Chasidut su Salmi 31:78

And now, blessed are you by God, oh sweet reader. Be enlightened and understand that on this day began the revelation of the goodness of the Torah within which was hidden “the light that was good,” that light which allowed Adam to see from one end of the world to the other, and through which we can see the mysteries of the Creator. R’ Shimon bar Yochai was called “the holy lamp” because through him were revealed the secrets of Torah, that is the secret of “the light that was good” which is hidden in the Torah. Therefore his holy book is called the Zohar (lit. brilliance), meaning a light which shines from one end of the world to the other – the ‘good light’ which is hidden away in the Torah. That is why this day is the best of days for the giving of Torah. This is when the good light in the Torah began to shone forth, as we have learned. And this day is the 33rd day of the Omer, Lag Baomer. This is the day of the hilulah (lit. rejoicing) of R’ Shimon bar Yochai, the very day on which he ascended to the highest heavens. It also makes sense to assume that he was born on this day as well, because the Holy One sits and completes the years of the righteous from day to day (Kiddushin 38a). The very day on which ‘the light that is good’ began to shine out from the Torah, that is the best of days before the giving of the Torah, is the very day on which the holy soul that would reveal the path of ‘the light that is good’ in Torah was itself revealed. That is why this holy soul was called “the holy lamp,” on the very day that he rose up to the highest heavens he commanded R’ Aba to write down all the storehouses of hidden knowledge which he had revealed in order to leave behind a blessing from the illumination of the hidden light (that is good, as it says “How abundant is the good that You have in store for those who fear You…” (Psalms 31:20)) It is preserved there for us and our children until the light of our righteous Messiah is revealed, speedily and in our day! It is as our Sages said “And God said, let there be light…” this refers to the light of the King Messiah (Pesikta Rabbati 36), in the merit of our occupation with ‘the light that is good’ which the holy lamp left behind as a blessing and life, and a light for all Israel.

Fortunate is the person who listens to these words, to fulfill all that is written herein. He will never slip (based on Psalms 112:6) and his righteousness will answer for him in the time to come (based on Beraishis 30:33), when he comes to receive his reward. In the measure that a person meets out -- so (In that same measure) is he met with. Fortunate is one who chooses life -- Hashem will repay his endeavors, if it is to scoffers He will scoff (Proverbs 3:34), he will not gain wealth and his wealth will not endure (Job 15:29), woe to his soul -- for the retribution of his handiwork will be done to him (Isaiah 3:11), it will not be cast to the ground (but on their heads -Job 15:29), one who is good before G-d will escape from it (Ecclesiastes 7:26). How great is the goodness hidden away for him (based on Psalms 31:20), in his joy no stranger will take part (Proverbs 14:10), a laboring soul benefits from its labor (Proverbs 16:26, see also Tractate Sanhedrin 99b -- he works here and his Torah works for him elsewhere). Let us pour out our souls to Hashem to put our portion with Him, to stand at the threshold of His shade, they will have no regrets -- those who put their trust in Him (Psalms end of Chapter 34), no eye has seen (their reward) except for You G-d, what He will do for those who put their hope in Him (Isaiah 64:3).

When the Red Sea split the hidden form of evil crumbled. Rabbi Isaac Luriah explained that the splitting of the Red Sea and the revelation of a dry sea floor represented an emergence of the Alma De-Iskasya, “the hidden world.” The waves of an ocean are always visible and they represent the revealed dimension, while the sea floor that is usually covered with water represents the hidden realm. Apparently, when Jewry arrived at the Red Sea, we found our inner voice of virtue, we revealed our Rav tuvcha asher tzafanta le-yereacha, “the great amounts of Your good that are hidden away for those who revere you” (Ps. 31:20). We revealed yechidah, and then the hidden evil force that had broadcast anti-Jewish hate and sin collapsed.

So let us come back to the first matter. Regarding that which I wrote above, we should look at the words of the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah on Ecclesiastes 12:10): “’Kohelet sought to find a desirable thing’ – he sought to understand the giving of reward for the righteous in the future to come. [God] said to him, ‘I have already had it written (Psalms 31:20) – “How abundant is the good that You have in store for those who fear You”; and I say (Malachi 3:12), “for you shall be a land of desire.”’” And we may be exacting – what did Shlomo (Kohelet) find difficult? And also, what is the meaning of, “and I say?” And it appears that Shlomo is coming to teach two things. The first is that which I wrote above – that even in the world to come there is nothing coming to him according to strict justice, because of ‘who has a claim on Me from before, that I should repay him?’ And how does creation of the world help? And about this, He answered him with the answer mentioned above, and we can find it in the verse, “How abundant is the good” – that the abundant good of the world to come is saved, such that one does not benefit from the reward of the commandments in this world. And [the kindness] which ‘You have already done’ in this world “for those who take refuge in You” – meaning for the righteous – is from the angle of kindness, because they took refuge in You. And it is like the Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said, “Everything that Israel benefits from in this world is for the sake of faith and is for [its impact on other] people. For if they, God forbid, saw that there was no good [coming] to the righteous in this world, it would be a desecration of [God’s] name that it would be ‘the same for the righteous and the evil’ – and they would not distinguish that the reward for the commandments is all stored for the world to come. However it can still be asked, “Behold the Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Kiddushin 30a), ‘Were it not that the Holy One, blessed be He, helps him, he could not [overcome] it’ – if so, how can he claim reward in the next world, according to strict justice? Behold everything was from God’s help, may He be blessed, and not from his own actions! Rather it appears that it is certainly because the will is the main thing; and the desire to do the commandments is exclusively from the person. And hence they said (Berakhot 33b), “Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven” – for that is something that is dependent upon the heart. It is only if a person wants to do a commandment but is unable to go through with it in practice – because the evil impulse is standing in his way to make him stumble – that the Holy One, blessed be He, helps him. And that is the meaning of that which is written, “for you shall be a land of desire” – for desire and will is yours alone, so you will receive a full reward for your desire.

This also helps us understand a verse in psalms 31,20 ‎מה רב ‏טובך אשר צפנת ליראיך פעלת לחוסים בך נגד בני אדם‎, “how abundant is ‎the good that You have in store for those who fear You; You have ‎done so publicly in full view of men, for those who have taken ‎refuge in You.” Rachel was a perfect example of how one fulfills ‎the exhortation of our sages in Avot 1,3 not to belong to ‎the category of people who observe the Lord’s commandments ‎only for the sake of the reward G’d has promised. She trusted G’d ‎fully, else she would have certainly used the argument that she ‎did not want to become Esau’s wife as justification not to reveal ‎the secret code between Yaakov and her to her sister. Her action ‎even endangered her afterlife, which due to being a dutiful wife of ‎Esau would have daily put her claim to an afterlife at risk.‎
The exhortation of the above quoted Mishnah not to ‎perform the commandments for the sake of the reward promised ‎is very difficult to honour as we know and are constantly aware ‎that G’d keeps His promises to us, and it is almost superhuman ‎not to be influenced by such promises. When David worded his ‎psalm 31,20 as he did, adding the words ‎נגד בני אדם‎, he meant that ‎at the time when we perform the commandments we must not ‎think of the reward in store for us. G’d does not mind that once ‎we have performed the commandment we think about the ‎reward. He knows how difficult it is not to think of it while ‎performing it; this is why David says of G’d ‎צפנת‎, “You hid,” such ‎thoughts from those who truly revere You at the time when they ‎performed the commandments.‎