Why Does God Hide His Love For Us?

If God loves us, why did He allow the Temple to be destroyed? Why does He allow us to suffer this bitter exile?

Why does God hide His love? Because it is infinite, and if we could perceive it, we would see nothing else. We would do whatever we desire, certain that He would forgive us. We would endanger ourselves, knowing He would save us. We would sully ourselves, knowing that He would clean us. We would lose ourselves, knowing He would find us.

But then we would never find ourselves. We would learn nothing. We would build no strength because we would rely always on His strength, His forbearance, His infinite mercy. God knows that this is not true kindness or love. It is cruel to allow a child to indulge His every whim and base instinct. It leaves Him weak. Were God to lift us constantly and support us every time we fall, then we would build no muscles, learn no balance, gain no wisdom ourselves.

Therefore, though it pains God to see us struggle, He tempers His chesed/kindness with gevurah/discipline. He allows us to be uncomfortable in order for us to learn and grow. He pushes us out of the nest (the Temple) so that we can spread our wings and learn to carry ourselves aloft. He is strict with Himself, restraining His inclination to swoop in and catch us and coddle us. It is God who sheds tears when we falter and when we ache. It is God who hides nearby when we are feeling frightened and alone, whispering under His breath, ‘O my child, I’m right here, I wish I could reveal Myself to you, but I know that it is not my hand-holding you need most at this moment, it is my seeming absence.’

This shabbos is known as Shabbos Chazon/the Sabbath of Vision. The mystics teach that just before Tisha B’Av when the Temple was destroyed, every one of us is granted a mystic vision of the 3rd Temple that will soon be built with the coming redemption. Though our fleshy eyes may not see it, our soul sees, and this vision sustains us throughout all of our challenges.

Along with this mystic view of the coming Temple, may this shabbos bring us the vision to see through all of life’s hardship and discipline, to perceive Hashem’s deep and infinite love for us that is at its root and core.

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