Babies love to play peekaboo, as a parent or caregiver hides their face for a moment and then pops out again to the baby’s delight. At six to twelve months, infants are developing “object permanence,” the crucial concept that just because someone or something isn’t visible at the moment, it’s still there and can still be counted on.
Some of the most important things in life are hidden from view: stars in the daytime, a baby in the womb, life under the sea. There are sounds hidden from us in frequencies humans can’t hear, and wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum beyond the range of the naked eye. We still can’t read each other’s hidden thoughts, and each person contains dimensions unknown even to themselves. Believers will say that God, too, can’t be seen in conventional ways, but can be perceived in the heart.
I’ve been thinking about things that are hidden, while preparing to celebrate the holiday of Purim , which is a commentary on divine hiddenness in human affairs.
Set in ancient Persia, the Biblical book of Esthertells the story of a young Jewish woman, Queen Esther, saving her people from a genocidal plot by an antisemitic court official. The Purim story conveys a message of Jewish survival and resilience in the face of hatred and prejudice. I know it sounds solemn, but it’s celebrated with a joyful, carnival-type atmosphere of costumes, humor, noisemakers and eating special triangle-shaped pastries called hamantaschen.
Jewish sages long ago noticed that Esther’s name is related to the Hebrew word for “hiddenness.” For one thing, Esther hid her identity when she first married the king. On a deeper level, Hester Panim, hiding the divine face, is a Hebrew expression for times when God seems distant, as in the book of Esther, where God is never mentioned directly. Yet at that very time, God was believed to be hidden behind the scenes, working through the agency and courage of human beings. Wearing masks and costumes on the Purim holiday playfully reinforces this theme of “hiddenness.”
Esther is also symbolized by the moon, because she brought light and gladness to the people. The Moon is a beloved symbol in Jewish tradition, which has a lunar-solar calendar. Celebrating the new moon, Rosh Hodesh, has been revived as a modern Jewish spiritual practice. The moon “hides its face” for part of every month, growing in fullness – and is full in time for Purim.
Queen Esther, like the Moon itself, is associated in Jewish mysticism with the Shechinah, the feminine Divine Presence immanent in the world and in nature. We don’t have to transcend this world to find divinity. She is here right now, “hiding” within in each tree, pond, and creature. When he saw a glorious view in nature, my teacher Reb Zalman, would wink and say, “The Shekhinah is flashing us.” The divine presence in the natural world is revealed in moments of awe, but for the patient and observant it is there all the time, playing holy hide and seek, wearing the kaleidoscopic mask of creation.
New Moon and Venus, March, 2025
Esther was also compared to Venus, seen in this photo with the new moon.
Rabbi Neḥemya concurs and says: Hadassah was her real name. Why then was she called Esther? This was her non-Hebrew name, for owing to her beauty the nations of the world called her after Istahar, Venus. (Talmud: Megillah 13a)
When the news is dark, when the divine presence may seem very hidden in events, I think that a remedy is to seek the face-to-face, to find it in nature and in direct human connections. How do you find presence in times of hiddenness?
Since I started this website, I’ve been doing a lot more of my own photography, so to enhance the Gateway of The Moon, here’s my lunar photo gallery of some of my favorites (click on each photo to enlarge), with a video Reel link at the end.
The Torah portion, Beshallach (Exodus 13:17-17:16), contains one of the most dramatic episodes in the Bible. The Israelites have escaped slavery in Egypt, but as they are fleeing they are caught before a raging sea. And in back of them, the armies of Pharoah are advancing with trained charioteers coming their way.
Our ancestors were in an impossible situation, so bad that some of them just wanted to go back to Egypt and surrender.
As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites caught sight of the Egyptians advancing upon them. Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to YHWH And then they said to Moses, “There weren’t enough graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to die in the wilderness?”
But Moses said to the people, “Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance which YHWH will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. YHWH will battle for you; you hold your peace!” (Exodus 14:10-14).
Our rabbinic ancestors looked at the Torah as the word of God. For them, every word was there for a purpose. As they analyzed each part of Moses’ response to the panicked nation, they imagined that he was responding to four different groups of Israelites with four different reactions to their situation. In the Midrash they pictured the people of Israel in four factions at the sea:
Group one said: Let us throw ourselves into the sea (maybe in despair or overwhelm).
Group two said: Let us return to Egypt (i.e. wishing for the “good old days” that weren’t really so good!)
Group three said: Let us fight them (some are always ready to fight)
Group four said: Let us cry out against the Egyptians (the talkers—maybe today it would be “crying out” on social media rather than taking action)
OR just maybe those same approaches to the crisis could be viewed in a positive way:
Jumping in the sea = they had faith that God would help
Going back to Egypt = stopping to question how they got where they were
Fighting = fighting for what you believe in
Talkers = speaking up and truth-telling
And (to continue the Midrash) when we look at Moses’ words, all four factions received a direct response from their leader.
To group that said Let us throw ourselves into the sea, Moses told them, “Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance which YHWH will work for you today.”
To the group that said “Let us return to Egypt,” he assured them, “for the Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.”
To the group that said, “Let us fight them,” Moses told them, “YHWH will battle for you.”
Finally, to the group that said “Let us cry out against them,” Moses told them to “hold your peace!”
So that was then. But right now, if you imagine our current national and world problems like the Raging Sea, – with which group of Israelites do you identify? Do you want to give up, to retreat, to fight, or to speak?
There are times of crises when despair is not an option, when there is no going back, when conflict is not the answer, and when words are inadequate. So what then is the alternative?
Then YHWH said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. And you lift up your rod and hold out your arm over the sea and split it, so that the Israelites may march into the sea on dry ground. (Exodus 14:15-16)
According to the Midrash, just as everyone was arguing, and even Moses hesitated, a man named Nachshon ben Aminadav of the tribe of Judah waded into the sea. He walked right in, up to his calves, his knees, his waist, his chest. Only when the water was up to his nostrils, when he was about to go under, did the Red Sea split. God helps those who help themselves and take the first steps. Ever since then, the name Nachshon (that’s a “ch” as in “Bach”) has become synonymous in Jewish tradition with a leader who goes in first, one who dares to take action while others are afraid.
This Midrash is really speaking to me right now.
Today we are facing raging social, political, and environmental problems that can feel like a stormy sea, issues so huge that can make us feel trapped and unable to progress.
Feel the fear but don’t let your fear control you.
Be present and focus your mind see things as they actually are and not as you imagine or project them to be.
Take time to be still, engaging in meditation or other centering practices that calm your mind.
Move forward and take action, action that will now be more effortless and congruous with the divine flow.
Whether a supernatural miracle, a natural phenomenon, or an ancestral story we tell, the Parting of the Red Sea remains an eternal archetype with the status of a sacred Myth. It is the paradigm of Redemption. In words attributed to the Greek statesman Solon, “A Myth is not something that never happened, a Myth is something that happens again and again.” Like our ancestors before, we are often caught between a rock and a hard place, or a Pharaoh and a raging sea, looking for a way forward. The words of the Torah and our interpretations throughout the centuries can offer guidance on how to “be still and get going,” how we can find our inner Nachshon for these tumultuous times.
A quick mini-retreat: Take a moment now to put things down, relax, and take a deep breath. Let the world fade away as you bring to mind a moment that felt particularly awesome, or when some kind of curtain slipped away between you and the bigger picture of Life. What did your senses grasp and what did your emotions feel?
What was your moment? Was it in nature, during a life cycle event, while traveling? Or just out of the blue?
My teacher, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (Reb Zalman), used to teach that we all have those spiritual moments, those flashes of transcendence. But too often they slip away from memory because we don’t have a container for them. By which I think he meant that we don’t have practices or language to keep them alive within us.
Not that you can capture your pristine spiritual state forever. We are all bound to (and must) come down the mountain from our spiritual highs. But we can come down with a postcard to remind us of what we experienced.
After I returned from a particularly powerful spiritual retreat, another of my spiritual teachers, Rabbi Miles Krassen, told me that each spiritual experience can become a deposit into our inner soul “bank account” to draw on later in challenging times, or to prime our pump when we feel creatively dry.
Those spiritual deposit boxes are going to take different forms for different folks, of course. Here’s a menu of ways I like to store up spiritual treasures, and I’d love to hear from you about yours.
Meaningful Objects
Just like pilgrims take a sacred object from a shrine, we can find an object that reminds us of that special time, like a seashell that recalls a sunrise at the shore, a pinecone that brings us back to a spectacular forest hike, a symbolic piece of jewelry, a crystal or a prism that recalls how our soul sparkled. We can carry it with us, or it can go on our desk, bedside table, personal altar, or near our prayer or meditation spot.
Journaling
For many years, journaling has been one of my favorite ways to store up my spiritual gems. I have kept small gratitude journals and dream journals by my bedside, and larger, beautiful Spiritual Journals that were dedicated to recording insights or special moments. To be honest, the gratitude and dream records have switched to digital form – I dictate them into my phone notes at bedtime or wake up. But for those profound experiences that I want to honor, I still like to put pen to paper in a bound journal. Such writing, done reflectively, can become its own spiritual moment.
Art
Another way to keep spiritual moments alive is to express them artistically. If you paint, collage, compose, write poetry, or do needlework, those can be your treasure chests. You don’t have to be a great artist, just to create something that triggers your memories or helps you to tell your story.
For me, photography connects me to my spiritual life and moments of awe in nature. Each time that I look at a photo, it takes me right back to the moment of that direct experience. I love to share my nature photos to invite other people into those moments (Find them here: Inspired Images.) You don’t have to be a serious photographer for this purpose and you can do a lot with a phone camera to put together an album of your most spiritual moments in nature.
Rituals and Deeds
Another way to record your experiences is in the language of ritual, either by creating your own rituals, or by connecting a ritual that you already practice in your own tradition with your personal experiences. For example, I like to say certain Jewish blessings for special moments in nature. This helps me to focus on being present and recognizing that life is a divine gift.
Spiritual Language
As you explore a spiritual tradition, you gain language to hold your own experiences. Not to say language can fully capture ineffable moments, but words and concepts that have been passed down for generations can be honored containers for the sacred. For example, I may describe having an experience of the Shechinah, a sense of the divine immanent within nature. I hope to share more of those from my own tradition as time goes by.
Sharing with others in a supportive environment is also a powerful way to keep our spiritual experiences going and to inspire one another.
Please comment if you use any of these or other ways to hold your own transcendent or spiritual moments in your heart.
Shalom! At Wellsprings of Wisdom, I aspire to help readers connect to the soul by connecting to the beauty of the natural world and Jewish and world wisdom about nature. Just as the earth has her seas, gardens, rivers, and mountains, inside each of us is our sea of the unconscious, our garden of toil and pleasure, our streams of flow, and our peak experiences. Our inner world is a reflection of the planet and of ancient teachings left for us by our ancestors. I’m passionate about sharing my love of nature and wisdom in all kinds of formats. You can now you can also find me on substack as “GPS for Your Inner Landscape.” I’m publishing a short newsletter about once a week, and other short inspirational notes. Subscribe now for free!
As this New Year 5785 takes flight, may we care for our environment, spread love and compassion, and most of all, seek peace. Sending you blessings for a good and sweet new year, fill with excellent health and abundant happiness, and may your heart’s prayers be fulfilled for good.
Snowy Egrets in Flight at Bombay Hook National Wildlife refuge, photo Julie Danan
L’Shanah Tovah, Tikateyvu! May you be inscribed for a good and sweet New Year! We are about to embark on the Jewish New Year 5785, a day also known as the “birthday of the World,” and so a day to contemplate how to honor and steward our natural environment and all its creatures. Elul, the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah, is a great time to get outside and connect with nature, letting her be your guide. I share here a class that I taught on this subject back in 2021 (approaching Rosh Hashanah 5782). We discuss sauntering in nature and learning from its creatures and living symbols. There are lots of nature photos and questions to ponder, to inspire your own nature connection in the New Year.
Shalom! My latest blog post was announcing class that I taught on Spirituality at the Seashore. I taught the class twice: for ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal and for Seaside Jewish Community. Here’s a video of the latter, combining nature photography, ancient sources, guided meditaiton, and ideas for action. (posted here August, 2024)
In a sense, this whole site is about your inner landscape, how you are a part of nature, not apart from nature. I’m grateful that ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal has invited me to teach on the subject. And since I now live near the seashore, that will be my topic for this very interactive and visually enaging class. Here’s the information:
DATE: Monday, June 24, 2024 TIME: 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT LOCATION: Zoom
Join Rabbi Julie Hilton Danan to connect to your soul by connecting to the beauty of the natural world and Jewish wisdom about nature. Just as the earth has her seas, gardens, rivers, and mountains, inside each of us is our sea of the unconscious, our garden of toil and pleasure, our streams of flow, and our peak experiences. Our inner world is a reflection of the planet and of ancient teachings left for us by our ancestors.
In this interactive class, we will explore “the shore” in nature, Jewish wisdom, and your own life: from sea caves to sand, seashells, and life on the edge of mystery. We will experience media including stunning original nature photography, text discussion, ritual, guided meditation and mitzvah ideas. The practices we will learn may lead not only to a richer inner life and a heightened sense of awe, but to a deepened commitment to stewardship of the Earth and its inhabitants as the dwelling place of Shechinah.
Shalom! Due to a transition in my website management, several of my posts over the holiday season, plus one about recent events in Israel, have disappeared. Sorry for the inconvenience and I plan to update soon!
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