Those times when a parent stands back as the child decides,
watching the consequences from afar, yet always there with the child
—they are the greatest trial of a parent’s love, the ultimate act of parenting.

They are not always possible, often too perilous to risk. But they provide the turning point for a child to become a person all her own.

So, too, when G‑d hides His face, that is when He shows His most awesome might, His deepest love.