The King and I

Going to shul is to be part of community. That started in Babylonia. it was a way to be together in a strange land, and also served for grasping that prayer could substitute sacrifices. So ,they did three times a day, and hoped it will work. It did, because we continue in the same manner,. Now, going to shul can be an exercise of futility if we come in and get out with no changes on our part. That is why this fragment emphasizes that we must feel H' is with us before entering the shul, if we feel empty. we will get out empty. If we go vested with the belief n H' something wonderful happens when we pray. It is not goin there to chat ,and what is new in the community. Actually, we should go there because it reinforces Jewish identity, and a sense of a common task and direction. In a more materialistic world, we tend to forget what is the essence, and why we are here. The shul reinforces, not the other way around. We go in with "empty" feelings out we go out the same way! Reply

We are going to part from the premise that H' is always with us, whether in our house or the meadow. That we don't feel the relationship with H' as strong as Moshe Rabeinu is because there was a limit for the rest of us depending on our own behavior. Being near H' is a state of mind and tied to our own behavior. If the fragment of the Rebbe is this one now it is because of its emphasis in Elul. The message is based on H' wearing jeans like humans. We are part of H' and H' is part of us - therefore think that he is near to you always. Free will helps us to nearer and nearer to H'. We must continue trying. Reply

❤️ Reply

Before you visit G_d, the King in His palace, you must aquire the behavior appropriate to be in His palace.

We have to first meet Him in the 'field' which symbolizes our uncorrected egoism.
Our desire to work with him invites His light to work with all our desires, intentions and attitude so that they are transformed to His ways.
We plant, sow and then we can reap the benefits of entering His palace. Reply

Good🌻Morning,

Wherever you are, wherever you meet GD, whether in the fields or whether in His courts; whether it is day, or whether it is night, being in the "presence" of The King of Kings and The LRD of LRDs will change your life forever.

May your day be filled with GD's Glory,

🕊💜 Reply

Perhaps meeting G-d in the field in Elul is a meeting in nature, naturally both parties look each other in the eye and have a tête à tête exchange. Reply

This is really sweet and inspiring, I’ll keep this message with me for elul :) Reply

Our relationship with Hashem is really very uncomplicated. What we wear in the meadow or the forest does not affect that relationship. Hiking in the forest or walking in the meadow is emotionally very deep, in FEELING Hashem at our right hand. Listen to the birds and the rustling of the leaves. Reply

is this speaking of the Ein Sof? Reply

But in the field, the King wears blue jeans.:- oi forgive me but could we have another way of expressing the openness displayed by the King, instead of the 'blue jeans' example? Something doesn't seem right about it...why not something more like: meeting Him in the grass under one's feet in the air you breathe under blue skies in each morsel you chew...oi Rabbi anything but 'blue jeans' ... Shalom Av 25 Reply

Rabbi Freeman,

Before you find G-d within, you must first engage with G-d from without. I hadn't thought about that pattern before. In the Tanakh you see Moses meeting G-d on the crevice of a mountain before being commissioned to build the Tabernacle and establish the levitical priesthood. King David met G-d attending sheep in the meadows before being recognized as a man after G-d's heart and becoming king. His vision was to build a better temple accomplished through his son Solomon. Jacob wrestled with G-d in a field and G-d changed his name to Israel. Joseph received a vision of sheaves in a field bowing to him before he became second in command next to Pharaoh and saved his nation. The Temple has the outer court, the inner court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies, and the list goes on. You can't put the cart before the horse! There is a process from out to in!

Anyways, Rabbi Freeman, the words of today's devotion gave me a true epiphany!

Thank You! Reply

A wonderful imagination Reply

So the King does not necessarily wear formal clothes. I sometimes wonder when meeting him this way in prayer we too don't need to wear the costume of a formal interview celebration. In fact this matter seems to me to be so relevant that any (or even no) items of clothing should not matter when this "Meeting of the King" is concerned. Yet I know that orthodox Jews are expected to be formally dressed when they pray, and I find this particularly difficult to accept because it was only after Mankind got knowledge of good and evil that he/she realized that nakedness was inappropriate. Reply