His Pain
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Our Minds are not capable of grasping Hashem's greatness. Nevertheless, there is an aspect of Hashem, called Shechina, which literally means to dwell in our midst, and It is to that aspect we can relate. The Zohar HaKadosh describes the Shechina as a loving mother who worries about her children and feels their pain, as it says: "בכל צרתם לו בצר".The Jewish people and Hashem are one. Every single ache we feel, He also feels. But not just your suffering or mine. There are about 18 million Jews in the world, and He feels what each and every one of them is going through. This one needs a Shiduch. That one needs Parnasa. The other one has a health problem or a family crisis. Every second of the day He feels the aches, the groans and the worries of all of His children. Not only do our big problems trouble Him, but also our slight inconveniences. Everybody knows that the mother feels the pain of the child, even more than the child himself.
The question can be asked: Isn't Hashem the one who is giving us the problems? Why would He give us pain if He is the one who is hurting so much as a result? The answer is obvious: A mother who truly loves her child is not concerned for her own well-being when doing something for her child. So too with Hashem; He knows how beneficial everything He gives us is. He will not withhold what is best for us, to save Himself pain. If we realize how loving Hashem is to us, then we must consider how much we must care about Him.
The troubling situations in life do not necessarily have to cause us pain, if we look at them with Emunah. If we have enough Emunah to extract ourselves from our pain, it will also relieve the Shechina of pain. If we are not in pain, then He will not be in pain. Having Emunah is an unbelievable Avodat Hashem. Besides for showing Hashem that we trust Him, we can have the wonderful feeling that we are taking away some of the Shechina's pain.
The holy books tell us that the Shechina suffers anytime a Jew sins. If one of the 18 million Jews violates the Torah, Hashem feels it. The reason it bothers Him is not because He takes offense that we didn't listen to Him. Rather, He created man for the sole purpose of bestowing goodness upon him. He has so much goodness to give-both in this world and the next. If someone sins, he prevents Hashem from bestowing that good. If a mother can't give her children, she is pained, because she wants to give so badly. When Hashem can't give us, He is pained.
The fact that there are so many Jews who don't even know who Hashem is and have totally lost their religion causes so much pain to the Shechina. Those who care about Hashem try their hardest to keep themselves pure and help influence lost souls to come back to Him.
The Chida told a story in which someone publicly shamed a Torah scholar in the community of the Ohr Hachaim HaKadosh. The Ohr HaChaim went to the scholar's house to ask that he forgive the man's terrible sin. The Scholar said, "Don't worry, I forgave him on the spot. Shaming someone in public is an enormous sin, and Hashem is נושא עון-bears the weight of every sin. I didn't want Hashem to carry such a heavy burden, so I immediately forgave him." The Ohr HaChaim said afterwards, "When I heard that, I was so delighted. Look at how pure a Jew can be, worrying about the pain of the Shechina."
Hashem loves us so much. Any feelings of love that we have for Him is so beautiful. Every time we accept something with Emunah, do Teshuva or improve, we are doing a kindness to ourselves and to Hashem. We are relieving ourselves from our own burdens and relieving the Shechina of its pain. This will enable Hashem to do what He wants-to shower us with blessing.
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