down to now. Moshe had ascended the mountain to Hashem (19:20) before the giving of the Torah, and afterward he was on the mountain forty days (24:18). Yet as much as he had seen the glory of Hashem, he desired to see still more.

This is due to the native yearning of the Soul, that can never be fully satisfied until it can feast its eyes on the truest glory of Hashem. Like the angels that are intensely excited on viewing the glory of Hashem and they cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy!” (Yeshaya 6:3) Yet they understand that they see only “the glory of Hashem (which comes forth) from His place” (Yehezkel 3:12), and they yearn to behold the infinitely greater glory which is concealed from them. And they exclaim: “Where is the place of His glory?”

Quoted from “A Nation is Born” by Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT”L

Shabbat Shalom

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