Vayelech

Thoughts confine the mind , eyes can blind , when we are trying to find....

1. In this week’s parshah we are told of a time when Hashem will hide his face. Some commentaries point to this verse as an allusion to Purim. Others to the time of the Holocaust. The verse contains a double language of the term hidden to stress the concealment; literally it is a concealed concealment.

2. What type of concealment is this and why does Hashem hide himself?

3. Different types of disguise:

Obstructed- Not in our view. Yankel was looking for his house key near a street light. Another man walked over to Yankel and asked him what he was doing. Yankel said he heard his key fall out of his pocket, the man asked Yankel where exactly did it fall ? Yankel responded, up the block but it is very dark in that part of the street . When we search for G-D using only scientific, empirical methods we are searching for something that cannot be quantified and we will not find it.

Camouflage blends in to the surroundings. This is the concealment provided by nature. The error of pantheism is that it mistakes the glove for the hand.

Smithy was on the roof of his house during a massive flood. A boat showed up offering assistance and Smithy refused it, saying to himself no G-D will save me. A helicopter flies by and throws down a line. Again Smithy refuses and says G-D will save him. Smithy ultimately drowns. When he gets to Heaven he asked G-D, why did you not rescue me I had complete faith! G-D answered , what are you talking about I sent two angels for you.

When the invisible man puts on a shirt he reveals himself.

4. Concealed- I am not aware it is hidden. If I hold out both of my hands and tell you to guess which hand the candy is in then it is obstructed. If I hide money in your house without telling you it is obstructed and you are not aware it is hidden, it is a concealed concealment. This is the nature of the hiding that the verse is speaking of.

In experimental research many experiments must conceal the aspect they are testing for in order to get an accurate result. For a good example of this see the Milgram experiment.

4.Chacham Grossman told me a great example. If you see a cop waiting at an intersection it is not a test to see if you will stop at the red light. When the cop is hiding that is the true test. G-D must conceal himself to make room for us to exist, to exercise our free will and to truly do good.