We’re Born into a World of Concealment
The sefarim hakedoshim teach us that the ten commands that the Ribbono shel Olam said during the creation of the world are, in essence, concealments of the Elokus that brings the world into existence. Prior to the commands that Hashem gave, it was clear that it was He Who created the world. Once Hashem uttered the command, He concealed the fact that He created the world.
This can be understood with a mashal. Suppose there’s a major play about to commence, and the actors and producers are feverishly applying the final touches when one person enters the auditorium before the audience is admitted. He was allowed in because he’s a brother of the producer, and he sees the stagehands setting the stage. There are props that make it seem to be a real room, and then there’s the artificial snow that falls from high above past the “windows” in the backdrop. This person is privy to the pretend world that the actors are creating. Later, when the audience enters the hall, they’re unable to see all the maneuvers that went on earlier... to them everything seems far more real.
The world is the same way. Man came into the world on the first Friday, and everything seemed ready. There’s a heaven and there’s an earth. Everything’s growing, and everything seems to hum along. Now we have the difficult task of telling him that it really isn’t the way it seems. There’s Someone Who animates all this on a constant basis, as much as it may seem like an entity unto itself.
Our Purpose Is to Reveal the Hidden Truth
Each of the עשרה מאמרים conceals another aspect of creation, and we who walk the earth down here fail to see that there’s Someone Above pulling invisible strings.
The Aibishter makes someone bother you, and for this person to laugh or to cry... while He remains in the background the entire time and creates. We don’t recognize it, because we have arrived to see a set stage. Why did Hashem design it this way? Because this is the purpose of creation: We are to reveal the reality. Hashem expressly created concealment so that we will come along, banish that concealment, and reveal Elokus.
This is what the Tanna meant when he said that the world could have been created with one command but instead was created with ten separate commands (Avos 5:1). The given reason is that it is to reward the tzaddikim who sustain the world that was created with ten commands. The deeper meaning in this is that when we live with emunah and banish the ten concealments—thus revealing that Hashem animates the world—we receive a great reward for this.
Every Moment Is a New Challenge
This is the purpose of the very creation of the world. Hashem created the world with great concealment—so that we shouldn’t see the way He runs the world. Then, He placed a Yid into this environment so that he—by living a life of emunah—will reveal the reality of Who truly runs the world. This Yid must always—day and night—remember the truth that עשה ועושה ויעשה לכל המעשים. In everything that happens to us, and in every situation that we experience, we must remember this and never forget it.
This is our great avodah—an avodah for every step of our lives. Every moment presents unique nisyonos for us to remember and perform this avodah. When a Yid has already managed to overcome dozens of nisyonos in interpersonal matters, he has always remembered that it’s really Hashem behind it all. “If the Ribbono shel Olam wants it like this, let it be like this....” He so very much wanted something, but the exact opposite happened, and he nevertheless accepted it with a full heart. Someone hurt him or caused him damage, but he remembered that the Ribbono shel Olam is the One Who does everything. But then, he’s faced with a new nisayon, and the challenge begins anew. This is an avodah for every moment of our lives, for it is the very purpose of Creation.
