לקוטי שיחות חלק ל״ד - וילך ב

Likkutei Sichos Vol. 34 – Vayeilech 2

1. Parshas Vayeilech is often read on Shabbos Shuva. Based on the known principle that the content of the Torah portions read is connected to the time they are read, it must be that there is a lesson regarding teshuvah (repentance) in this parsha.

It can be simply explained that in Parshas Vayeilech, we find several moral teachings regarding the abandonment of Torah and mitzvos. The purpose of these teachings is not merely to inform about the punishment for abandoning Torah and mitzvos, but to awaken hearts to teshuvah, so that initially the punishments do not occur, and even if one has stumbled, they will return from their wrongful ways.

It has been explained several times that the primary innovation in the service of teshuvah during Shabbos Shuva is not repentance for sins, but rather a teshuvah whose essence and content is to draw closer to G‑d, as the verse states, "And the spirit will return to G‑d who gave it." This is referred to in the Zohar as "higher teshuvah," and this teshuvah is not out of bitterness but with great joy.

Accordingly, it must be said that the moral teachings in Parshas Vayeilech, although in their simple sense relate to repentance for sins, not only do they not contradict the feeling of joy, but on the contrary, they evoke "great joy."

This can be hinted at by the fact that the moral teachings in Parshas Vayeilech are connected with the writing of the Song of Ha'azinu. Although the content of the song is moral teachings "so that the people will return in repentance," it is called a "song," which indicates joy (to the extent that this parsha is part of the Levites' song over the offering, and a song is only sung over wine) — because the moral teachings in Parshas Ha'azinu bring a person to joy, as explained elsewhere at length.

Based on this, we can explain (in a hinted manner) the precise wording of Rashi in our parsha, regarding the moral teachings — "And My anger will be kindled... and I will forsake them and hide My face from them..." — where he explains "and I will hide My face" as "as if I do not see their distress":

Rashi hints here that even when the behavior of the Jewish people causes "And My anger will be kindled... and I will forsake them and hide My face from them," G‑d does not truly abandon the Jewish people, G‑d forbid. Rather, it is only "as if I do not see," but the truth is that G‑d sees and feels the distress of Israel. Moreover, "in all their distress, He is distressed," and He is present in that distress. On the contrary, the entire purpose of hiding His face is only to awaken the Jewish people to return to G‑d, as will be explained at length in section 6 — and this emphasizes the great love G‑d has for the Jewish people in every situation they are in.

This is also the connection and relevance to the Ten Days of Repentance, as explained by the Alter Rebbe regarding the saying of our Sages that during the Ten Days of Repentance, G‑d is "close" to the Jewish people — "He is called close, but He has become distant and hidden from us, like a son who is with his father in his house, but the father hides his face from him so that the son will take to heart the love and reveal his love with greater intensity. When the son recognizes that the father is here and is hiding his face from him, then certainly his love will grow in a more revealed manner."

2. It has been explained many times that in addition to the hints in Rashi's commentary on the Torah, his primary purpose is to explain the simple meaning of the text.

In our case, we need to understand Rashi's explanation that "and I will hide My face" means "as if I do not see their distress":

The Re'em explains that "the hiding of G‑d's face is the absence of His providence, and it is called hiding of the face because anyone whose face does not see something does not pay attention to it, and this is what the Rabbi meant by saying 'as if I do not see their distress.'"

However, this requires explanation: seemingly, the simple meaning of hiding the face above is an expression of anger, etc. — the opposite of the blessing "May the L‑rd make His face shine upon you," which indicates G‑d's joy with the Jewish people, as Rashi explains there "He will show you a smiling face, a radiant face."

Just like a father's conduct with his son, when the father shows his son a smiling face, it indicates the revelation of his love for him, and when he is angry with him, he hides his face from him.

3. Why does Rashi leave aside this interpretation of the hiding of the face above — which (a) corresponds to the beginning of the verse "My anger will be kindled," and (b) relates to the general concept of "face" — and instead explains it as referring to the absence of His providence, which pertains (only) to "the eyes of the L‑rd" (and not to the general concept of "face")?

Additionally, we need to understand the precision in Rashi's wording "as if I do not see their distress." Seemingly, since Rashi's intention is to explain the hiding of G‑d's face as the absence of His providence, he should have said "as if I do not see them." Why does he limit the absence of seeing (and providence) only to "their distress"?

This implies and is understood from this that Rashi's intention is not the absence of providence, which is the cause of the calamities and troubles [as explained in the Guide for the Perplexed and other commentators, that when the Jewish people are in a state of hiding of the face and absence of providence, they are left "to chance," and consequently, calamities and troubles befall them, as the verse continues here "because there is no G‑d within me, these evils have found me"], but rather, the absence of providence after the calamities and troubles have already come, where even then G‑d behaves "as if I do not see their distress".

[According to this, Rashi's wording "that I do not see" is also precise. Seemingly, he should have said "that I do not watch over" (which is the main point), so why does Rashi say "that I do not see," and the learner must understand that his intention is the absence of providence, "because anyone whose face does not see something does not pay attention to it"?

According to the above, it is understood that Rashi's intention is not the absence of G‑d's providence over the Jewish people, which is the cause of the troubles, etc. (for which the expression "I do not watch over" would be appropriate), but rather the absence of seeing the troubles (which have already come), as mentioned above.]

It is puzzling: the verse explicitly states "And I will hide My face from them, and they will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will befall them," indicating that the hiding of G‑d's face precedes the state of "and they will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will befall them," and on the contrary, it is the cause of the calamities — yet Rashi explains the opposite, that "And I will hide My face" is after the calamities and troubles have found them?

Seemingly, one could say that this is because, in the heavenly punishments we have learned about in the scripture until now, we do not find (in the simple meaning of the text) that they come due to the absence of providence. On the contrary, the punishment of the wicked comes specifically through His providence, as He judges the wicked and sentences them with the appropriate punishment. Moreover, a severe punishment for a severe sin is described in the verse (not in the language of hiding the face, but) in the language of "I will set My face" (and similar expressions), which Rashi explains as "I turn from all My affairs and deal with him," meaning the intensity of providence. Therefore, even in our case, Rashi does not explain "And I will hide My face" as a cause for the punishment, etc.

But this is not a sufficient answer, because it could be said that here we are dealing with a more severe punishment than the punishments mentioned until now, as explained by the commentators, that this is measure for measure, that "in response to their abandonment of G‑d [as it is written in the previous verse 'and they will abandon Me and break My covenant'], He said, 'And I will abandon them and hide My face from them,' meaning I too will abandon them and not watch over them, and this prediction is harsher than all the predictions... In all the curses of the covenant, you will not find hiding of the face or abandonment, only providential punishments, and here their abandonment is repaid by His abandonment of them and hiding His face from them."

4. We also need to understand — why does Rashi add "as if"?

The commentators have written that Rashi found it difficult to say that, G‑d forbid, there is something hidden from Him, and therefore he explained "as if I do not see."

However, this is seemingly insufficient, because this emphasis is unnecessary. Even if Rashi had written "that I do not see their distress," it would be understood that the intention is not literal, that something is hidden from Him, but rather that G‑d does not watch over them to save them, etc.

5. As we find explicitly in Rashi's commentary earlier in Parshas Shemos, on the verse "And G‑d saw, etc." — "and He did not hide His eyes," and similarly on the verse "I have surely seen the affliction of My people, etc. I know their pains" — "I did not hide My eyes nor close My ears to their cries." Seemingly, how is it possible to speak of hiding one's eyes before Him, that it was necessary to negate "I did not hide My eyes"? We must conclude that it is self-evident that the hiding of the eyes means the absence of providence, etc..

Furthermore, and primarily: even if we say that "I do not see their distress" is not a fitting expression regarding the Divine, because in its literal sense it implies that something is hidden from Him — Rashi should have written "and I will hide My face — I will hide My eyes" (especially since this is the language of the verse).

6. We can explain this simply: The verse mentions two matters — "and I will abandon them (and afterwards) and hide My face from them." We need to understand: after G‑d, so to speak, abandons the Jewish people and is not with them, what is added by also hiding His face from them? It should have said the opposite, "and I will hide My face from them" (which is applicable even when He is among them), and then "and I will abandon them"?

In human terms, one could say that first a person leaves the place (but can still look at it from afar), and then adds further by hiding his face so as not to look (even) from a distance. However, regarding G‑d, "and I will abandon them" means the absence of providence — the absence of providence described by the term "and I will abandon them" (which indicates complete abandonment) is much more than the absence of providence of "and I will hide (only) My face"?

From this, Rashi concludes that the verse here refers to two types of punishment: (a) "and I will abandon them" — the absence of providence that causes troubles and calamities (as the continuation of the verse states, "because there is no G‑d within me [meaning 'and I will abandon them'] these evils have found me"), (b) "and I will hide My face from them," which is after the troubles have already come, that G‑d behaves with Israel "as if I do not see their distress."

This simply resolves why it is impossible to interpret the hiding of the face as an expression of anger, etc. (as mentioned in section 1) — because anger causes "and I will abandon them" (as explicitly stated here "My anger will flare, etc., and I will abandon them"), and if that were the intention, it should have been stated before "and I will abandon them."

Based on this, we also understand Rashi's addition "as if I do not see their distress" — because otherwise, it is perplexing: if we say that even after the troubles come, G‑d hides His eyes from them and does not see the distress of Israel, and in Rashi's language that He closes His ears to their cries, it would mean that the door is closed to repentance — and this is contrary to the purpose of the punishments, which are meant to bring a person to repentance, and in the language of the verse "Do I desire the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked return from his way and live" — how can it be said that G‑d does not see their distress?

Therefore, Rashi explains "as if I do not see their distress" — that the conduct of hiding the eyes from the troubles is not a true hiding of the eyes (from G‑d's perspective) but only an illusion for the recipients, that to the Jewish people it seems that G‑d does not see, but in truth, G‑d sees and sees, and waits for the repentance of Israel, etc. [On the contrary, the very fact that G‑d hides His face in such a way that to the Jewish people it seems that He does not see their distress is only to further awaken them to return to Him].

In other words: the matter of the absence of providence that causes troubles and calamities is a reality, for from this come troubles and calamities, etc., G‑d forbid (and we do not say about this "as if I do not supervise," because from this conduct come actual results); however, regarding seeing the distress of Israel (after it has already come) — there is no actual effect concerning Israel, but as soon as they repent, it is revealed that He truly saw their distress, and He turns to them and saves them, etc. — and the entire matter of "and I will hide My face" is only concerning the Jewish people, to whom it seems (due to the multitude of troubles) that G‑d does not see their distress.

We can say that this is also the precision of the language "and I will hide My face" — and not "and I will cover My face" or similar expressions:

4. The difference between the terms "covering" and "hiding" is that "hiding" emphasizes a relation to another, and one cannot say that something is hidden without considering what it is hidden from. In contrast, the term "covering" can be used even when it does not relate to something else. According to this, the distinction between covering the face and hiding the face is that when one covers their face, a change occurs not only concerning the other but also concerning himself, as his face is covered. However, when one hides his face, the change may only be with the other, who does not see the face, but regarding the face itself, there is no change at all.

This is why Rashi explains that "and I will hide My face" means "as if I do not see their distress," which is merely hiding (and not covering). For in truth, certainly, the Holy One, blessed be He, sees their distress and does not avert His eyes from the Jewish people at all. Rather, G‑d's seeing is in a manner of "and I will hide My face," which appears to the Jewish people as if G‑d does not see their distress, as mentioned above.

From this, it is understood that immediately, when the Jewish people turn to G‑d (the opposite of their conduct in a manner of "they have forsaken Me," which caused "and I will forsake them"), the matter of "and I will forsake them and hide My face" is immediately nullified. G‑d reveals Himself to the Jewish people face to face, with great affection and love visible to all, and bestows upon the Jewish people all blessings from His full, open, holy, and generous hand, with goodness that is visible and apparent.

"(From the talk of Shabbat Parshat Vayelech, 5742)"