Likutay Moharan - Torah-teaching 115

115 – And the People Stood from Afar and Moshe Approached the Thick Cloud

“And the people stood from afar, and Moshe approached the thick cloud where G‑d was.”
(Exodus 20:18)

Because someone who lives in materiality all his days—and then is inflamed and desires to walk in the ways of the Name, blessed be He—is met by the attribute of judgment: it prosecutes him, obstructs his path, and hides G‑d as if through the obstacle. This obstacle is a test or prevention, and G‑d appears hidden within it.

But one who is a man of knowledge discerns within that obstruction the very Creator Himself. As taught in the Yerushalmi (Ta’anit 1): if someone asks “Where is your G‑d?”, reply “In the great city of Aram,” alluding to “Call unto Me out of Seir…”

One without such knowledge, upon seeing the obstruction, immediately retreats. This “hindrance” is symbolized by cloud or thick cloud—darkness upon darkness, which is the language of prevention (e.g. “And You did not withhold” from Genesis 22:16).

Thus “And the people stood from afar” refers to those who see the thick cloud and remain distant. Moshe—symbolizing the embodied wisdom of Israel—“approached the thick cloud” (i.e. the obstruction), for there is where G‑d resides.

We further learned that the Divine Name, which loves judgment (Isaiah 61:8; Psalm 37:28), is compelled to permit preventions to bar those unworthy of approaching truth. But because G‑d’s love for Israel is greater than His love of justice (Zohar Emor 99b), He allows the obstruction while hiding within it. One of knowledge, perceiving G‑d even in the test, approaches through the hindrance, recognizing that in the very strength of the obstruction the Divine Presence is concealed.

And so “Moshe approached the thick cloud… for there G‑d was.” He dwells in the very obstacle itself.

[See detailed discussion in section 114 above.]