The past couple of weeks have been painful. Some of us are bewildered by the extreme changes in this country and wonder whether our democratic process will hold. In our lifetimes, we’ve never experienced a president who has made so many executive orders in such a short period of time. Whether we support the direction of the orders or not, many are disoriented and unsure of the consequences.
Some of us have been grieving with the families of the Israeli hostages whose remains have been returned with such desecration, and with those who made it back alive having endured such trauma and deep inhumanity. Even though we are aware of the evil of Hamas, our hearts and souls cannot fathom the extreme cruelty that one person can do to another.
The Jewish people are not strangers to such evil and uncertainty. Our biblical language that describes this experience is Hester Panim – the hiding of God’s face. In Psalm 27, King David writes Al Tasteir panecha mimeni – “Don’t hide Your face from me.” And the sages comment that the entire story of the holiday of Purim – the Book of Esther is about how even though God’s face is hidden (God’s name never mentioned in the Megillah), He is ever-present, helping the events of the story ultimately unfold for the good of the Jewish people.
What does it mean that God’s face is hidden? The very phrase rests on the assumption that the Divine source of reality is ever-present in spite of the evil we see in the world. Our mystical tradition goes so far to say that ultimately, there is no place empty of God. Even the darkness, ugliness, and evil is connected to its Divine source. Human beings, being made in the image of God, have free-will, the power to choose, and therefore can deny their Divine source and make destructive choices based on fear, greed, desire, and despair.
When we witness this evil in the world and see the absence of the Divine qualities of kindness, justice, and compassion, we are experiencing the “hiding of God’s face.” Hopefully, many of us also have our attention on the beautiful aspects of our lives, loving relationships, the beautiful earth we live on, meaningful and purposeful work, and the ability to bring more God Presence into the world through actions that acknowledge our connections to one another. Taking the time to disengage from the news, to celebrate Shabbat, to notice the little miracles that are with us every day is essential to remind us that God’s face is not fully hidden – that is safe to keep our hearts open to the darkness and the suffering because we are part of the Divine Reality that underlies the darkness.
An important element of the Purim story that holds both the violence and darkness in the story as well as the reality of hope is v’hanafoch hu meaning “and it was overturned” or “it was turned upside down.” In Chapter 9, the almost final chapter, the story takes a different turn. Up until this moment, the evil Haman, with agreement of the King, set up the 13th of Adar as the mass genocide of all the Jews in the land which included the hanging of Mordechai the Jew. And through the events of the story, the outcome is reversed with the evil Haman being hanged, and the Jews allowed to defend themselves and kill anyone who tries to attack them.
What was responsible for this reversal? Many classic commentators answer “God, of course.” God is the ultimate reality and God determines “Hashgachah Pratit” or Divine Providence. Even though Haman cast “lots” (purim) based on the constellations to see what would be the most successful day for the Jewish genocide, the 19th century Vilna Gaon teaches that God overturned the system of constellations so that Haman wouldn’t succeed.
While that may be true on a metaphysical level, we find some more human responses in the story itself. Esther, in a position of power as queen of the land, waits for the right time and shares her Jewish identity to advocate for the people. She risks her life and position and steps forward to share who she is. And, even after the King reverses the decree and allows the Jews to defend themselves, according to the Ralbag, 14th century commentator, the Jews were successful only because they congregated together and organized themselves in defense against their enemies.
So in the same way that evil and destruction is the result the human choice to pervert the Divine will and act on the illusion of separateness, so v’nahafoch hu – “the reversal of fortune” is also the result of human choice. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks teaches:
“This is the ultimate statement of Hasgacha Pratit (Divine guidance), that wherever we are, Hashem is asking us to realize why he put us here with these gifts at this time, with these dangers in this place. Hashgacha Pratit is our fundamental belief that God never abandons us – he puts us here with something to do. Even in the worst hiding of God, if you listen hard enough, you can hear Him calling to us as individuals saying: “Who knows, if it was not for this very challenge that you are in this place at this time?”
While we experience God’s face being hidden in the world, as God’s partners in creation, we are also responsible for helping God’s face be revealed. In fact, the Hebrew for “The Scroll of Esther” (Megillah Esther) can also be translated as “The Revealing of the Hidden.” The Purim story is all about revealing God’s hidden face.
The Megillah calls this reversal, this revelation, a time of joy. The observance of Purim includes the reading of the story, a feast, sending portions of food to friends, and sending gifts to the poor. The great 13th century sage Maimonides, or the Rambam, teaches that it is better to increase one’s gifts to the poor than increasing the quality of the feast, or mishloach manot, because he says that there is no greater joy than to gladden the hearts of the poor, the widow, or the orphans.
People who are struggling on the most basic physical levels have the potential to have God’s face hidden or revealed based on whether they have enough to eat. Without food, God’s face is almost surely hidden. But with the revelation of God’s presence through the kindness of others, a deeper connection and gratitude can be revealed.