No person shall be in the Ohel Mo’ed when he enters to atone in the holy place. (Vayikra 16:17)
When the Kohen Gadol went into the Kodesh Kodoshim to perform his awesome avodah, he was alone. There was no one to see what he did.
This teaches us an important principle in avodas Hashem. The best avodah of all is the avodah done quietly and privately, as the Navi says:
You shall walk modestly with your G-d.
Many times, there is a lot to be gained from serving Hashem in public, in a group of people.
A large public honors the king.
The more people there are, the more honor it accords Hashem. Furthermore, serving Hashem publicly causes others to see one’s actions and follow suit. This is a kiddush Hashem.
But sometimes a person should choose the path of הצנע לכת, of serving Hashem modestly and privately, because this enables one’s avodah to be for Hashem alone, free of all other agendas. When people don’t see what you are doing, you are doing it only for Hashem. It shows true faithfulness to Hashem and inner love of Him.
This may be compared to boiling water in a pot on the fire. You can never get the temperature of the water to rise above boiling point. Even if you turn up the flame, the water won’t get hotter. But if you boil water in a well-sealed pressure cooker, the temperature can go up and up.
It’s the same with Torah and mitzvos. When a person does good deeds in front of everyone, it is only human nature to take pleasure in the fact that his deeds are acknowledged, that people esteem him for it. This puts a limit on the madreigah he can reach. But if a person does his avodah privately and secretly, only Hashem knows about it, so the more kedushah he adds to his acts, the higher a level he can reach. There is no upper limit. This is because there is no personal gain or external considerations to cool off the kedushah.
The Rambam writes as follows:
Although it is a mitzvah to learn Torah at day and at night, a person learns most of his wisdom at night. Therefore, if a person wishes to attain the crown of Torah, he should be careful about all his nights, and not lose even one of them by just sleeping and eating and drinking and similar activities. Rather, he should utilize them for Torah study and words of wisdom.
This is not the only awesome thing the Rambam has to say about learning Torah by night. He writes more about it in the same place.
What is so great about learning Torah specifically at night?
There are several reasons, and one is that at night, most people are asleep and don’t see what you are doing. If you gather strength and learn Torah at this time, it is for Hashem alone, and the level of such learning is exceptionally great.
The same applied to the Kohen Gadol in Beis Hamikdash. If people would see what he is doing, he would not be able to reach the tremendous level of kedushah required for what he did in there. Performing his service away from the public eye enabled him to rise to the right level. Chazal say about the Kohen Gadol when he entered the Kodesh Kodoshim:
When the spirit of holiness rested on him, his face burned like a torch [as if he was an angel].
It is written:
The lips of the kohen guard knowledge, and people seek Torah from his mouth, because he is an angel of Hashem Tzeva-os.
Here we see that Torah learning, too, grants this awesome quality of being like a malach. Let’s say a Jew comes home after a hard day’s work, and he also kept up his regular learning schedule. If he nevertheless gathers the strength to get up at night and learn Torah or recite Tehillim, thus fulfilling the verse “Arise and sing at night” – at that time, his face will truly burn like a torch, like one of the angels, and he will bring blessing upon himself, his family and all the Jewish people.
