Parashat V'zot Habracha - Knowing someone face to face...

 

Words of Torah
Parashat V'zot Habracha
Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12

“And there was no other prophet who arose in Israel like Moses, 

whom Hashem knew face to face...”  ~~ Deuteronomy 34:10

As we once again bring another cycle of the Torah reading to a close, we are once again reminded of the stature of our greatest prophet, Moses.  No one had, or has had since, the opportunity to have as personal a relationship with Gd as Moses.  

Verse 34:10 above could have easily concluded with "...whom Hashem knew" and that would could have been enough.  But, by adding the "face to face" we are introduced to a very personal and unique relationship that no other biblical character (not even our patriarchs and matriarchs), nor anyone since, has ever experienced.

So, if Gd, who has a spiritual connection with every living being on earth only had one "face to face" relationship, it got me wondering just how many face to face relationships we humans actually have with one another?  

In order to answer this question I first had to ask another; what does having a "face to face" relationship even look like?

Rashi explained the uniqueness of the panim el panim ("face to face") expression to mean, "[Moses] was quite familiar with [Gd], speaking to [Gd] anytime he wished."

Yet, many would claim that they in fact do speak to Gd any time they want.  But, what is usually the case is that these conversations are one-way communications, where an individual feels comforted by sharing their thoughts, feelings, concerns, and/or wishes with Gd, but never expecting a spoken reply in return.  Moses, however, spoke to Gd; Moses was able to engage in a personal two-way dialogue with Gd "face to face."

Of course, there is a story of a man in recent years who was able to get a reply from Gd in one of his pleas to be heard.  We understand that his conversation went something like this:

     Man: "Gd, how long is a million years?" 
     Gd: "To me, it's about a minute." 
     Man: "Gd, how much is a million dollars?" 
     Gd: "To me, it's like a penny." 
     Man: "Gd, may I have a penny?" 
     Gd: "Sure, just wait a minute." 

Obviously, putting aside the tongue-in-cheek humor; with how many people do we really speak to "face to face?"  Who are the ones who when we speak they listen, and when they speak we listen equally focused?

When I realized the gravity of this question, I also realized that the number of people with whom I thought I had "face to face" dialogues dropped significantly.  How many times are we distracted by the multitude of other things going on in our lives, or how many acquaintances do we know to whom we politely listen but whom we never actually hear?  How many times a day are we saying things to others, but to whom we may be never actually speaking?

And when we take this incredible communication to another level, whom do we actually know well enough to speak to in this way?

It is said that when we look into the face of another we are not only able to see past their physical features, but that we are able to gaze into their soul and see their true self.  Given this level of personalized communication, probably like Moses and Gd had themselves, speaking to someone "face to face" is then not only about being heard at any time on any subject, rather, it is also about knowing the person to whom you're speaking in such an intimate and personal way that the words being spoken and respectively heard are in such sync and harmony that the experience becomes "face to face."

So, with how many people can you claim to have this kind of relationship?  

Gd only had one!