The Three Weeks, and the Hiddenness of Hashem

🕯 Erev Shabbos Message Parshas Balak | In the Merit of Michal Chava bat Feiga AvivaThe 17th of Tammuz, the Three Weeks, and the Hiddenness of Hashem

This Sunday is the fast of the 17th of Tammuz. It marks the beginning of the Three Weeks, a national mourning period that culminates with Tisha B’Av. These three weeks are not symbolic—they represent a real breakdown that began in Jewish history and still hasn’t been repaired. On the 17th of Tammuz, the walls of Yerushalayim were breached. It wasn’t yet the destruction—but it was the moment everything started to unravel. Both Temples were destroyed on Tisha B’Av.

But what we lost wasn’t just a building. When the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, we lost the direct connection point between us and Hashem. Until then, if you wanted to serve Hashem, you went to the Mikdash. You brought a korban. You saw the open miracles described in Pirkei Avot 5:5:

"עֲשָׂרָה נִסִּים נַעֲשׂוּ לַאֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ""

Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors in the Beit HaMikdash..."

You stood in a place where Hashem’s presence was clear. That clarity disappeared when the Beit Hamikdash fell. The korbanot stopped. Asking the Kohen Gadol for answers through the Urim VeTumim stopped. The certainty stopped. From that point on, our relationship with Hashem became less visible—and more complicated.

This is what the Ramban says when he comments on the verse in Sefer Devarim that describes Hashem hiding His face. The pasuk reads:

וְאָנֹכִי הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא“

And I will surely hide My face on that day” (Devarim 31:18)

The Ramban writes on this verse:

וזהו עניין הגלות הזה

“This is the nature of this exile.”

In other words, the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash didn’t just begin exile—it defined it. Galut isn’t just being away from Eretz Yisrael. It’s being in a world where Hashem hides Himself. A world where we suffer, and we don’t see why. Where we daven, and it feels like nothing is moving. Where we look around for meaning, and often find silence.

But it goes deeper. Chazal tell us that this current galut is not just any exile. The double term of “Hester/Hiding” in the pasuk indicates a profound concealment.

This galut is Galut Edom—exile under the spiritual system of Edom. What makes Edom different is that it doesn’t just fight against Hashem. It tries to erase Him. The culture of Edom is to explain everything through nature, chance, politics, or science. It’s not just that Hashem is hidden—it’s that the world says, “There’s no one here to hide.” It replaces G-d with probability. With systems. With statistics.

Think about if we were under a Galut of Yishmael. We would be constantly hearing them say “It was the will of G-d.” If an earthquake happened; or a hurricane or a volcano erupted - that would be the explanation. But no, we are in the Galut of Edom. The earthquake is a result of tectonic plates shifting due to stress accumulation along fault lines. A hurricane is caused when warm, moist air rises over ocean water and creates low pressure systems that spiral due to the Coriolis effect. Volcanoes erupt due to pressure building in the Earth's mantle and reaching a statistical likelihood of rupture over decades or centuries.

Everything is explainable without G-d.

So yes, G-d is deeply concealed—a double concealing. Not only have we lost our direct link to Him, but we are in an exile which constantly tries to downplay and negate His presence.

And this is personal. We’ve heard things from doctors like: “This kind of cancer usually behaves like X.” “In 90% of cases, by this stage Y has already happened.” “Statistically, the outcome is likely to be Z.” It’s not malicious—they’re doing their job. But when all you hear is odds and probabilities, it’s easy to forget that Hashem is still in the room. That even when we don’t feel it, He’s still active. Still arranging. Still deciding. Still writing the story.

Hester panim means that Hashem’s face is hidden. But Chazal teach us that His hand is not. He still moves things. He still protects. He still listens. We just don’t see it clearly.

This is the entire message of Megillat Esther—a story with no mention of Hashem’s name. Not even once. On the surface, it looks like politics, random events, and human decisions. But when you read it properly, you realise it was all being orchestrated from the start. Vashti gets removed. Esther becomes queen. Mordechai overhears a plot. The king has insomnia on the exact right night. Haman falls into his own trap. It looks like coincidence—but it’s not.

The Gemara in Chullin 139b actually asks:

אסתר מן התורה מנין? ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא“

Where is Esther in the Torah? In the verse: ‘And I will surely hide My face on that day.’”

The message is that Esther is Hester. The entire story is a model for our galut. Even when Hashem is hidden, He’s still running the plan.

Shir HaShirim gives us another angle. It says:

הִנֵּה־זֶה עֹמֵד אַחַר כָּתְלֵנוּ, מַשְׁגִּיחַ מִן־הַחַלּוֹנוֹת, מֵצִיץ מִן־הַחֲרַכִּים“

Behold, He stands behind our wall, watching through the windows, peering through the cracks” (Shir HaShirim 2:9)

This pasuk describes two different levels of perception. Sometimes Hashem looks at us through the window—and we can see Him back. We feel watched. We feel connected. But sometimes, He only peers through the cracks. He still sees us—but from our side, it looks like He’s gone. We look up, and we see nothing. The blinds block our view. The message is: He never moved. We just can’t always perceive Him.

And finally, there’s the pasuk that, for me, puts it all together. When Moshe asks Hashem to show him His glory, Hashem answers:

וְאָמַרְתָּ לֹא־תוּכַל לִרְאוֹת אֶת־פָּנָי...

“You will not be able to see My face…”

וְהָיָה בַּעֲבֹר כְּבוֹדִי, וְשַׂמְתִּיךָ בְּנִקְרַת הַצּוּר, וְשַׂכֹּתִי כַפִּי עָלֶיךָ עַד עָבֹרִי. וַהֲסִרֹתִי אֶת־כַּפִּי, וּרְאִיתָ אֶת־אֲחֹרָי, וּפָנַי לֹא יֵרָאוּ.“

…And it shall be, when My glory passes by, I will place you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I pass. Then I will remove My hand, and you will see My back; but My face may not be seen” (Shemot 33:20–23)

There are three points here:

First, Hashem puts Moshe in the cleft—it’s not a punishment, it’s a protective act. Sometimes Hashem places us in a dark, narrow space for our safety or ultimate benefit.

Second, when Hashem is closest, He covers Moshe with His hand. When you see absolutely nothing, when you’re in a cleft in the rock and everything goes dark, it might be because Hashem is right next to you. Ironically, when we perceive Him the least, He may be the most directly present in our lives.

And third, Hashem says: “You will see Me from behind.” Meaning: you’ll only understand this later. In the moment, you’ll be blind. But looking back, you’ll realise He was there. With hindsight, you can see Hashem’s orchestration.

This is exactly how Megillat Esther works. If you read it in real time, it seems happenstance. If you lived it in real time—even more so—the actual story takes place over nine years (Esther becomes queen in the seventh year of Achashverosh’s reign—Esther 2:16—and Haman’s decree happens in the twelfth year, Esther 3:7).

But if you read it backwards, it’s perfectly designed. Everything is set up in advance. The right people are in the right places at the right time.

And so, even now, when we feel like we’re stuck in the dark, in the crack, in the cleft of the rock—we keep davening. We keep doing mitzvot. We keep asking for rachamim. Because we believe that Hashem is still involved, even if we don’t see Him. He’s still placing people in our lives, putting plans in motion, and writing a future we can’t yet read.

Please continue to daven for Michal Chava bat Feiga Aviva. We hope and pray that the day will come when we can look back and say clearly:

“Hashem was there. Every step of the way. And everything led to refuah and redemption.”

Wishing you a good Shabbos & a meaningful fast,Yaacov