a plea; a protest
don't leave us alone,
without defender,
without protector.
we will only go with you.
you must go before us.
carry us on your shoulders,
as you carry our sin
and make it your own.
take responsibility
for your people,
that you created,
that you birthed into this world.
do not abandon us to your angels.
we are your responsibility,
and yours alone.
Parshat Ki Tisa, February 24, 1940
Why was Moses able to refuse to accept the angel God wanted to send to accompany them? To understand the answer to this question, we must first answer the following: What did God mean when He said of the angel, “He will not bear your sins” (Exodus 23:21)? How can forgiveness depend upon an angel? Surely everything must depend solely upon the Holy Blessed One.
We learn in the sacred literature, in the verse “God bears iniquity,” (Exodus 34:7) that the Holy Blessed One carries, as it were, the sin upon Himself, as through to say, “I am responsible for this.” Similarly, we learn in the Talmud (Berakhot 31b); R. Elazar said, “Elijah the prophet traduced calumny against the Almighty when he said, ‘God, You have perverted their hearts and turned them against You.’” (I Kings 18:37) R. Shmuel b. Yitzhak said: “How do you know that God turned around and admitted as much to Elijah? It is written, ‘I will gather the lame and the halt and the outcast and those whom I have misled.’” (Micha 4:6)
When God says of the angel, “He will not bear your sins upon himself,” He means “He will not consider himself responsible when you sin.” On the contrary, angels act as accusers, even complaining when God shows special favor toward the Jewish people, as we learn in the Talmud (Berakhot 20a).
Therefore, after Moses has offered to die for the Jewish people, he is in a position to argue, saying, “I do not agree to being led by anyone who is unwilling to bear upon himself the sins of the Jewish people, even if he is an angel.” And so God answers, “My presence will go, and I will lead you.”
ועי"ז הי' יכול למאן במלאך כי ד' אמר כי לא ישא לפשעכם שעפ"פ קשה אם מחילת עונות תלוי' במלאך עד ששייך לומר כי לא ישא וכו' הא בהקב"ה תלוי' אבל איתא בסמ"ק עה"פ נושא עון שהקב"ה כביכול נושא העון על עצמו לומר אני החייב בדבר כמ"ש בגמרא ברכות ל"ב אשר הרעותי ואמר הקב"ה על המלאך כי לא ישא לפשעכם על עצמו לא ירצה לקחת פשעכם כי אדרבה הם מקטרגים גם על ישא ד' פניו אליך כמ"ש בגמרא ברכות דף כ' לכן אחר שמסר מש"ר את נפשו גם בעד ישראל אמר מי שאינו רוצה לישא חטא ישראל ע"ע אפילו הוא מלאך איני חפץ בו ואמר ד' פני ילכו והניחותי לך.
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