The Bible Says What? Approaching God is dangerous
Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild takes a controversial passage from the Torah and looks at a progressive Jewish response
At the foot of Sinai, the people tell Moses: “You talk to us and we’ll listen, but don’t let God speak to us, lest we die.”
It’s a repeating trope: After Jacob fought the “being” at Jabok, he named the place Peniel because “I have seen God face to face and my life has been preserved”.
We are reminded that approaching the sanctuary without permission is to court death. Possibly most famously, Moses is hidden in the cleft of a rock as God passes by, for God tells him: “You cannot see My face, for none can see Me and live!” Yet just a few verses earlier we read: “God spoke to Moses face to face, as one speaks to their friend.”
We can infer that God and the first humans in Genesis have a close relationship, because once they understand their nakedness they hide.
They hear God’s voice calling to them – the Hebrew is ambiguous; one can read the verse as them hearing God’s voice walking in the garden, a distancing of God’s presence from before.
Much of our searching for closeness with God resonates from this time. Moses’ greatness stems from the fact he achieves it; at his death, the Torah tells us: “There has never arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Eternal knew face to face.”
Chronicles tells us to “seek the Eternal… seek God’s face continually”. While we yearn to have the face of God shine on us, turned towards us and not hidden from us, at the same time the deep fear evinced by the people at Sinai is built into our tradition.
So which is it? Dangerous or sustaining? Our tradition contains both ideas – to seek God’s presence but never to take God for granted.
- Sylvia Rothschild has been a community rabbi in south London for 30 years
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
