“Where is God?” asked Menahem Mendel of Kotzk, one of the great Hasidic masters. “Everywhere,” replied his students. “No, my children,” he responded, “God is not everywhere, but only where you let Him enter.”

The Kotzker’s answer reinforces a distinction that Rabbi Ahron Soloveitchik makes between two terms of redemption—hatzalah and yeshuah. Both terms relate to being saved. Hatzalah requires no action on the part of the person being saved. Yeshuah is the process whereby the recipient must do one’s share and help one’s self.

In the beginning of the Book of Exodus, the Torah describes how the Jewish people, emerging from Egypt, experienced the process of hatzalah. (Ve-hitzalti, Exodus 6:6) God and God alone, says the Haggadah, took us out of Egypt. Just as a newborn is protected by its parents, so were the newborn Jewish people protected by God.

Having left Egypt, much like a child who grows up, the Jewish people were expected to assume responsibilities. This explains the splitting of the sea that we read about on the seventh day of Passover. While Moshe thought that the process of hatzalah would be extended into the future, God declares no—the sea will split, but only if you do your share and try to cross on your own. (Rashi on Exodus 14:15) Hence the sudden shift in expression from hatzalah to yeshuah as the Jews stand by the sea. (Va-yosha Hashem. Exodus 14:30)

At the Passover seder table, we re-enact the past redemption from Egypt, even as we stress the hope for future redemption. Appropriately, we begin the latter part of the seder experience with the welcoming of Elijah, who the prophets say will be the harbinger of the Messianic period. But, says Rav Kook, we cannot expect Elijah to come through the door on his own. Sitting on our hands is just not enough. We must do our share and open the door to welcome him in.

From my earliest days in the rabbinate, I have heard people ask, how can you believe in a God who permitted the death of six million Jews? A question that has no answer.

But, the thought of Rav Kook and Rabbi Soloveitchik ought to remind us, that the question is not only where was God, but where was man, where was woman.

The real challenge is that we do our share and to paraphrase the Kotzker, let God in.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Avi Weiss