search
Yoseph Janowski
By the Grace of G-d

G-d

“Hear O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is One.”

“Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.”

We say these words twice a day, morning and night. It reminds us of a fundamental awareness that we need to know: That G-d is the source of our blessing and our strength, because He is everywhere, in everything. And He conducts everything by Divine Providence.

We need to work at making a living, and everything else that we want to achieve. But it is crucial to remember that His blessing is what makes our efforts successful.

The farmer ploughs and seeds the land, but he needs the rain to make it grow. Similarly with all things. “And G-d will bless you in all that you do.” (Deuteronomy 15; 18). We need to do, but we need His blessing that our efforts should succeed.

Three years ago, the world was calm. People went to work, shopped, socialized. Most things were very predictable. And then Covid hit, and more crises came, and the world is no longer the same, people are no longer so confident in their own prowess.

We are now more thankful for His blessings. When our food grows, is sweetened by the sun, and reaches us, we thank Him. When our children study and play and grow and blossom, we thank Him. When our bodies continue to function wondrously, healthfully, we thank Him.

And we enhance and embrace our relationship with Him. And we endeavour to do His will and fulfill His commandments, and internalize His wisdom by studying the Torah.

When you love your wife, you bring her a present. When you love your parents, you honour and respect them. When we love G-d, we try to fulfill His will.

We try to show appreciation for the most marvellous gift of life, of a world that is a beautiful garden, for the opportunity to relate to G-d Who creates all this and is infinitely beyond it, yet in it.

We try to internalize His presence and to come even closer to Him. And to realize that “the Lord is our G-d” and that “He is One” with everything, and with us.

Until very soon the whole world will know, as the prophet Zechariah said (14; 9), “The Lord will be King over the entire earth; on that day the Lord will be One, and His Name One.”

About the Author
The author lives in Toronto, Canada. He has written for ExodusMagazine.org.