Seeking the hidden Director of creation

במדרש שמעי בת כו'.

In the Midrash: "hear, O daughter [and see, and incline your ear]" (Tehillim 45:11).

The Sefas Emes opens from the Midrash applying this pasuk — addressed to the "daughter," Klal Yisrael — to Avraham and the theme of perceiving Hashem in the world.

דאיתא במדרש ע"פ שמעה עמי ואדברה אין מעידין אלא בשומע כו' כי הקב"ה ברא עוה"ז להיות נסתר השגחתו ית' בעולם זולת הצדיקים אשר הם מייגעים עצמם לברר כבוד מלכותו ית' בעולם מגלה להם ההנהגה שלו.

For it is brought in the Midrash on the pasuk "hear, My people, and I will speak" (Tehillim 50:7) — "one only testifies as a hearer." For Hakadosh Baruch Hu created this world such that His Divine providence (hashgachah) is hidden in the world, except that to the tzaddikim, who exert themselves to clarify the glory of His kingship in the world, He reveals His conduct (hanhagah).

Hashem deliberately created a world in which His hashgachah is concealed. Only the tzaddikim, who labor to uncover and reveal His sovereignty, merit that He shows them His true conduct behind the veil of nature — and a "witness" must be one who "hears" and perceives.

וז"ש הציץ עליו בעל הבירה הואיל ותמה תאמר שהבירה הזאת בלי מנהיג.

And this is the meaning of [the Midrash where] "the owner of the palace looked out at him [and said]: since you wonder, would you say that this palace has no director?"

In the famous mashal, Avraham saw a "palace alight" (the world full of order and light) and wondered whether it could be without an owner; in response, the Owner — Hashem — "looked out" and revealed Himself. Because Avraham toiled to seek the Director, Hashem disclosed Himself to him.

וכ"כ מציץ מן החרכים.

And so it is written: "peering through the lattices" (Shir HaShirim 2:9).

Hashem's presence is glimpsed only "through the lattices" — partially and through openings — to those who search for Him, just as He "looked out" at Avraham.

וכל איש ישראל כפי מה שנושא עיניו לשמים כדכתיב שאו מרום עיניכם כמו כן מתגלה לו מי ברא אלה.

And every Jew, according to how he lifts his eyes to Heaven — as it is written "lift up your eyes on high [and see Who created these]" (Yeshayahu 40:26) — to that extent is revealed to him "Who created these."

The revelation is proportional to one's seeking: the more a person lifts his eyes heavenward and yearns to perceive Hashem, the more Hashem reveals to him the Creator behind creation.

ולזה מיוחדים בנ"י כדכתיב שמעי בת.

And for this Bnei Yisrael are uniquely suited, as it is written "hear, O daughter."

Bnei Yisrael are specially designated for this avodah of perceiving Hashem — they are the "daughter" called upon to "hear" and discern His presence.

וכמו שיש נפשות מיוחדים לראות כבוד מלכותו ית' כן יש מקומות מיוחדים בעולם שמתגלה שם כבודו ית"ש.

And just as there are special souls suited to see the glory of His kingship, so too there are special places in the world where His glory, may He be blessed, is revealed.

The Sefas Emes draws a parallel: corresponding to the special people who can perceive Hashem, there are also special locations in the world where His glory shines forth more openly.

ולכן אמר לך לך כו' הארץ אשר אראך ששם יתגלה לו המבוקש.

Therefore He said "go for yourself... to the land that I will show you" (Bereishis 12:1) — for there the sought-after [revelation] would be disclosed to him.

Avraham was sent specifically to Eretz Yisrael, "the land I will show you," because that holy place is where the revelation he sought — the glory of Hashem — would be made manifest to him.

וכמו שיש גילוי פרטית לכל עובד ה' כפי היגיעה.

And just as there is a private revelation to every servant of Hashem according to his exertion (yegia) —

Each individual oved Hashem receives a personal measure of revelation proportionate to the effort he invests in seeking.

כן יש גילוי כלליות לאותן הגדולים כאברהם שהי' משתוקק שיתגלה כבודו ית' לו ולכל זרעו וזכה לזה כדכתיב אשר אתה רואה כו' אתננה ולזרעך.

so too there is a general (klalliyus) revelation to those great ones like Avraham, who yearned that His glory be revealed to him and to all his offspring; and he merited this, as it is written "for all the land that you see, I will give it to you and to your offspring" (Bereishis 13:15).

Beyond personal revelation, the great tzaddikim like Avraham achieve a collective revelation for all their descendants. Avraham longed for Hashem's glory to be revealed not only to himself but to all his zera, and he earned a permanent inheritance of that revelation for them.

והקב"ה וב"ש כשבחר בהאבות הי' הבחירה לכל בנ"י שעתידין לצאת מהם.

And when Hakadosh Baruch Hu, may He be blessed, chose the Avos, the choice was for all of Bnei Yisrael who were destined to come forth from them.

Hashem's selection of the Avos was not for them alone; it included and secured all the future generations of Klal Yisrael who would descend from them.

וזה הרמז אתה הוא ה' האלקים ר"ת אהי' אשר בחרת באברם שהי' בחירה לדורותיו כנ"ל.

And this is the hint in "You are Hashem the God... who chose Avram" (Nechemiah 9:7) — the initial letters [of the words] spell "Ehyeh" — that the choice was for his generations, as above.

The Sefas Emes finds an allusion in the roshei teivos spelling "Ehyeh" (the Divine Name expressing "I will be"), hinting that Hashem's choice of Avraham reached forward "into being" — encompassing all his future generations.

כי באמת האבות הם בחי' כלל ישראל והם הראשים והפנימיות כמו שיש בפרט ראש ושאר איברי הגוף כן אמרו רז"ל ברא כרעא דאבוה כמו כן בכלל האבות היו הראש של בנ"י ודורות שאחריהם הם הבנים שהוא בנין כל הגוף.

For in truth the Avos are the aspect of Klal Yisrael, and they are the "heads" and the penimiyus (inner essence). Just as in the individual there is a head and the rest of the limbs of the body, so Chazal said "a son is the leg (continuation) of his father" (Eruvin 70b); likewise, in the collective, the Avos were the "head" of Bnei Yisrael, and the generations after them are the "children," which are the building of the entire body.

The Avos are the inner essence and "head" of the whole nation, while the later generations are its limbs and body. Like a single organism — head and limbs — Klal Yisrael forms one body across the generations, with the Avos as its penimiyus and the descendants extending and completing it.

והתשוקה והדביקות שנמצאו בכלל ישראל אל הקב"ה הוציאו האבות מכח אל הפועל שהי' רוחניים.

And the yearning and deveikus to Hakadosh Baruch Hu that are found within Klal Yisrael — the Avos brought them from potential into actuality, for they were spiritual.

The longing and attachment to Hashem latent within all of Klal Yisrael were first actualized by the Avos, who, being purely spiritual, drew this capacity for deveikus out of potential and implanted it in their descendants.

ושורש אבות מלשון אהבה כמו ולא אביתם לעלות.

And the root of "Avos" (fathers) is from the term of "love/will" (aveh), as in "and you were not willing (avisem) to ascend" (Devarim 1:26).

The Sefas Emes derives "Avos" from a root meaning desire and will, connecting the forefathers to the deep ratzon — the will and love — of Klal Yisrael toward Hashem.

אבי יבחן איוב.

"My desire (avi) is that Iyov be tested" (Iyov 34:36).

Another proof that the root "av" denotes will and desire, reinforcing that the Avos embody the collective ratzon of Yisrael.

שהאבות הם הרצונות ותשוקות בנ"י אל ה' לכן נעשו מרכבה אליו ית"ש ואנחנו אחריהם כמו שיהי' לעתיד והשיב לב אבות כו' ולב בנים כו':

For the Avos are the wills and yearnings of Bnei Yisrael toward Hashem; therefore they became a merkavah (chariot) to Him, may He be blessed, and we follow after them — as will be in the future, "and he shall return the heart of the fathers [to the children] and the heart of the children [to their fathers]" (Malachi 3:24).

The Avos are the very embodiment of Klal Yisrael's will and longing for Hashem, which is why they became a "chariot" carrying His presence. We, their children, are bound to and drawn after them — a bond that will be fully restored in the future, when the hearts of fathers and children are reunited.

Summary: Hashem created a world in which His hashgachah is deliberately concealed, revealing His conduct only to those who toil to seek Him. Avraham, gazing at the "palace alight," yearned to find its Director, and Hashem "looked out" and revealed Himself — for revelation comes in proportion to one's effort and the lifting of one's eyes heavenward. Just as there are special souls who perceive Hashem, there are special places (Eretz Yisrael) where His glory shines. Avraham achieved not only personal revelation but a collective one for all his descendants, for Hashem's choice of the Avos encompassed all future generations (hinted in "Ehyeh"). The Avos are the "head" and penimiyus of Klal Yisrael — one body across the generations — embodying the nation's deepest ratzon and longing for Hashem (the root "Av" denoting desire), which is why they became His merkavah, a bond to be fully restored in the future.