- “Ad-nai tzilecha al yad yeminecha” – (G-d is your shadow at your right hand).
“And the Almighty answered Moshe, saying: ‘I Am Who I Am (Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh), Who exists eternally’” (Exodus 3:14)
“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” (literally: “I will be what I will be,” that is, eternally existing).
The Sages ask: What does “I will be what I will be” mean?
And they answer: “As you are with Me, so I will be with you.” (Midrash Rabbah)
Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin drew a parallel in his book “Nefesh HaChaim” (Part 1, Chapter 7) between a shadow in our world and the “shadow of the Almighty.”
In our world, only the movement of an object itself determines where the shadow it casts will fall. Likewise, if one may put it this way, the Almighty connects with the worlds and casts His shadow over them according to a single criterion: the actions of people in the lower world. Yet the words of our teacher enable us to understand this even more deeply. In truth, the way the Almighty relates to each person is precisely like the idea of a shadow.
What does “G-d is your shadow” mean? He is like a shadow. If you turn to it with a smile, it will answer you with a smile. If you turn to it in tears, it will weep in response. If you show it a sorrowful or welcoming face, it will show you the same face.
So too with the Almighty: “G-d is your shadow.” As you are with Him, so He is with you.
(Midrash Rabbah; Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, “Nefesh HaChaim”)
