Hasidut untuk Ulangan 31:17

The matter of that which they said (Megillah 6b at the end), "juxtaposing a redemption to a redemption is preferable," meaning the redemption of Egypt to the redemption of Purim: That is since the redemption of Egypt was the beginning of all miracles and the beginning of the revelation of the holiness of Israel in the world. And it was a miracle revealed to the whole world, that God, may He be blessed, chose us as a people and made open miracles which were not in the way of nature. And it was as is stated (Exodus 15:14), "Peoples heard and they trembled." The miracle of Purim, however, is called the end of all miracles (as it is said in Yoma 29b), since everything was with great concealment; and it was clothed almost as if it were the way of nature. For it was caused by that which Ahasuerus took Esther and she found favor in his eyes; it was through this that she [was able to] act and subdue Haman and raise up the Jews. And this is [the meaning of] that which they said (Chullin 139b), "From where in the Torah is Esther? 'And I will surely hide (haster astir)' (Deuteronomy 31:17–18)." And it is like it is found in the holy books, based on this, that the essence of the descent of a person is when it is hidden from him that he is in a state of God hiding his face. And this [is the meaning of] its being stated, "haster astir," that He will hide the hiddenness of His face. And that was the essence of the miracle of Purim. As they were then at the lowest level, when the Jewish people felt that they were in a state of the greatest hiddenness - as it is stated (Esther 4:3), "there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and lamenting." And, as is known, the matter of mourning and lamenting indicates something that is final in a person's mind; that its hope is already lost. And it is like the matter of mourning and lamentation about a dead person, since there is no way to bring him back. But because they felt the hiddenness of God's face, the mourning flipped into a joyful day. And this is [the meaning of] that which they said (Megillah 11a), "When did all 'the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God?' In the days of Mordechai and Esther." And the intention about that which is stated (Psalms 98:3), "all the ends of the earth have seen," is not about the nations of the world. For they did not see the salvation of our God, since it was clothed and close to being the way of nature, as mentioned above. And that which it is stated (Esther 8:17), "and many of the people of the land became Jews," was only out of fear of the Jews and fear of Mordechai, since they saw that the king elevated him out of respect for Queen Esther. Rather the intention of, "all the ends of the earth have seen," is about the Jewish people, who were then at the lowest point in hiddenness, to the ends of the earth. And it is precise! Through this, they saw the salvation of our God, precisely through this hiddenness! And this matter is strongly present every year on the days of Purim. It should be made known to all the singular Jewish souls that know in the inner recesses of their heart how they are on the lowest level and feel bitter on account of this. With this itself, it becomes known and shines in his heart, that it is flipping for him from despair to joy.

4 However, I wrote later that I heard from my teacher, may his memory be a blessing, that if a person knows that the Holy One, blessed be He, is concealed there, this is not concealment. Because then all evildoers are scattered. And this is what is meant by 'I will surely hide My face from them' (Deuteronomy 31:17-18). Meaning, that He will conceal from them the knowledge that the Holy One, blessed be He, is there in this concealment. And the words of the wise are filled with grace.

And let us first explain "is there Ad-nai among us, or isn't? And Amalek came." (Exodus 17:7-8) And the famous question is what is the connection between the issues. And it seems to me that it is known what the rabbis said (Sotah 31a) "in all their troubles He is troubled" (Isaiah 63:9) is written and the reading is with an alef [making in all their troubles He was not troubled." And a sage and smart person will pay attention and understand that suffering for a human being is a suffering for the Shechinah, as it is written (Sanhedrin 6:5) "My head hurts, My arm hurts", and so the person will pray over the distress of the Shechinah, and immediately the distress of the human will pass, and this is what [I say] if a person understands that in all their sufferings God suffers, then there is no suffering. This is what the verse says "Isn't it because Ad-nai is not in me that all these evils befell me?" (Deut. 31:17)- if I had paid attention that this is suffering for the Shechinah then Ad-nai would be in me, and then those evils would not have befallen me. And this is easy to understand. And through this we can understand "because they tested, is there Ad-nai among us or isn't?" and then "Amalek came", since once my God is not in me, this event happened to me. And this is easy to understand.