Attaining Closeness in the Darkness
With this we can also understand the story of Rabbi Elazar ben Dordaya, who transgressed the worst avieros and eventually attempted to do teshuvah while in the midst of transgressing a terrible aveirah. Rabbeinu HaKadosh said about him, אחת בשעה עולמו קונה יש, sometimes a person can acquire Olam HaBa in one moment (Avodah Zarah 17a). The explanation is this: When did Rabbi Elazar attain an appreciation for the Presence of HaKadosh Baruch Hu? When he was in the darkest of dark places. A state of the greatest, darkest galus.
Thus, it is possible to attain closeness to Hashem by seeing the Menorah. It can be attained by witnessing the ten miracles of the Beis HaMikdash... by “seeing and being seen....” And, sadly, when a person goes on the path of darkness, there too, he will find Hashem. It is bitter on this dark path, but in the end, the love of HaKadosh Baruch Hu is revealed even more—for in the end we see that Hashem didn’t abandon the person even in a low state such as this.
The Presence of Hashem isn’t confined to a single place, but rather It goes along with them into the galus מעט למקדש להם ואהי. When we learn that the Shechinah goes along to Bavel and Mitzrayim... we don’t mean that the Shechinah will come to places called Bavel and Mitzrayim—but to the klipah that they represent! Even there, the Shechinah is present. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says to the person, “Even if you will descend to the klipah of Bavel and Mitzrayim, I will go right along with you there.” And there are many medrashim that explain in other ways how Hashem remains with the Yidden even in the greatest tumah טומאותם בתוך אתם השוכן, Hashem rests among them amid their impurity.
The Shechinah Goes into the Cemetery
In the Medrash of Parashas Bo we learn: Rabbi Shimon said, “Great is the love of Hashem for Klal Yisrael, for we see that He revealed Himself to them even in a place of avodah zarah and even in a place of impurity—all in order to redeem them.”
And about which generation is this said if not our generation, which has so much of Mitzrayim in it!
The Medrash gives a mashal for this:
A Kohen’s terumah fell into a cemetery (which a Kohen is prohibited from entering), and he says, “What should I do?” I don’t want to abandon my terumah, but I don’t want to become tamei. It’s better that I should become tamei one time and salvage my terumah, and later purify myself once again.”
Similarly, our forefathers were, so to speak, the terumah of Hashem, as it is written תבואתו ראשית לה’ ישראל קודש, Yisrael is holy to Hashem, the first of His crop (Yirmiyahu 2:3). They were in a cemetery, as we learn regarding Mitzrayim, מת שם אין אשר בית אין כי, for there was not a house where there was no corpse (Shemos 12:30). Said HaKadosh Baruch Hu, how will I redeem them? I can’t leave them there. Better to go down into the tumah and rescue them.
HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, “Where is this bachur? Where is this yungerman? In the worst of places? Terrible! He is in an exile within an exile! But I would never leave him there. I will go down to him! It will cost Me.... It will be a terrible השכינה צער! But I love him, and I am willing to pay the price.” And thus, He pulls the Yid out of the darkest of places.
Attaining Light Through the Darkness
This is the depth behind the words of Rav Chaim Vital, who teaches us that in our times we can more easily attain madreigos that were so hard for previous generations to reach. And this is because—as we learned earlier in the name of the Beis Aharon—“How good is it to serve G-d however one desires, whenever one desires, and with whatever one desires.”
HaKadosh Baruch Hu ordained that in every place a person will find himself, he will be able to climb up and attain closeness to Hashem. Similarly, it is brought regarding Yechezkel HaNavi, who attained his great revelations only while in Bavel. Since the Yidden were in a darkness, the revelation needed to be greater.
