In Da’at Tevunot, the Ramchal conducts a conversation between the soul and intellect, where the intellect explains to the soul (section 78), “And now know, these two are the foundations of His governance, blessed be He, and its root with all His creations—’the trait of hiding His face’, where He conceals and hides Himself, and does not reveal the splendor of His glory, and ‘the trait of shining His face.'” These two forms of conduct are found in the Torah: “May the Lord cause His face to shine upon you” (Numbers 6:25)—the shining of the face, and “I will surely hide My face” (Deuteronomy 31:18)—the hiding of the face. The Ramchal explains, “Here we have two kinds of creation: a creation with much illumination and abundant influence, and a creation with little illumination and diminished influence.”
The use of the word “face” is very significant. Although the Holy One, blessed be He, says to Moses, “But My face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:23), His “face” refers to His providence and influence. The Holy One concealed from Moshe the exact quantities and qualities of these influences, despite Moses’ greatness and closeness to God. The Ramban (Nachmanides) already noted this in his introduction to the book of Genesis, when he quotes the sages, “Fifty gates of understanding were created in the world, and all were given to Moshe except for one, as it is said, ‘You have made him a little less than God.'”
The human face is both a receiver and a transmitter. On the one hand, the face receives: the eyes see, the ears hear, the nose smells, the mouth tastes, and the brain processes all the information it receives from these senses. On the other hand, the face expresses the glow of the eyes—the shining face. It emits all the sensations a person receives. The face expresses a smile, joy, sadness, and sometimes even anger.
So too is the “measure,” so to speak, of the Creator of the Universe. He receives the actions of a person, a nation, and the world, and His response is accordingly: the shining face of blessing or the hiding of His face, which Rashi explains (on Deuteronomy 31:17) as “as if I do not see their distress”—a reduction in God’s influence.
On the 23rd of Tishrei, 5784:
The day after we proclaimed while beating the Arava, “A voice announces, announces and says…”
The day after we said following the beating of the Arava (according to Ashkenazi custom), “And this day…and kiss me with the kisses of your mouth…”
The day of Shemini Atzeret—the day when the Holy One, blessed be He, requests of Israel, “My children, please, remain with Me one more day. It is difficult for Me to part from you” (Rashi, Leviticus 23:36).
The day when we rejoice with the Torah, completing it and beginning it anew.
The day when it is told of the Vilna Gaon, that he danced and leaped with all his might before the Torah scroll (Ma’aseh Rav 233).
But on this great day, the Holy One, blessed be He, hid His face from the people of Israel in the Land of Israel. God allowed the enemies of Israel to harm “all the stragglers behind you,” and all the people of Israel are “weary and worn out” (Deuteronomy 25:19).
Nevertheless, even in the difficult hours of hiding His face, God promises Moshe, “And I will hide My face from them; I will see what their end will be” (Deuteronomy 32:20)—”Even though I will hide My face from them like someone who turns their face away from their friend, don’t think that I will not see. It’s true that I will remove My providence and influence from them, but even so, I will know their end and their deeds” (Toldot Yitzchak by Mahar”i Karo, the uncle of Rabbi Yosef Karo). This means that even in the hardest times, God sees “their end”—the latent inner strengths within the souls of Israel. He helps us and fulfills Balaam’s prophecy: “The people rise like a lion and lift themselves like a lion; they will not lie down until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain”—this is “their end.” From the hiding of the face, the shining face emerges; from the darkness, the light appears, and from the gloom, the sparks of redemption are seen.
Now, we deeply understand what evil is in the world, how the words of the angel were fulfilled: “He shall be a wild man; his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him” (Genesis 16:12). We know who Israel’s enemies are in our generation. After all this clarity, we can pray with intention on the upcoming sacred day: “And all wickedness will vanish like smoke when You remove the rule of wickedness from the earth”—”Our Father, our King, silence the mouths of our accusers and adversaries,” and we will soon witness the fulfillment of “joy for Your land, gladness for Your city, and the flourishing of the horn of David, Your servant”
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