R' Yochanan's bittersweet tears

The Chofetz Chaim, whose yahrtzeit is 24 Elul, writes that the mitzvah of  וְעַתָּה כִּתְבוּ לָכֶם אֶת⁠ הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת, which appears immediately after וְאָנֹכִי הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, is a response to hester panim.  Even amidst the darkness, Hashem's presence and light can be found in Torah.

The gemara (Chagiga 5a) writes:

 רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן כִּי מָטֵי לְהַאי קְרָא, בָּכֵי: ״וְהָיָה כִּי תִמְצֶאןָ אוֹתוֹ רָעוֹת רַבּוֹת וְצָרוֹת״. עֶבֶד שֶׁרַבּוֹ מַמְצִיא לוֹ רָעוֹת וְצָרוֹת, תַּקָּנָה יֵשׁ לוֹ?!

 מַאי ״רָעוֹת וְצָרוֹת״? אָמַר רַב: רָעוֹת שֶׁנַּעֲשׂוֹת צָרוֹת זוֹ לָזוֹ — כְּגוֹן זִיבּוּרָא וְעַקְרַבָּא.

Rashi explains that the sting of עַקְרַבָּא needs to be treated with warmth, but the sting of the  זִיבּוּרָא is treated with cold.  If you are stung with both at the same time, there is no way to have any comfort from both.

Why was it davka this pasuk (31:21) that brought R' Yochanan to tears?  Why did he not come to tears when he read earlier in the same parsha (31:17) וְחָרָה אַפִּי בוֹ בַיּוֹם⁠ הַהוּא וַעֲזַבְתִּים וְהִסְתַּרְתִּי פָנַי מֵהֶם וְהָיָה לֶאֱכֹל וּמְצָאֻהוּ רָעוֹת רַבּוֹת וְצָרוֹת?  Why did he not cry when he read (31:18) וְאָנֹכִי הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא עַל כׇּל⁠ הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה?   

Furthermore, if this pasuk is indeed the climax of the tragedies which will befall Bn"Y, why does it begin with the word וְהָיָה?  Chazal tell us אין ״והיה״ אלא שמחה!  

Two years ago I quoted the following yesod from R' Yehonasan Eibschitz: there are two type of punishment, namely punishment through hester panim, where Hashem turns a blind eye to what happens and let's things play out as b'derech ha'teva dictates, and punishment b'yad Hashem, where Hashem metes out the punishment that needs to be delivered.  The difference between the two is that only the latter type of punishment brings kapara, not the former.

This yesod explains the gemara in Brachos (7b):

מזמור לדוד בברחו מפני אבשלום בנו מזמור לדוד קינה לדוד מיבעי ליה אמר ר' שמעון בן אבישלום משל למה הדבר דומה לאדם שיצא עליו שטר חוב קודם שפרעו היה עצב לאחר שפרעו שמח אף כן דוד כיון שאמר לו הקב"ה הנני מקים עליך רעה מביתך היה עצב אמר שמא עבד או ממזר הוא דלא חייס עלי כיון דחזא דאבשלום הוא שמח משום הכי אמר מזמור

First the gemara gives a mashal to explain why David said a mizmor of celebration in response to his punishment,  משל למה הדבר דומה לאדם שיצא עליו שטר חוב קודם שפרעו היה עצב לאחר שפרעו שמח, and then, as if explaining the nimshal, tells us that David was happy because his suffering came at the hands of his own son, Avshalom.  These are two different explanations entirely.  Why does the gemara lump them together as one?  (Maharasha) 

Based on RYE's yesod, the gemara makes perfect sense.  Had David's punishment consisted of Hashem removing His hashgacha and leaving David to whatever fate decreed, it would not be a kapparah.  The shtar chov would still be hanging over his head awaiting payment.  It's only because David's punishment came at the hands of his own son, Avshalom, something so extraordinary and incredible that it could only be yad Hashem, that David felt a degree of relief and sang a mizmor, as punishment b'yad Hashem brings kaparah and would wipe his slate clean.  

In a similar vein, the gemara (Kesubos 66) writes that after the churban Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai came across the daughter of Nakdimon ben Gurion, who had been one of the richest men in the world, picking through animal dung looking for food. Recalling that he had been at her wedding and signed her kesubah worth a fortune, he exclaimed, “Ashrecha Yisrael! – When the Jewish people do G-d’s will, there is no one who can surpass them, but when they fall, they fall to the lowest depths of animal dung.” 

Maharal asks: It’s understandable why R’ Yochanan ben Zakai would say, “Ashrecha Yisrael!” on the ability of Klal Yisrael to rise to the greatest heights, but why say such words now, when he is witness to the depths to which Bn"Y had fallen?  

Maharal answers (see here) that the fact that when we fall, we fall to the lowest depths, proves that our fall is not just some turn of history, some accident of fate.  A great downfall such as ours cannot be explained b'derech ha'teva alone.  It can only reflect the yad Hashem.  So long as we remain under Hashem's watch, we can rest assured that just as He caused us to fall, the yad Hashem can and will raise us back to the greatest heights once we mend our ways.  

The Yismach Moshe uses this same idea to explain why R' Yochanan reacted davka to the pasuk of וְהָיָה כִּי תִמְצֶאןָ אוֹתוֹ רָעוֹת רַבּוֹת וְצָרוֹת.  Had Hashem punished us by simply withdrawing his hashgacha, as the previous pesukim in our parsha describe, וַעֲזַבְתִּים וְהִסְתַּרְתִּי פָנַי מֵהֶם, or וְאָנֹכִי הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, it would mean that our suffering would be meaningless, as it would not bring us the needed kaparah to wash away our sins.  However, Hashem did not abandon us to fate and derech ha'teva.  Our suffering, as bitter as it is, is directed b'hashgacha, by yad Hashem.

This is the meaning of the mashal כְּגוֹן זִיבּוּרָא וְעַקְרַבָּא - these are two mutually exclusive forces, with mutually exclusive results, and mutually exclusive remedies.  Nature cannot abide A and not-A simultaneously.  Nature demands either/or.  The fact that we suffer under mutually exclusive forces proves that it is yad Hashem which is directing things. 

If so, וְהָיָה כִּי תִמְצֶאןָ אוֹתוֹ רָעוֹת רַבּוֹת וְצָרוֹת -- אין ״והיה״ אלא שמחה because our punishment, punishment b'yad Hashem, comes with the promise of kaparah and tikun.

 עֶבֶד שֶׁרַבּוֹ מַמְצִיא לוֹ רָעוֹת וְצָרוֹת, תַּקָּנָה יֵשׁ לוֹ is not a rhetorical question, but is a statement of fact.  When it is רַבּוֹ who is directing the punishment and not chance, fate, nature, circumstance, then indeed, תַּקָּנָה יֵשׁ לוֹ.  

R' Yochanan cried that we had to come to this point, but those tears were bittersweet.  You don't need Viktor Frankl to tell you that if experiences like those we have suffered this past year carry no meaning and do not lead to kaparah, to tikun, to greater heights, how much more painful and tragic they are.  We trust, however, that עֶבֶד שֶׁרַבּוֹ מַמְצִיא לוֹ רָעוֹת וְצָרוֹת, תַּקָּנָה יֵשׁ לוֹ.