Sitting in God’s Presence
Genesis Rabbah 48:7
讜讛讜讗 讬讜砖讘 驻转讞 讛讗讛诇 讻讞讜诐 讛讬讜诐 专讘讬 讘专讻讬讛 诪砖讜诐 专’ 诇讜讬 讗诪专 讬砖讘 讻转讬讘 讘拽砖 诇注诪讜讚 讗”诇 讛拽讚讜砖 讘专讜讱 讛讜讗 砖讘 讗转讛 住讬诪谉 诇讘谞讬讱 诪讛 讗转讛 讬讜砖讘 讜砖讻讬谞讛 注讜诪讚转 讻讱 讘谞讬讱 讬讜砖讘讬谉 讜砖讻讬谞讛 注讜诪讚转 注诇 讙讘谉 讻砖讬砖专讗诇 谞讻谞住讬诐 诇讘转讬 讻谞住讬讜转 讜诇讘转讬 诪讚专砖讜转 讜拽讜专讬谉 拽专讬讗转 砖诪注 讜讛谉 讬讜砖讘讬诐 诇讻讘讜讚讬 讜讗谞讬 注诇 讙讘谉
As he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. Rabbi Berekhiah said in Rabbi Levi name: It is written: he sat. He wished to rise, but God said to him: Sit攜ou are a symbol to your children. As you sit while the Shekhinah (God Presence) is standing, so will your children sit and the Shekhinah stand. When Israel enters synagogues and study halls and recites the Shema�, they sit in My honor, and I will stand over them.
What do we find ourselves doing when God Presence suddenly appears to us?
Sometimes we are davening. This is what Rabbi Levi must have been thinking when he envisioned our reciting the Shema� as a means to inviting God Presence into the room. And because that can work so well, prayer is the backbone of the Jewish spiritual experience.
But when that doesn檛 work? When we 渨ish to rise� but some voice inside bids us to 渟it�?
What if we imagine that voice is God voice? What if sometimes God wants us to rise to the occasion of sensing God Presence in the world, but at other times God wants us to sit, to lay spiritually low?
The midrash imagines that even in those stretches of life攁nd we can imagine Abraham going through such a spiritual low inthe aftermath of his circumcision and the household turmoil攚e are doing some Jewish good. Even in the stretches of life when we do not sense God Presence in our own lives, we can remain committed to laying the groundwork for the next generation.
Spirituality is one 渨ay in� to Jewish living for many Jews; handing down the tradition is another. I imagine that among us�the thousands who read these emails or receive them in letter form each week攖here are some of each camp. This midrash invites us to join Abraham in sitting in the tent door, ready to rise when we see God Presence approaching on the horizon or, alternatively, serving as role models for those who will come next.
There are many ways to approach Judaism and a Jewish life攑atience, quiet, contemplation, and an open heart among them攅specially when we experience a sense of urgency and find ourselves waiting anxiously for God Presence in a doorway or hallway of life. At these moments, as our children watch, we must be willing to be an example: to sit and do nothing so that we can be fully present when God Presence acknowledges us and draws near.
