Seven sources, one thread
Every source in the class is labeled, so you always know whether the text says it, a commentator explains it, a later teacher connects it, or we are drawing the connection ourselves.
- Devarim 31:17–18Direct Source
And I will hide My face from them… And I will surely hide My face on that day.
The Torah does not say Hashem leaves. It says He hides. The Talmud (Chullin 139b) hears the name Esther in “I will surely hide.”
- Bereishit 21:19Direct Source
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.
“Everyone is presumed blind until the Holy One, blessed be He, lights up their eyes” (Bereishit Rabbah 53:14).
- Isaiah 11:9Direct Source
For the earth shall be filled with knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.
The Rambam chose this verse as the last words of his Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Melachim 12:5).
- Sukkah 5:1 · Isaiah 12:3Direct Source
You shall draw water with joy from the wellsprings of salvation.
“Whoever did not see the Joy of the Water-Drawing never saw joy in his life.” The Jerusalem Talmud: they drew Divine inspiration there.
- Isaiah 25:7–9Direct Source
He will swallow up on this mountain the face of the covering that covers all the peoples, and the veil that is spread over all the nations.
The one place Tanakh speaks of a veil over the nations — and it ends with everyone saying, “Behold, this is our God.”
- Zechariah 14:9Direct Source
And Hashem will be King over all the earth. On that day Hashem will be One and His Name One.
“Is He not One now?” (Pesachim 50a). Hashem does not change — our perception changes.
- Tanya, Sha’ar HaYichud VehaEmunah 1Later Tradition
Forever, Hashem, Your word stands in the heavens.
In the name of the Baal Shem Tov (on Tehillim 119:89): the Divine word that created each thing is still inside it, every moment.
- 1ConcealmentHashem hides — He does not leave. We start with the hidden face in Devarim, and with Hagar, who was dying of thirst next to a well she could not see.
- 2ProphecyWhat the prophets actually say about the end of days: an earth full of knowledge like water, a lifted veil, and a day when Hashem is One — and what they do not say.
- 3MashiachThe Sages, the Zohar and the Rambam on the time before Mashiach: how to wait, how not to calculate, and how to read the news without claiming prophecy.
- 4RevelationThe Tanya on why the world was made hidden at all — and how a mitzvah done with a physical object turns this world into a home for Hashem.
Class materials
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Direct Source: the text says it. Classical Interpretation: a recognized commentator explains it. Later Tradition: a later work connects it. Derash: a teaching reading, not the plain meaning. Our Synthesis: a connection we make in class.
One mitzvah, done slowly
Choose one mitzvah with a physical object — the lulav, the sukkah, a tzedakah box, a mezuzah, Shabbat candles — and do it every day this week. Before you do it, pause for five seconds and think: this is the lower world becoming a home for Hashem.
Past classes
- Sep 30, 2026This week
When the Veil Begins to Thin
Mashiach, prophecies, and a world beginning to see · Workbook
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