Approaching the Divine

 Parashat Mishpatim is full of rules, including those that leave the Hebrew people with timeless principles as well as situational directions that seem specific to a certain lifestyle. Indeed, many of the injunctions which G!d told Moshe to write down and tell the people are punitive in ways that are not palatable in modern times. After numerous mitzvoth, G!d then addresses Moshe, and the final chapter of this parsha includes the story of Moshe’s ascent to speak with G!d.

Then (G!d) said to Moshe, “Go up to G!d – you and Aharon, Nadav, and Avihu, and seventy elders of Israel, and bow down from a distance.”

But Moshe alone should draw near to G!d, and they (others ascending) should not approach (G!d), nor should the people come up with him.

The elders, leaders, and Moshe follow these instructions, and all are able to see G!d, according to Exodus 24:10.

Then they saw the G!d of Israel, and under (G!d’s) feet was a thing akin to a pavement of sapphire, and like the essence of the heavens as to purity.

And (G!d) did not stretch out his hand against the (leaders) of the children of Israel, but they beheld G!d and ate and drank.

The Ramban and Sforno, though not Rashi and Ibn Ezra, perceived the last verse here in the same way I like to read the idea of eating and drinking in the presence of G!d – as a festive, awe-filled banquet. As in other passages about physical aspects of G!d, the text does not tell us about a physical aspect other than mentioning that something was under G!d’s feet. (The sight of feet reminds me of Isaiah 6, which described only G!d’s lower garment hanging over the floor.)

Moshe’s time on Har Sinai reflected a splendor and untouchability of G!d, deemed an appropriate deference of respect for the deity. I think that is a major reason these verses caught my attention this year, as I considered that G!d showed (part of) himself to several leaders of the Hebrew people. In these early stories of the journey from Egypt to Canaan, G!d’s relationship with the people is consistently on display. Sometimes the stance is an approachability of the deity, but other times, fear is expected and desired. In these verses, in the middle of some of the strictest rules given yet to the people, G!d becomes known in a seemingly physical way to part of the Hebrew people – which astounds me!