Maharal: “A Greater Reason for His Presence in Galus”
Hashem Is with Those Who Need It Most
Now, let us learn a Maharal that gives an entire new window of understanding into this sugya. The Maharal quotes the Rashbah on the aforementioned Gemara, saying, “and even when they will be redeemed, the Shechinah will be with them.” If Hashem will be with them in the galus, then certainly He will be with them when they emerge from the galus! The word “even” seems out of place here.
Explains the Maharal—as he pours great foundations in emunah and bitachon for our bitter galus: “There is a greater reason for השכינה השראת in galus than in the times of the Beis HaMikdash. For in the times of the Beis HaMikdash, the Presence of the Shechinah was not needed as much as it is needed during the times of galus!
In Netzach Yisrael (Perek 10), the Maharal says:
There is more reason to be with Klal Yisrael during the galus than when they will emerge from the galus (and this is why the Gemara says “even” when they will emerge from the galus, even then the Shechinah will be with them—but certainly during the galus).
For we learn in the Gemara (Shabbos 12b), “One who enters to visit a person who is ill should not sit on the bed or on a chair, but he should wrap himself in his garment and sit before him [out of respect to the Shechinah that is present there], for it says, יסעדנו ה’ דוי ערש על, Hashem will fortify him on his sickbed, implying that the Shechinah is present beside a person who is ill—and there are two reasons for this:
- Anything that needs guarding earns more hashgachah from Hashem. A person who is ill is in an unnatural state—since Hashem designed the world such that people are healthy—and is thus in need of more שמירה from HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
- The Navi states, אשכן רוח ושפל דכא את, but I am with the despondent and the lowly of spirit (Yeshayahu 57:15). For this is the one of the attributes of HaKadosh Baruch Hu; His Shechinah is with those who are despondent; therefore, Hashem Yisborach is, in particular, with a suffering person who is despondent.
Because That Child Needs You More
This second reason—that the Shechinah can be found with those who are discouraged and downcast—is a well-known yesod, and here we see it at the source. But in the first point, the Maharal introduces us to an incredible yesod:
When a father has a family of twelve children, and among them is one child who struggles more than the others, how much energy does he invest in that child compared to the others? How much thought? How much תפילה? How many tears does he shed for that child compared to for the other children? Considerably more. But why? Why are you so preoccupied with that child... davening for him, calling him, and so on.... You have another eleven children!
The answer is simple: Because that child needs you more! The other children aren’t currently in a state of danger; this child is. And we all know this concept very well, unfortunately. It happens in families, and it happens in yeshivos. Talmidim who follow all the rules and the sedarim of the yeshivah are barely given a glance, and who is the yeshivah preoccupied with 90 percent of the time? In whom do they invest 90 percent of their kochos, time, and energy? In those bachurim who need the extra attention. Why? Because the one who is in a state of danger needs more guarding!
Hospitals work the same way. In the regular wings, there can be one doctor and a handful of nurses for the entire floor. But in the ICU, where the patients are in real danger, there may be one doctor for every two patients. Why? Because these patients need constant attention.
Says the Maharal: It is for this reason that the Shechinah hovers above the bed of a sick person. “If he is sick—I am with him now,” says Hashem. This is the rule; everything that needs extra guarding earns special hashgachah from Hashem.
“Do You Think I Will Abandon You Then?!”
Continues the Maharal: And for both these reasons, it is fitting that HaKadosh Baruch Hu should be with us during the time of galus even more so than in times of geulah. For when Klal Yisrael are in galus, they’re just like a sick person; Just as it is unnatural for a person to be sick [as this is not the usual way of the world], so too it is unnatural for one nation to be subjugated under the authority of another nation. Therefore, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is with them in galus, for if not, how will they survive until the redemption?
HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, “What do you think? At a time when I open the entire world to every teenager—and in one second he can, R”l, reach the darkest places—then I will abandon you?! If I was with you when the Beis HaMikdash stood and it was easy to feel closeness to Hashem—now that I’ve sent my precious children into galus—for your avodah and your rectification—do you think for a second that I would abandon you now?! To the contrary! Davka now, ‘I peer at you from the cracks.’ ” Now, more than ever, HaKadosh Baruch Hu stands ready to help us at all times.
A Heavenly Fall
I have related in the past an incident that I heard from an eyewitness: A bachur slipped further and further downward, until he left the path of Yiddishkeit entirely. He was cold to everything involving Torah and mitzvos, and he was part of a group of like-minded boys, R”l. One day, he and his friends passed a shop that sold treif sandwiches, and—showing off to his friends, who hadn’t had the temerity to take things this far—ordered a thick sandwich.
On his way out of the store, he slipped and fell flat on his face... his sandwich went flying, falling to pieces on the ground. The boy got up and shook himself off. He raised his eyes Heavenward and said, “I get the message.”
From that time on, he began steadily making his way back to Yiddishkeit, doing complete teshuvah—ultimately building a beautiful Torah home.
The moral of the story is obvious: Does it even occur to us that the Ribbono shel Olam would abandon a bachur like this? Such an individual needs HaKadosh Baruch Hu more than anyone! Hashem sees the danger that he’s in and speaks to him openly. Meanwhile, another Yid stands in shul, wrapped in tallis and tefillin and davens for a yeshuah... and he’s not answered in the moment. He still needs to daven repeatedly, arriving at greater clarity and greater emunah. He still needs to do teshuvah, and then his tefillah will reach upward and rectify what needs rectification. Because such a person can be worked with.... But this boy, who is lying in such danger... he must be spoken to directly.
