65. Concerning the Revealed and the Concealed

I heard on Tevet 29, January 18, 1942, Jerusalem

It is written, “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, and the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, to do all the words of this law.” We should ask, “What does the text come to tell us, that the hidden things belong to the Lord?” We should not say that concealed means unattainable and revealed means attainable. We can see that there are people with knowledge in the concealed part, as there are people who have no knowledge in the revealed part, but it cannot be said that this means that there are more people with knowledge in the revealed part than in the concealed part. (If so, you have given only a part of the whole picture.)

The thing is that in this world, we see that there are actions that are revealed as actions to our eyes. This means that man’s hand is involved there, and there are actions where we see that an act is done, but man cannot do anything there. Rather, a hidden force operates there.

It is as our sages said, “There are three partners in man—the Creator, his father, and his mother.” The revealed part is the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. This act is done by the parents. If the parents do their thing properly, the Creator puts a soul in the newborn. That is, his parents do the revealed part, as they can only do the revealed part, but the hidden part—placing the soul in the newborn—here the parents cannot do a thing; only the Creator Himself does that thing.

Similarly, with the Mitzvot [commandments], we must do only the revealed part, as only here can we act, that is, engage in Torah and Mitzvot by way of “doers of His word.” However, the hidden part, the soul in observing Torah and Mitzvot, one cannot do a thing there. When we observe Torah and Mitzvot in action, called “doing,” we should pray to the Creator that He will do the concealed part, meaning place a soul in our practice.

The practice is called “a candle of a Mitzva,” which are only candles, which must be lit by the “and the Torah is light.” The light of Torah lights the Mitzva and gives the soul vitality in the practice, as with the newborn, where there are three partners.

This is the meaning of “The things that are revealed belong to us,” meaning that we must work in the form of “All that your hand and strength can do, do.” It is only here that we can act, but obtaining the soul and vitality depends on the Creator.

This is the meaning of “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God.” The Creator promises us that if we do the part that is revealed to us, acting on the conditions of the Torah and Mitzvot in the practical part, the Creator will put a soul in our actions. However, before we are awarded the concealed, called “a soul,” our revealed part is like a body without a soul. Thus, we must be awarded the hidden part, and this is only in the hands of the Creator.