Expert: Ovadiah ben Avraham - 8/15/2007

Question
Q- Can you tell me:

-Why were they afraid to approach Moses?
-What was the purpose of the veil

“Exd 34:29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.

Exd 34:30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.

Exd 34:35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him


Answer
Thank you for your kind question. This passage is perhaps one of the most cryptic in the Torah and very little is actually known about it. It appears that after Moses spent 40 days and nights in G-d's presence, his face gave off a supernatural light. The word for what he wore can either mean a veil or mask of some sort. We do not know which it was or what it was made out of. I suspect the people feared G-d's presence even as they had at the Mount, saying "You go talk to Him and we will hear and do all that He commands". I don't believe it was Moses but rather the fact that he had experienced the direct presence of G-d and had a shinning face to show for that scared the people. Hope this helps. Shalom!