"Homework time!" Mrs. Cohen announced cheerfully one Monday evening after supper. It was the week of Yom Kippur. "Oh great," thought Sara, whose Rosh Hashanah resolution had been to be positive about everything, and always to look at the bright side. "I just really love homework time."

"No Ben, you cannot go out to visit your friends. You haven't done your homework yet," her mother was saying to her brother.

"But it's not fair," Ben said. "My teacher gives us so much home work, he is so mean! At the beginning of the year everyone said he’s the best teacher, but now all we get from him is a lot of pain and suffering."

"Well," said his mother with a sigh, "it is all for your benefit."

Not really convinced, Ben sat down to do his homework.

Meanwhile, Sara got herself comfortable. There was going to be a test on the previous week's Sedra, Vayelech. As she was reading, she came across a difficult passage where the Torah says that if the Jewish people serve idols then G‑d says, "I will abandon them and hide My face from them."

"If G‑d would abandon us, then how will we be able to come back to Him?" she wondered. This question bothered her so much that she decided to ask her brother, Ben.

"BEN!" she called.

"Don't disturb me," Ben said, "I'm doing my homework."

"Did you study last week's Sedra, Vayelech?" she asked, ignoring his protest. "I want to ask you one question."

Ben decided that a little break from his homework would be healthy, and listened to her question. Fortunately his teacher had mentioned that very point in class and he still had it fresh in his mind.

"It does not mean that G‑d is leaving the Jewish people, He is just hiding. In fact, He hides out of his great love for us."

"How can he hide from us out of love?" Sara said. "I don't understand."

"Well the thing is, if G‑d would be revealed the whole time then we would never really appreciate His goodness. There wouldn't be any challenge. It would be like playing hide and seek, with no one hiding. The game is only fun when someone hides. Sometimes G‑d seems hidden. Then again, sometimes He is revealed, even nowadays, like on Yom Kippur."

"How is G‑d revealed on Yom Kippur?" asked Sara. "I thought that just everyone is hungry because it's a fast day."

"We don't eat because we are so spiritual," answered Ben. "We don't need to eat. On Yom Kippur, G‑d is more revealed, and we feel very close to Him."

"So it really is like hide and seek. Tell me," she added, "what would happen if your teacher would hide and not give you any homework?"

"Now you're talking!" said Ben.