Why Moses Could Not See God's Face at Sinai

"And He said: You cannot see My face" (Exodus 33:20). Because he had asked, "Show me, I pray, Your glory" (Exodus 33:18), the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "You cannot see My face," and so forth. This teaches that Moses sought to see why there is a righteous person for whom it goes ill, and a wicked person for whom it goes well. He said to him: You cannot fathom the depth of the attribute of justice. Another interpretation: He sought to see and to gaze upon the appearance of the Shekhinah, and permission was not granted to him, as it is said, "for no human shall see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20). And from here we have learned that at the hour of death all human beings shall see Him, as it is said, "before Him shall bow down all who go down to the dust, and the one whose soul He does not keep alive" (Psalms 22:30). Another interpretation: "for no human shall see Me" — this refers to the one taken from the four elements. "And live" — these are the angels, who live forever, for they too are not able to see the face of the Shekhinah.