“Moses came down from Mount Sinai. And as Moses came down from the mountain
bearing the two tablets of the Pact, Moses was not aware that the skin of his
face was radiant, since he had spoken with God” (Exodus 34:29).
Even in a book of the unexpected (speaking animals, parting
seas, celestial ladders), a man that glows is astonishing.
But we should not be surprised. All great encounters change us. Whether with another person or with the
Divine, when we meet somebody—really
meet them—we are transformed.
Martin Buber calls this “I/Thou”—the honest, appreciative,
open encounter we have when we see others as unique and precious entitles with
their own realities, experiences, needs, emotions. Buber contrasts such respectful encounters
with ones he calls “I/It,” in which we treat others as objects that exist merely
to fulfill our needs.
Experiencing someone else as a full being involves getting
to know him or her. Not in the
superficial ways, but deeply—what makes him tick, what are her dreams and
flaws. Such intimate knowledge of
another is a form of love. When we are
radically open to another’s truth, our world expands and we cannot help but
change.
The Torah expresses Moses’ transformation by saying that he
glows. Now that’s enlightenment.
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