Parshat Re’eh, August 23, 1941
who is hiding from whom?
is it you hiding from us,
my dove in the rock,
i beg you,
show yourself to me.
or, is it me,
did I turn away from you,
did I,
God-forbid,
remove you from
the equation of my suffering.
give yourself to me
and I’ll give myself to you.
withhold judgment from me,
and I’ll withhold judgment
from you.
אני לודי
ודודי לי.
Parshat Re'eh, August 23, 1941
Aside from that, sufferings are hester panim, concealment of the Divine Face. When a person perceives within his suffering the Hand of God, and His justice and truth, he abolishes the hester (concealment). He reveals God even out of the hester and dinim (judgments). Then, as the concealment evaporates, it becomes chesed (loving-kindness), which reveals the Divine Light that is the Face of God.
How could we ever have said that the pain concealed God’s Face? Not only does God say (Psalms 91:15), “I am in pain with him,” but God, blessed be He, endures the brunt of our pain. On the contrary, it is the person who does not accept suffering with acquiescence, God forbid, and thinks that his suffering is unjustified, God forbid, who creates the concealment. It is as if, God forbid, he was doing away with God, as it were.
וחוץ מזה, היסורים הם הסתרת פנים, לכן כשרואה גם בהם יד ד' צדקתו
ואמיתיתו, אז מעביר בזה את ההסתרה, ומגלה אותו יתברך גם מתוך
ההסתר וגם מתוך הדינים, וממילא כשההסתר עובר, אז נעשה חסד והתגלות
אור פניו יתברך. ואיך אפשר לומר על היסורים שהם הסתרת פנים, הא "עמו אנכי בצרה"
,וגם הוא יתברך סובל מיסורינו, רק האיש שחס וחלילה אינו מקבלם בהכנעה ודומה לו שחס וחלילה הם בלא משפט, הוא העושה את ההסתר וחס וחלילה כאילו מסלק את הכביכול.
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