"An Appointment with G-d"
04/14/2022 10:00:00 AM
Dear friends and congregants
Permit me to share with you a portion of an article I once wrote entitled ‘An Appointment with G-d’. I truly believe it to be relevant in our time.
Do we really need a sanctuary? Does G-d need a home in this physical world? Isn’t G-d everywhere? Isn’t G-d Omnipresent?
The basic understanding of Judaism is that G-d is everywhere. In the Torah, G-d asks the people of Israel saying ``Ve`asu Li Mikdash VeShachanti Betocham`` to build a Sanctuary where G-d can inhabit. The question is then, does G-d need a home in this physical world when G-d is everywhere?
The answer can be simple; we require an appointed place to meet G-d, to find him and to understand that G-d needs us as much as we need him. If we build a Sanctuary, it is because we need to feel that he inhabits this material world, we need to know that there is a precise place where we can gather as a community in order for G-d to greet us and listen to our prayers. Although G-d is everywhere, we sometimes neglect to bring him into our being, as we preoccupy ourselves with all the distractions that surround us. We are only human. We need direction and guidance to lead us to this special place where G-d awaits us. We need to set a time solely for G-d where we are free from distractions. We need an appointment.
Today, the distractions are too numerous. We live through our cell phones, our Blackberries our Facebooks and twitter accounts. We find ourselves distracted by various devices while in conversation with a friend, even G-d. Now more than ever we need a Sanctuary. This congregation is offering you this opportunity 365 days a year, night and day. Come in to pray, meditate, or rejuvenate.......just use it.
At this joyous time in our lives, I join my wife Muriel, my children Jonathan and Lea, Eve and Adam, Shira and Michael and our grandchildren Liel Daniel, James Wolf and Axel Israel, in wishing all of you a Chag Kasher VeSameach...........and see you at the appointment!