Jewish tradition wrestles with this very idea, this push and pull between light and darkness, revelation and concealment.
Take the Sefer HaBahir, for example. This ancient text, a cornerstone of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), dives headfirst into these kinds of paradoxes. It starts with a question posed by Rabbi Nehuniah ben HaKana, a sage known for his profound insights.
Rabbi Nehuniah points out what seems like a flat-out contradiction in the scriptures. In Job 37:21, it says, "And now they do not see light, it is brilliant in the skies..." So, light is out there, shining brilliantly! But then Psalm 18:12 throws a curveball: "He made darkness His hiding place." And Psalm 97:2 adds to the mystery: "Cloud and gloom surround Him."
So, is God light? Is God darkness? Is He both? Is He neither?
It’s enough to make your head spin, right?
But here’s where the Bahir gets really interesting. It doesn't just leave us hanging in the darkness. Instead, it offers a resolution, a way to hold both ideas in our minds at the same time.
The Bahir brings in a third verse, Psalm 139:12: "Even darkness is not dark to You. Night shines like day—light and darkness are the same."
Think about that for a moment. “Light and darkness are the same.”
What does it mean? Does it mean that God transcends our limited human understanding of light and darkness? That what seems like darkness to us is actually just a different kind of light in God's eyes?
The Sefer HaBahir doesn't spell it out completely. It leaves room for us to ponder, to meditate, to wrestle with these ideas ourselves. Maybe the point isn't to solve the riddle, but to embrace the mystery. Maybe the Divine is present in both the light and the darkness, and our task is to find Him—or Her—in both.
It's a beautiful, challenging, and ultimately hopeful message. Even when we feel surrounded by darkness, the Bahir reminds us that even that darkness is not dark to God. And perhaps, within that darkness, we can find a light we never knew existed.