Why The Hidden Face ?

בס"ד

וחרה אפי בו ביום ההוא ועזבתים והסתרתי פני מהם והיה לאכל ומצאהו רעות רבות וצרות ואמר ביום ההוא הלא על כי אין אלהי בקרבי מצאוני הרעות האלה: ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא על כל הרעה אשר עשה כי פנה אל אלהים אחרים:

[דברים לא:יז-יח]

"And I will exhibit great anger towards them on that day … and they will say – it is because G-d is not in my midst that these misfortunes have come upon me. And I will surely hide my face from them on that day …"[Devarim 31:17-18]

All throughout sefer devarim we see this pattern to Moshe Rabbeinu's discourse. If we are properly righteous then Hashem will reward us with goodness and if we fail in our duties to Him then calamities will be our sorry lot.

The Shem MiShmuel points out that here the order is not quite right. We see in passuk 17 that Hashem will punish us ( the previous passuk describes our abandonment of Hashem – so His actions are in line with the devarim pattern ) but in the end of the passuk we have reached a reconciliation. Recognizing that leaving Hashem out of our lives is a negative thing we accept our troubles as due payment for our unfaithfulness.

Isn't this sufficient teshuva ? Why then does passuk 18 continue with Hashem's punishments ?

In this season of teshuva – the answer can guide us greatly.

The recognition that we came to in passuk 17 was not complete teshuva and does not absolve us completely from the responsibility for our sins.

It was a great start. The knowledge that distance from Hashem is what brings about all of our sorrows is absolutely fundamental in achieving the proper worldview. But it is not enough. We must strive for more than just utilitarian teshuva, says the Shem MiShmuel, more than just doing our minimum as a safety net against tragedy. Our relationship with Hashem should be one of excellence, one of reaching ever higher and toiling to create a spiritual paradise.

This year – reach for the stars ! Hashem's waiting for you !

Hatzlacha !!