In Plain Sight

Revealed Concealment

There was once a ruler who wanted to test her people. She wanted to know if her people truly believed in her. So she changed her usual garb in order that they not recognize her when she strolled among them so she could assess what their level of connection was. For those who only knew her for her external look, they had no idea who this person was. But for those who knew the ruler in her essence, her costume and disguise didn’t hinder them. Even in hiding, they knew who she was.

That, according to Reb Avraham Weinberg of Slonim, one of the leaders of the Slonim Chasidic dynasty¹ known as the Beit Avraham is how God operates in the world. When humans experience difficult moments in the world, that is simply a manifestation of this very same testing that the aforementioned ruler did to her subjects. Namely, those that are believers understand that beyond the concealment of a disguise or darkness, divinity resides. It is our job to see beyond these moments and recognize the goodness and possibility therein.

The Beit Avraham related this to Pinchas, the eponymous lead of our parshah this week. When our portion begins and Pinchas receives his reward for his action last week, we are told in Numbers 25:11

פִּֽינְחָ֨ס בֶּן־אֶלְעָזָ֜ר בֶּן־אַהֲרֹ֣ן הַכֹּהֵ֗ן הֵשִׁ֤יב אֶת־חֲמָתִי֙ מֵעַ֣ל בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּקַנְא֥וֹ אֶת־קִנְאָתִ֖י בְּתוֹכָ֑ם וְלֹא־כִלִּ֥יתִי אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּקִנְאָתִֽי׃

“Phinehas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his passion for Me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in My passion.

His “passion” here is displayed for the people to remind them that even in moments of trial and tribulation, God can be found. This too, the Beit Avraham reminds, is something we should remember during this period of time known as the 3 weeks, leading up to the 9th of Av, a time of acute pain and constriction for the Jewish people.

This period of time is a time of concealment and darkness. But beneath this concealment lives grand light, just like a person might want to hide their personal treasures in an unexpected place.

The Beit Avraham is alluding to the fact that as humans, we don’t usually think goodness can come from harsh situations. In fact, many of us might see the existence of awfulness as a sign that God doesn’t exist or at minimum, can’t be found there. This framing from the Beit Avraham serves as a recalibration of that. Whatever we perceive as a lack might be only a surface level read. If we dig a little, then we might see that hidden within the darkness is something powerful and bright.

That becomes the work for all of us in our given spheres. We all walk through the world facing these moments of concealment. It could be a financial, physical, or an emotional situation that presents itself to us as something with real potential to upend us. Our job is to learn to see beyond the surface and recognize there might be potential there, not just to upend, but to uplift us.

While written initially through a god-centric frame, I think there’s application more broadly. One could see this as an active God who is trying to test them or one could imagine that in any situation in which one’s first read is “oh, crap,” that’s actually the moment to rip the mask off. Whether or not you believe in God, we all can believe in our courage and power to persist through challenges.

These three weeks are called bein hametzarim in Hebrew, a name which reflects a sense of being caught in narrow straits. Anyone who has ever gone through such a period knows the feeling of looking back and realizing that what seemed narrow was actually only so because of our limited perspective. In actuality, there was more room to breathe. When we can breathe, we can also see more clearly. When we can see more clearly, we can realize that what we perceived as a test was really just an opportunity to grow ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Weekend

1. 1884-1933