Phillip Dolitsky, National Ambassador of Education, Atlantic Seaboard
By Phillip Dolitsky, National Ambassador of Education
Just imagine for a second your most beloved and treasured friend. The reason that person came into mind was probably because of all the time you spent with each other. Be it in school, or on a summer program, wherever, your relationship is heavily based on those personal interactions. It is those special conversations, those inside jokes, that have left such a deep impression, that you instantly thought of that person just a few sentences ago.
But how does one connect to Hashem? You and me have certainly never had interactions with Him like you and me have had with our greatest friends, and understandably so. It’s obviously easier to have a relationship with a being of flesh and blood than with Hashem who simply isn’t.
So what’s the secret? How does one connect to Hashem? How do we develop that personal relationship?
“וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם לִי לְעָם וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם”
“And I will take you to Me as a people, and I will be a God to you, and you will know that I am the Lord your God, “
That’s the answer. The Kedushas Levi writes that the fulfillment of Hashem’s promise to, “take you to Me as a people”, meaning that He will give them the Torah, will make it for possible for the Jewish people to “know that I am Hashem”. It is the very Torah itself, that serves as the vehicle between us and Hashem, for we see what Hashem wants from us, and how we can access Him. Let’s use this as more motivation for us to increase our Torah study and get closer with Hashem!
Shabbat Shalom!