The closeness of God. The more I study the Torah, the more conscious I become of the immense mystery of Exodus chapter 33.

This is the chapter set in the middle of the story of the golden calf between chapter 32, describing the sin and its consequences,

and chapter 34, God's revelation to Moses of the Yudgimul Midut,

the 13 attributes of mercy, the second set of tablets and the renewal of the covenant.

It is, I believe, this mystery that frames the shape of Jewish spirituality.

What makes chapter 33 perplexing is that first it's not clear what

it's about. What was Moses doing? In the previous chapter he'd already prayed twice for the

people to be forgiven. In chapter 34 he prays for forgiveness again. What then was he trying to

achieve in chapter 33?

Second, Moses requests are strange. He says,

Show me now your ways and show me now your glory.

Now these seem more requests for metaphysical understanding or mystical experience than for forgiveness. They have to do with Moses as an individual,

not with the people on whose behalf he was praying. This was a moment of national crisis. God was

angry. The people were traumatized. The whole nation was in disarray. This was not the time for Moses

to ask for a seminar in theology. Third, more than once,

the narrative seems to be going backward in time. In verse four, for example, it says,

no man put on his ornaments. Then in the next verse, God says, now then, remove your audience.

In verse 14, God says, my presence will go your audience. In verse 14, God says, my presence will go with you.

In verse 15, Moses says, if your presence doesn't go with us, don't make us leave this place.

In both cases, time seems to be reversed. The second sentence is responded to by the one before.

The Torah is clearly drawing our attention to something,

but what? Add to this the mystery of the calf itself, was it or was it not an idol? The text says

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