Close

When we interact with someone we love, we try to be close. Sometimes we are very close, feeling a warm bond and strong appreciation.

Sometimes it’s more than that. It’s existential. A closeness in essence.

How close can we come to G-d, our Father? With deeds, very close, as we fulfill His commandments. In prayer, very close, as we contemplate His greatness and His love for us.

We look at His world, the beauty, the intricacy, the majesty. And we feel humbled and in awe.

Chassidus explains that in the first stages of prayer, when we think about G-d’s majesty and love, we are like a child running to greet our father, with excitement and anticipation, calling out excitedly.

And then, when we finally reach and hug Him, we are quiet, just feeling the closeness. That, explains Chassidus, is what happens when we reach the Amida, the quiet prayer. We then praise G-d, ask for our needs, and thank Him. But we do it quietly, because we are then so close to Him, in a warm embrace. We are just enjoying the moment, the bond, the oneness.

Sometimes we are distant, sometimes we come closer, and sometimes we are one, in an eternal bond.

Soon we will be very close, as the entire world “will serve Him with one shoulder,” (Zephaniah 3; 9) as Redemption with Moshiach brings the revelation of G-dliness throughout the world.

May it happen very soon.