We know the klal that HaKadosh Baruch Hu conducts Himself toward us in the same measure that a person conducts himself. This rule is known as צלך, ה' Hashem is your Shadow, He echoes your own movements, actions, and attitudes. The conduct of Hashem may range from a manner of revealed kindness to a measure of severity and din in which His chessed is constricted, restricted, and not as readily apparent.
It all depends on the conduct of the person. In fact, the Midrash in Parashas Shemos explains the pasuk אהיה, אשר אהיה I Shall be as I Shall be (Shemos 3:14) this way: In whichever way a person will be, this will cause Hashem to be the same way.
Looking Through the Right Lens
Explains the Ropshitzer Rav: In everything in the world, there’s a picture before us. If you look at this picture with the regular lens that you’re accustomed to using... that is, the lens of nature—“he said..., the other one said..., the expert said..., the advisor said....” Or you will say, “they say....” Who is they? We don’t know, but “the world says....” If we look at the world in that way, we’re looking at the world through a lens of nature, teva, which has the same numerical value as Elokim, which refers to Hashem’s Attribute of severity and Din. There is such an Attribute—if that’s the route you want to take. That’s fine....
But if you choose to take it, there’s a different route. A person can choose to look beneath the surface—to look at the pnimiyus of everything, a lens of the Attribute of Rachamim, a lens of miracles, above and beyond nature.
Sweetening the Severity
Now, you must understand: The sefarim teach us the concept of המתקת הדינים, sweetening the severity. What does this mean? Sometimes shefa comes to a person, but it is restricted. And the avodah of the person is to sweeten the severity and ensure that the shefa becomes unrestricted. How is this accomplished? By taking the shefa and looking at it through the proper lens: “It isn’t connected to anything we see. It has nothing to do with the outer layers that we see before us! There is only Hashem, the shefa from Hashem! I refuse to look at the outer layers, the supposed means of how this came to me, etc., but I will look only at the truth that lies inside—namely:
A miracle just transpired! The miracle of the revelation of Hashem’s kindness. There is now literally a manifestation of the revelation of Elokus! If a person insists on looking through this lens, he will merit that Hashem will conduct Himself in this way of revealed kindness with him as well.
