The first blessing concludes with: “Blessed are You, YHVH, Shield of Avraham.” Avraham was the first person who was able to stand in God’s presence, relate to Him and enter into a covenant with Him. Until Avraham, people either thought they were too insignificant to have a relationship with God, or they believed that they too were gods. By virtue of the covenant He made with God, Avraham revealed to us the secret that, although there is nothing except God, we exist within the loving embrace of God. This is the miracle of what the Kabbalah describes as a Divine withdrawal (tzimtzum). In the beginning, there was only God. But for there to be a “me” and “you” who could relate to God, God had to withdraw and conceal the presence of His “endless light,” so that our own light could shine, and we could have a presence in His presence and relate to Him. Think about the stars. They seem to come out at night, but the stars are always in the sky, even during the day. We just don’t see them because the overwhelming light of the sun nullifies their light. Once the sun sets and its light is concealed, the stars can have presence and their radiance can be seen. Tzimtzum—the withdrawal of the self to make space for another—is an act of love. When we love others, we sometimes need to diminish our own light so that the light of our loved ones can shine. We may have to shield them from our overshadowing presence so that they can take center stage. This is the challenge of parenting. As parents we have to diminish our presence so that our children can establish their own. Otherwise, they will feel insignificant around us and not be able to have a loving relationship with us.