Father, Where Are You?

The purpose of exile has been explained with a parable: G-d hides from us, like a father hides from his son - in order to evoke the son's deepest desire to find his father and be close to him again.

But after looking for so long, the son is liable to give up the search! He may even forget that the father is there altogether. The Jew may continue to adhere to Jewish law, but no longer hope for a meaningful relationship with G-d. And when confronted about this he can respond: "Why complain to me? Complain to G-d! How long must we wait for Him?" G-d is the One Who makes man finite and limited, and the exile seems to be more than man can handle. When a person increases the Divine light in his life, and specifically a real and tangible joy, then "joy bursts through barriers" - it tears down the barriers within himself, and the thick barriers of the darkness of exile.

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