In the past week, the entire world has come to witness the He’aras Panim (shining countenance) that Hashem is bestowing upon Klal Yisroel by crippling our enemies. Internally, however, we have been overwhelmed by a confluence of mixed emotions. We grapple with the intense feelings accompanying a life-threatening war situation, alongside the profound emotions that arise from being recipients of such tremendous He’aras Panim.
It goes without saying that this He’aras Panim carries a profound message for us, the Ovdei Hashem. Just as during the challenging times of Hester Panim we recognize that a unique avodah is demanded of us, so too there is a unique avodah being demanded of us during this period of He’aras Panim. Klal Yisroel’s experience this past week can be likened to a father who so profusely dotes upon his son that the son looks up and asks, ‘Why are you showering me with such abundant affection and goodness? What, then, do you seek from me?'”
The answer will be quite different than that asked of us during times of Hester Panim. Indeed, there is a new avodah now and we cannot allow ourselves to simply transition into the “new normal” of He’aras Panim without any inner change.
The emotions from the battlefield
To understand the proper avodah being asked of us, we can observe how Hashem has manifested His He’aras Panim over the past week. Specifically, by examining the effect of this divine smile upon us, it becomes clear that those who developed and deployed the advanced tools, pivotal to the triumphs in the war thus far, are experiencing not a mere sense of success, but a more nuanced feeling of validation and confirmation—a testament that their newly developed strategies and instruments are indeed effective. The distinction between these two approaches is unfolding in front of our eyes. Success often signifies a concluding act, a final achievement that, once an obligation is fulfilled, can lead to complacency. Validation, however, is intrinsically woven into the ongoing process of development itself. Feelings of validation instill confidence that our work is vital, impelling us to continue our progress from a calm, determined, and steadfast position.
How our Avodas Hashem needs to look
We usually approach Avodas Hashem by conceptualizing a set of personal obligations that we feel compelled to fulfill. This then creates an internal pressure to fulfill them. When an obligation is successfully met, we experience a release from this pressure, and almost inevitably progress in that area ceases, as our end goal has been achieved.
Only Avodas Hashem that stems from a sense of obligation to perform or achieve inherently creates this internal pressure. However, Avodas Hashem that is motivated by a sense of validation brings with it a feeling of simcha, as we become keenly aware of the importance and significance of our activities.
Avodas Hashem through He’aras Panim is precisely this experience wherein a person approaches avodah through a sense of validation and not through pressure. We cannot know what Hashem is smiling at in regards to the entire community as a whole; however, each person can, within their own personal Avodas Hashem, look to find what they are doing to which Hashem is giving validation and, with simcha, focus on expanding that avodah.
We find this model of Avodas Hashem exemplified by Chanukah. When Klal Yisroel demonstrated mesiras nefesh for the avodah, then Hashem made a miracle for them with the jug of oil which lasted 8 nights. This miracle was in essence a He’aras Panim—a strong validation of their avodah—which was in turn the force behind continuing that avodah through all the generations until today! (See the Bach in Ohr Hachayyim Siman 610)
What “validation” from Hashem looks like in our personal avodah
Looking inward to find the personal He’aras Panim in our Avodas Hashem means finding a place in our avodah where Hashem has given us unexpected progress. This doesn’t necessarily mean a place where we would feel we have been “successful”; on the contrary, as we said above, such a feeling can actually serve to stymie progress, as we feel, “I was obligated, I succeeded, I am done.” However, if the attitude is one of uncovering Hashem’s validation of our progress and development in Avodas Hashem, then we will discover attributes within ourselves to which Hashem has given unexpected progress. We will then be able to continue the avodah from those places with a determined and calm attitude. This will mean that each one of us is working from the place of He’aras Panim within our avodah. We won’t be responding to success with stagnation, but we will be responding to Hashem’s smiling countenance in these special days with inner joy, feelings of validation, and real motivation and direction in Avodas Hashem.