Finding holiness through concealment and distance

ואא"ז מו"ר זצלה"ה אמר על המד' אשא דעי למרחוק כו' וירא כו' המקום מרחוק כו'.

And my grandfather, my teacher and master, may the memory of the righteous and holy be a blessing, said on the Midrash regarding the verses "I will carry my knowledge from afar" and "he saw the place from afar."

The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather on a Midrash linking Elihu's words "I will carry my knowledge from afar" (Iyov 36:3) with Avraham's "he saw the place from afar" (Bereishis 22:4) at the Akeidah — both speak of perceiving holiness across a distance of concealment.

שהי' נסתר ממנו ואח"כ שעמד בנסיון נתן שבח ע"ז שראה שהי' רק לטובה כדי לגלות הקדושה גם בתוך הריחוק כו'.

That it was hidden from him, and afterward, once he withstood the nisayon (trial), he gave praise over this — for he saw that it was only for the good, in order to reveal the kedushah even within the distance.

Avraham first experienced the place of the Akeidah as "far off," with its meaning concealed from him. After passing the test he praised Hashem, realizing the concealment had been entirely for his benefit: its purpose was to draw out holiness even from within a state of remoteness from Hashem.

וזכה עי"ז להיות נקודה טמונה בכל איש ישראל שישאר תמיד וע"ז מברכין מגן אברהם ע"ש.

And through this he merited that there should be a hidden point implanted in every Jew that remains forever — and over this we bless "Shield of Avraham," see there.

By withstanding the trial, Avraham embedded into every Jew an indestructible nekudah (inner point) of connection to Hashem. This is why the first berachah of Shemoneh Esrei concludes "Magen Avraham" — Avraham bequeathed a protected spark that shields each of his descendants.

וז"ש אחור וקדם צרתני שיהי' בכח האדם למצוא בחי' קדם ממחשבה הקדומה ע"י בחי' הריחוק בעוה"ז שהוא בחי' אחור כנ"ל:

And this is the meaning of "Back and front You have formed me" — that it should be within a person's power to find the aspect of "front," from the primordial thought, precisely through the aspect of distance in this world, which is the aspect of "back," as above.

The verse "Back and front You have formed me" (Tehillim 139:5) means every person contains both a "front" — the primordial divine thought, his deepest source — and a "back," the remoteness of life in this world. The avodah is to use the very distance and concealment of olam hazeh as the means to uncover that innermost original point.

Summary: Through Avraham's trial at the Akeidah, where holiness was first concealed "from afar" and then revealed as wholly for the good, an eternal hidden point was implanted in every Jew — teaching that the distance and concealment of this world ("back") is itself the path to discovering one's primordial connection to Hashem ("front").