“L’derosh et Adonai, To seek out G-d. To inquire of G-d.“ 

What does this mean and how do we do it. How do we seek G-d? What questions do we ask? 

Maybe what we are asking is, “What is our purpose here on earth, and what brings us meaning?” 

Our member Peretz, of blessed memory used to say that our entire purpose in life is to fulfill the last line of Psalm 30 which we read every week: “O LORD my God, I will praise You forever.” There are other parts of that Psalm that I mind especially meaningful, ““What is to be gained from my death, from my descent into the Pit? Can the dust praise You? Can it declare Your faithfulness?” I see this as one way to find meaning in life, we are challenged to speak up, to speak out and to praise G-d, continually. 

So therefore, prayer and praise is one way to seek G-d. Jewish prayer is divided into three main categories Petition, those prayers of request, but not on Shabbat, Praise. And thanksgiving.  

Prayer builds the relationship between God and human beings. It forms a connection. 

When people pray, they spend time with God. To pray is to serve God with all of your heart, soul with all your might, with all your being, your everything. It is the embodiment of the V’ahavta. It is part of how we show our love for G-d and how we draw close to G-d. …to l 

Jews, like other people of faith, pray for many different reasons in many different ways.  

• They pray so that their hearts can reach out to God 
• They pray to express and exercise their beliefs 
• They pray to share in the life of a worshipping community 
• They pray to obey God’s commandments 

Some say that prayer is speaking to G-d, while Torah is G-d speaking to us. Last night we looked at 2 methods of Torah study, that can be summarized with acronym PARDES, from which paradise comes in English. Torah Study is akin to being in the orchard, in the Garden of Eden, in paradise. The pey, the p sound is the simple, basic, plain meaning of the text.. Resh is the remez, the hint of what might be going on by looking at metaphor. The dalet, the derash, same root as l’derosh and midrash, is the text that emerges, the dialogue that answers the questions, and the samach, the sod, the hidden, mystical meaning of the text.  

But PARDES comes with a warning, Four rabbis went into the garden, but only Rabbi Akiva entered in peace and left in peace. This teaches us that before we dabble in searching for G-d we need to be grounded. Historically that meant male, 40 and married. Nowadays that is less true. 

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel took this searching for meaning and connection with G-d on with his book Quest for G-d. “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”
 

oThe rabbis of the Talmud understood this at some deep level. The first prayer of three, after the Barchu and surrounding the Sh’ma, is always a prayer about the wonder of creation. That sense of awe that we experience seeing a sunrise or a sunset, a mountain top, the stars, that awe feeling is part of how we l’derosh l’adonai, we seek out G-d. So, one way to find G-d is to be out in nature, and just say, Wow! Part of my own spirituality is my running and walking. Some just walk. Weight watchers has even developed an Awe Walk. It is a walk with intention. We might say kavanah. Some people walk a labyrinth. I find it always fascinating what emerges when I do. If you are looking for labyrinths in our area there is one at St. Joe’s, St. Alexius, Bethany Lutheran in Batavia and the Unitarian Church way out Highland Ave. I am fond of the one at the Botanic Garden at the University of Michigan and had a very powerful experience there this Labor Day Weekend.  

Sometimes it is hard to distinguish G-d’s voice from all the noise that is out there. We need to quiet all those other voices—in our heads and around us. Some call that mindfulness. In order to hear G-d’s voice, some meditate. The Institute for Jewish Spirituality has many webinars and seminars to teach us how to mediate. Rabbi Josh Feigelson is their executive director and has much to teach all of us. Their vision and their mission according to their website is:

“Vision: The Institute for Jewish Spirituality envisions a world in which spiritual practice is a vital part of Jewish life, leading to compassion, justice, and peace.

Mission: The Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s mission is to develop and teach Jewish spiritual practices so that individuals and communities may experience greater awareness, purpose, and interconnection.” https://www.jewishspirituality.org/

That interconnection is part of what I think we are searching for in a Jewish community and as we l’derosh et Adonai, seek out G-d.

We have different images of G-d’s voice. In Psalm 29 it is the booming, powerful voice of G-d that shatters cedars but also gives us peace and strength. Yet Elijah heard the still small voice of G-d.

Ultimately, the hearing of G-d’s voice, should propel us to be our best selves. That vision of our better self is often helped by working on what is called Mussar. This is the study of 13 character traits that bring us closer to the Divine. They mirror the 13 Attributes of the Divine. One way to draw closer to G-d is to be like G-d, a form of imitatio deo. The Mussar Institute (https://mussarinstitute.org/ ) offers rotating, ongoing classes to help us with this kind of character development.

The 13 traits are:
Patience: סבלנות – Savlanut 

Gratitude: הכרת הטוב – Hakarat Ha’Tov 

Compassion: רחמים – Rachamim 

Order: סדר – Seder 

Equinimity: מנוחת הנפש – Menuchat Ha’Nefesh 

Honor: כבוד– Kovod 

Simplicity: הסתפקות – Histapkut 

Enthusiasm: זריזות – Zerizut 

Silence: שתיקה – Sh’tikah 

Generosity: נדיבות – Nedivut 

Truth:  אמת – Emet 

Moderation: שביל הזהב – Shevil Ha’zahov 

Loving Kindness: חסד – Chesed 

Responsibility:  אחריות – Achrayut 

Trust: בטחון – Bitchon 

Faith: אמונה – Emunah 

Awe: יראה  Yirah – *No English translation is accurate. A close association is fear/awe. A term that my husband and I debate routinely, for decades. Do we revere G-d or do we fear G-d. Our rabbi argues back, almost settling the debate, it can be both. 

There is a debate in historical Judaism about whether Torah study or mitzvot are spiritually superior. In the New Testament this gets couched as faith versus works. The commandments get divided into ethical ones, between people and ritual between people and G-d. Study was one way to draw close to G-d, to seek out G-d to l’derosh et Adonai. But it became the preview of scholars leaving many out. With the rise of Hasidic thought, the Baal Shem Tov gave more weight to prayer and sincere (that with kavanah) to the common people. The Baal Shem Tov said “G-d desires the heart.” And stories of children repeating the alef bet or playing a flute as a form of prayer that are dearer to G-d abound. 

Our join then is to draw close to G-d is to be like G-d. Perhaps one of my favorite readings in our liturgy tells us that as G-d clothed the naked, Adam and Eve, we should clothe the naked. As G-d visited the sick, Abraham, afte4r the circumcision, we should visit the sick, as G-d fed tne hungry, mana in the wilderness, we should feed the hungry and as G-d buried the dead, Moses, we should bury the dead. 

When we take on these actions, we draw closer to G-d. For me, that is what gives meaning and purpose to life.