“And I will hide my face because of all the evil they have committed” - Deuteronomy 31:17
The above verse is taken from this week’s parashah, “Vayelech,” one of the last parashot of the Torah and the shortest one. The term “hester panim” (hiding of the face), which the verse mentions, is paramount in Jewish religious philosophy. It describes times when G-d withdraws His visible presence and protection, allowing suffering, exile, or tragedy to befall the Jewish People.
Many find this verse problematic for both theological and existential reasons. In my view, it challenges core beliefs in G-d’s justice, providence, mercy and covenantal faithfulness. It implies, so it may seem, that G-d hides His face in response to Yisrael’s sins, then tragedies are punishment.
As an offspring of generations of Jews who suffered persecution, slaughter and banishment (tracing back to the Spanish Inquisition and the 1492 Expulsion), and pogroms in Eastern Europe, the thought of these being the result of “hester panim” following their sins, is unsettling. Moreover, being a daughter, a “second generation,” to the Shoah, who glumly witnessed its effects on her parents, I find it hard to grasp such implications. Can we view those horrors where innocent souls, such as my four young cousins and many more, as simply the result of Divine “hiding?”
Divine absence, as the above verse may suggest, forced Jewish thinkers, over the ages, to grapple with their perception of it.
The Talmud (Chagigah 5b) interprets hester panim as a state when G-d seems absent from Yisrael’s troubles, yet still suffers with them, “Even though I hide my face, I speak through dreams.” In other words, G-d’s withdrawal is never total; some divine communication remains.
Though it might seem that Rash”i suggests that the term implies that G-d will appear to withdraw his protection, leaving Am Yisrael vulnerable to its enemies, he mitigates its gravity. He believes that it is not abandonment. According to him, G-d is still present, but hidden. The purpose of the troubles that befall our People is to bring teshuvah (repentance).
Another Medieval scholar, Ramba”n sees hester panim as accounting for prolonged exile (Deuteronomy 28:64-65). Yisrael’s suffering, he believes, is merely a temporary concealment that preserves His covenantal promise for the future
Early modern scholars, like Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl (Me’or Einayim, 1730-1797), offer a more mystical interpretation. Rabbi Nachum teaches that G-d is within the concealment. The challenge of Jewish history, he notes, is to “see” G-d even when He seems absent.
The Hasidic view, as expressed by Rabbe Nachman of Breslov (1772-1811), a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, speaks of “hester she-betoch hester” (a concealment within a concealment). Rabbe Nachman preaches that keeping faith at times of persecution and exile is the highest spiritual achievement.
Unlike classical commentators who see hester panim as punishment for Am Yisrael’s transgressions, modern scholars, particularly post-Shoah ones, move away from the notion that tragedies are punishments. They shift the focus to G-d, allowing human freedom, even when it leads to horrific evil.
In his book, Faith After the Holocaust, Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits argues that hester panim is G-d’s way of safeguarding human free will. The Shoah, he believes, is not Divine retribution but the consequence of G-d allowing history to unfold without miraculous intervention.
Similarly, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks suggests that the term does not mean that G-d has abandoned Am Yisrael or broken the covenant. Rather, he asserts, it means that G-d is no longer visibly and miraculously intervening in history. Sacks further suggests that after the biblical era of prophecy and open miracles, G-d chose to be present in hidden ways, through human choice, covenantal responsibility and moral action.
Personally, as a non observant Jewish woman that feels a strong bond with G-d and who believes that He is good, I lean towards accepting the view of modern interpreters who often stress the existential meaning of hester panim, which tests faith when G-d’s guiding hand seems hidden. Rather than proof of G-d’s abandonment, I see the term as a paradoxical part of the Covenant entered with our forefathers, where even in covertness, G-d remains present, still affirming His ongoing relationship with His People.
Ktivah V’Chatima tova to my fellow Jews and Am Yisrael, and a good year to all.
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