The Inner and Outer Levels of History

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The Inner and Outer Levels of History - 2

Hide and Seek

I always liken this Hide and Seek Drama to a band of people lost in a dark forest on a rainy night. Once in a while, a powerful bolt of lightning illuminates the darkness for a split second. Most everybody is so frightened by it, however, that they immediately fall to their faces and wait for an all-clear signal to go on trudging through the night. Only those who are wise wait for these precious moments when the entire landscape is lit up so that they can get their bearings and know how to proceed toward their destination even after the light has faded and they become enveloped again in darkness.

The Baal Shem Tov told many parables about this idea of G-d’s Hiding and waiting to be sought and found. One of these parables involves a little boy and his father. I have not found this parable in its original Hebrew version. I am therefore presenting the English translation that appears in Ideas and Ideals of the Hassidim by Dr. M. Aron (Citadel Press, NY 1969, p. 50, and in The Garden of Hassidism, by Steinman, p. 169):

When a father sees his child from a distance, playing with children of his own age, he approaches him. And when the child espies his father, he immediately abandons his games and childish occupations and runs after his father, calling him, “Father, father!” But when the father sees his son running after him, he pretends not to notice him and continues on his way, in order to increase the child’s yearnings for him, so that he may continue to call, “Father, father!”

This gives the father great pleasure in that he perceives the child’s wisdom in being prepared to abandon his games. It shows that nothing is as important to him as the love he has for his father. The father nevertheless continues hiding himself from the son in order to induce the boy to spurn those childish occupations that he has not yet abandoned. This pleasure, however, is followed by a sense of pity in the father’s heart in that he has disturbed his son’s enjoyments and games. But the father’s joy at beholding his son’s love for him passes over also to the son.

On one level, this parable is about the relationship between G-d and the individual soul – specifically from G-d’s point of view. By virtue of our souls having descended into this world, we get caught up in all kinds of “games.” Not all of these “games” are meaningless. On the contrary, going to school, accumulating knowledge, learning to play team sports, enjoying trips, learning a vocation, perfecting our skills at all kinds of things – all these are very important activities. Participating in communal projects, helping sick people, young people, old people, learning more skills to develop our own potentials and that of others – are additional examples of human endeavors that are of great value and benefit for everyone involved. Building relationships with family, friends, and the society at large – these are also worthy pursuits and are part and parcel of why we have come to this earth – to participate in perfecting things, making this world a better place to live.

This is how the Torah wants us to view life. The commandments of the Torah are the basic building blocks, both on the level of the individual and on the level of the collective, for perfecting human society. As such, these endeavors are preparations for true communion with G-d. For the greatest human beings who have ever lived – the prophets themselves – were all totally involved in raising the consciousness-level of their generation. And they didn’t do this by separating themselves from their people – certainly not for overlong periods of time. Avraham, Yitzchak (Isaac) and Yaacov (Jacob), Yoseph, Moshe (Moses), Yehoshua (Joshua), Shmuel (Samuel), Kings David and Shlomo (Solomon), Eliyahu (Elijah), Yeshaya (Isaiah), Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah), and Yechezkel (Ezekiel) – all were completely involved in every aspect of their people’s lives. Of course, they communed with G-d at night, or whenever they were alone, or even when they weren’t alone* – for G-d was the center of their lives, and their consciousness of Him was intense and ecstatic. Nevertheless, like Avraham, they all understood that it was more important to be like G-d than to be with Him.**

* It is written, “Et HaElohim hit’halech Noah [Noah used to walk constantly with G-d]” (Bereshit 6:9). This means that Noah would constantly seclude himself alone [hit’boded] to be with his Creator. In this way, he spent most of his time away from other people. Indeed, because of these regular times he spent alone, even when he came in contact with other people, they couldn’t disturb his peace of mind (Sefer Charedim 66:32). (see “BEING ALONE WITH G-D”)

** Avraham realized that to be like G-d (by welcoming the visitors in the external world) was the only true reflection of being with G-d (in the internal world of prophetic experience). (“BEING LIKE G-D”)

So, yes, although in an ultimate sense all of the above are called “games-that-people-play,” it is the real low-level games that keep us distracted from the true purpose of human existence that this parable aims at exposing and freeing us from. These are the games played by people who are bent on manipulating others around them in order to control them. [Manipulators, beware! You still have a chance to willingly stop playing your games now. If you don’t, you will be stopped soon enough the hard way.]

There are also the “games” played by the innocent victims who fall hook, line and sinker for all the hype that modern society offers to keep them in a state of mental torpor. The victims too are expected to rise above this constant barrage of hype that dopes the masses by blowing their fuses on low-level television programs and violent computer games. Believing that we are free and expressing ourselves while we are really just acting out the values and the mores of those who care very little about who we are – this is an insidious “game” from which we must wake up.

Being that G-d placed our souls down here in this world in order to discover Him even in the midst of His concealment, He isn’t so pleased when we get so caught up in such “games” and take them so seriously that we forget to see through them to the real purpose of human existence. What does G-d do? He reveals Himself in our lives for a split second – just enough for us to see through the veneer – and immediately retreats back into hiding.

In other words, for a split second, a person has a thought that the way he has been living his life for 20, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, etc. years has led him nowhere. A wake up call comes. In some cases, it comes in the form of something pleasurable. We receive a gift that reminds us how much we really care for someone we love... We are promoted, lauded for our work, make breakthroughs, become overnight successes. These are wakeup calls that come to remind us that there is more to life than what we had thought. The problem is that we usually don’t have the wisdom to see them as such. We become drunk on our own success and enamored with our own power. Such wakeup calls have therefore been known to backfire by leading us more into our self delusions.

At one point, therefore, another kind of wakeup call comes. Somehow, some way, it always comes. This time it is painful. And if we fail to pay attention to it the first time, it comes again. Nasty little hints. “Hey, that hurts. Leave me alone!” At one point, however, the message begins to seep through the thick wall we have put up between ourselves and reality: “Wake up!” it’s saying, “you’re missing something crucial in your life! You’ve gotten stuck in the game and completely forgotten why you were sent here!”

Oh, a person could say at that point, “Hey! Don’t be so harsh! After all, how am I supposed to know that there is a higher meaning to all this. I didn’t see any shining examples of such things when I was growing up, and even if I did, I wasn’t on the level to appreciate it. On the contrary, I was only exposed to low-level games. So how can You judge me so harshly! How can You expect more of me?!”

Needless to say, if that was this soul’s portion in life, it will surely be taken into account. Heaven is notoriously fair – all judgment being sweetened with mercy and love. When making such a claim, however, it is wise to remember that we are talking to the One who knows us as we really are, not only as we present ourselves to others (and sadly, to ourselves). Doubtless, with a little effort, we could discover (if we would look) some problem areas where we could have done better if we had tried.

All this having been said, I am concerned lest the main lesson and the full power of this parable get lost in all the words. I must therefore share with you an alternate (slightly embellished) version of the same parable told from our point of view:

A little boy is totally involved in learning to play ball with his friends. For one game, he learns to catch the ball when his teacher or his friend throws it at him; he also learns to throw it back so that they can catch it. For another, he learns to dodge the ball when it is thrown at him and to aim it at his friends when his turn comes. For another game, he learns to run with the ball and to pass it to the other members of his team. Whatever the game, whatever the rules, he learns to play each game and loves the sense of exhilaration that comes from applying all his physical strength and mental aptitude to each new game. He also loves the sense of camaraderie that he feels with his friends. When he returns to his studies, his mind is alert and is able to absorb the lessons his teacher gives him so much more easily.

One day, as he is playing, he begins to think of his father. He loves his father very much. The thought and memory of his father makes him feel good, and makes him long to see his father. To his surprise, just as he opens his eyes, he even catches sight of his father smiling at him as he disappears around the corner of the nearest building. Knowing that his father was actually there and smiling at him makes him feel even more love for him. In the midst of this reverie, however, the ball is suddenly thrown his way. Before he knows it, he instinctively reaches up to catch it. It is a spectacular play. All his concentration is now back in the game. The memory of his father fades.

Time passes. The same scene repeats itself numerous times. The little boy has become a young man. Now he plays all kinds of different games. Now he doesn’t think about his father very often. One time, however, he begins to feel that old familiar sensation. “Oh where is my father?” he pines. “It has been such a long time since I have seen him!” And, just as before, out of nowhere, he catches sight of SomeOne pulling back behind a tree. “It’s my father!’ he cries out, and this time, no longer content to return to his game, he decides to go to his father.

In the most direct way possible, the way I have always understood it – since I heard it the first time over 25 years ago – this parable is about the times that Hashem sends us reminders that the reason we were sent to this earth-plane was to seek Him where He is most hidden. We, however, have gotten totally involved in our games. In one sense, that’s fine. He doesn’t want us to leave off from playing out the games of our lives. If, upon receiving the first reminder, we were to abandon the game-level of life, it would be premature. It is therefore not what He wants.

What He does want is that we retain some degree of awareness of His Presence in our lives even as we play our “games.” What He does want is that the games we play become informed games – informed with the consciousness of a higher reality.

This is not too much to expect and it is very very precious indeed. In certain places in our tradition, one who reaches this level of G-d-consciousness is called Ben Olam Haba – A Child of the Next World [while living in This-World] (see Ta’anit 22a). Only after that are we expected to rise to ever greater heights of meditative communion and prophetic inspiration – to know ourselves as pure souls, Children of the Eternal...

Another level of the above parable involves History, specifically the History of the Jewish people, and generally the History of Mankind. The recurring instances in the parable of the father peeking around a corner and then disappearing are the open miracles recorded in the Tanach, as well the repeated instances throughout our history when Hashem has revealed His Hand and saved us from near annihilation. The final decision on the part of the main character to finally actively seek his Father – precisely after years of having become alienated from Him – corresponds to the final generation before Mashiach concerning which the prophet foretold:

Behold, days are coming, says Hashem Elohim, when I will send a famine upon the earth. Not a famine for bread nor a thirst for water, but [a thirst] to hear the teachings of Hashem. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north to the east, to seek Hashem’s word, but they shall not find it... (Amos 8:11-12).

Hashem! We are seeking Your Word. Some of us have sought it everywhere but in the Torah (and might even feel that we have found it). Some have sought it in the Torah (and did not find it)! Why are You so hidden?!

Granted, there are no simple answers to these and other questions, but there are answers. Some are recorded openly in the teachings of our prophets and sages, and some are couched in enigmatic parables and stories (like the one above). In all the essays brought on this site, you will find wondrous hints that are more precious than all the riches in the world.

There is much more where this came from. See for instance “Being Alone With G-d”.

Next: BEING ALONE WITH G-D

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