Moshe's Mask

Parshat Ki Tisa

by Rabbi Avi Billet

It is important to read the verses in question, to understand what the Torah says. The following text and translation can be found here: 

29And it came to pass when Moses descended from Mount Sinai, and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses' hand when he descended from the mountain and Moses did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while He had spoken with him 30that Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses and behold! the skin of his face had become radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the princes of the community returned to him, and Moses would speak to them. 32Afterwards all the children of Israel would draw near, and he would command them everything that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he placed a covering over his face. 34When Moses would come before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the covering until he left; then he would leave and speak to the children of Israel what he would be commanded. 35Then the children of Israel would see Moses' face, that the skin of Moses' face had become radiant, and [then] Moses would replace the covering over his face until he would come [again] to speak with Him.		כטוַיְהִ֗י בְּרֶ֤דֶת משֶׁה֙ מֵהַ֣ר סִינַ֔י וּשְׁנֵ֨י לֻחֹ֤ת הָֽעֵדֻת֙ בְּיַד־משֶׁ֔ה בְּרִדְתּ֖וֹ מִן־הָהָ֑ר וּמשֶׁ֣ה לֹֽא־יָדַ֗ע כִּ֥י קָרַ֛ן ע֥וֹר פָּנָ֖יו בְּדַבְּר֥וֹ אִתּֽוֹ: לוַיַּ֨רְא אַֽהֲרֹ֜ן וְכָל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֶת־משֶׁ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֥ה קָרַ֖ן ע֣וֹר פָּנָ֑יו וַיִּֽירְא֖וּ מִגֶּ֥שֶׁת אֵלָֽיו: לאוַיִּקְרָ֤א אֲלֵהֶם֙ משֶׁ֔ה וַיָּשֻׁ֧בוּ אֵלָ֛יו אַֽהֲרֹ֥ן וְכָל־הַנְּשִׂאִ֖ים בָּֽעֵדָ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר משֶׁ֖ה אֲלֵהֶֽם: לבוְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֥ן נִגְּשׁ֖וּ כָּל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַיְצַוֵּ֕ם אֵת֩ כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֧ר יְ-הֹוָ֛ה אִתּ֖וֹ בְּהַ֥ר סִינָֽי: לגוַיְכַ֣ל משֶׁ֔ה מִדַּבֵּ֖ר אִתָּ֑ם וַיִּתֵּ֥ן עַל־פָּנָ֖יו מַסְוֶֽה: לדוּבְבֹ֨א משֶׁ֜ה לִפְנֵ֤י יְ-הֹוָה֙ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אִתּ֔וֹ יָסִ֥יר אֶת־הַמַּסְוֶ֖ה עַד־צֵאת֑וֹ וְיָצָ֗א וְדִבֶּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֵ֖ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְצֻוֶּֽה: להוְרָא֤וּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י משֶׁ֔ה כִּ֣י קָרַ֔ן ע֖וֹר פְּנֵ֣י משֶׁ֑ה וְהֵשִׁ֨יב משֶׁ֤ה אֶת־הַמַּסְוֶה֙ עַל־פָּנָ֔יו עַד־בֹּא֖וֹ לְדַבֵּ֥ר אִתּֽוֹ:

 A few points are worthy of note:

 1. The words describing the shine from Moshe are קרן עור, which means his skin shone (some translate the words “Karan Or” as “horns of light,” an obvious mistranslation to anyone who knows Hebrew. The word Or meaning “light” is spelled אור (with an א), while this word is spelled עור (with an ע) meaning “skin.” Secondly while the word “keren” is a noun meaning “horn,” the word “karan” is a verb which has nothing to do with a horn (though admittedly the two words are spelled with the same consonants, they have different vowels).

 2. While the people were afraid to approach him (or were reticent to), Moshe nonetheless communicated with them while his face had this shine

 3. Only when he finished speaking with them did he put on a מסוה (masveh), presumably some kind of mask

 4. When he went to communicate with God, he removed the masveh

 5. When he finished that communication with God he would speak with the people

 6. When the people would then see his face (after he spoke to them? While he was speaking to them?) he’d put the mask on until it was time to communicate with God again.

There are two points we shall address here: Why did Moshe’s face shine? And when, and for what purpose did he wear this mask? 

Alshikh notes two reasons for his face to shine after the event of the Golden Calf. 1. After he brings the second tablets, some might say “We wish to see our king” (likely referring to God). If they can’t look upon Moshe, they certainly will understand they can’t look upon God. 2. They should understand what they lost through their connection to the Golden Calf, that there is no going back to how things were before. 

 Through the course of addressing when and where he’d wear the mask, we will see other explanations for why his face shone. 

 It seems that the only time he’d wear the mask was when he was between communicating with the people and speaking with God once again. [Some might suggest he’d put it on while he was speaking with the people, when the shine emanating from him became too much for people to handle. But this is unclear from the text.] 

So, was the point of the mask to be worn while he was alone? Or, if in the presence of others, when he was engaged in private consultation? 

Kli Yakar thinks Moshe, who was exceedingly humble, was embarrassed that everyone was staring at him, and so he put on the mask. This is a decent argument, except that it seems Moshe did not wear the mask when he shared the word of God with a large number of people. HaKsav V’Hakabbalah suggests Moshe put on the mask so the people wouldn’t become used to the shine in interpersonal connections with Moshe. Seeing it and being inspired when hearing the word of God is one thing, but otherwise, it wasn’t something he wanted them to see as being his “new normal” at all times. [See Abravanel below]

Ibn Ezra presents an argument (which is unclear if he rejects) that this light emanated from God, and Moshe continued to have it as long as he conveyed God’s word. Once his message was completed, the shine would dim. In this explanation, the mask was to cover the fact that his face no longer shone until it was time to get recharged in his next encounter with the Divine. Alternatively, he quotes Rav Saadiah Gaon who suggested the shine never left Moshe until the day he died, as indicated by the fact that his eyes never weakened, a reality that could only be explained through having God’s Divine Countenance upon him at all times. The point of the mask, then, was so that people who consulted with him on a personal level wouldn’t be frightened – because in that context he’d be wearing the mask, whereas when he would be conveying God’s word in a public spectacle, it would make total sense for the people to see the shine, to understand that his teachings were coming directly from the Divine source. [Rabbenu Bachaye goes in the same direction, sharing similar points] 

Netziv’s view is that when Moshe was in God’s presence he removed the mask completely. When he left God’s presence, he put it on his head (imagine as people put glasses above their forehead indoors), but didn’t cover his face for the duration of his conveying God’s word. As soon as he completed giving over the message, he immediately lowered the mask over his face. (This is the exact opposite of the method used by bank robbers and many people during Covid – lowering the mask below the mouth, and bringing it up when needing to cover the face.) 

Abravanel notes a few reasons the people feared getting closer to him:

 1. At Sinai they were told people might come close to see, and many people would die

 2. They thought that his getting closer to them would be like bringing the light of the sun closer to them, which would hurt their eyes

 3. A new out-of-ordinary reality takes getting used to, to find out if this is normal, a “new normal,” or something that could be hazardous to their own wellbeing 

In his view it took a little time for Moshe to figure out his new reality, but people (first Aharon and the N’siim, etc) told him, so he had to come up with this plan of “coverage.” At the same time, their approaching him and not being harmed was encouraging to others, who realized that Moshe’s shine was not dangerous. Abravanel rejects the notion that Moshe covered his face because he worried that people who would come for a private consult might get so distracted that they’d forget why they came to him, because it was the most difficult cases that were brought to Moshe. There’s no way they’d forget. But he couches the need for Moshe to wear the mask to mundane matters, so he not “use” this special light, for example, when eating, drinking, sleeping, when talking with his wife (Abravanel seems to imply Moshe had not separated from his wife!), speaking with other members of his household of matters that were not related to Torah. “No mask – heavenly pursuits. Yes mask – mundane matters.” 

Are we able to separate our spiritual from the mundane? Is this a proper way to go about our existence? Should they be intertwined? Can others respect the boundaries we need to make for ourselves? These are some of the questions that emerge when we contemplate this narrative. How Moshe went about it, including his motivation, can serve as a guide for how we too experience interpersonal relationships v. how we confront the Divine.