“Up, up, down, down, right, left and all around; here, there and everywhere, that’s where He can be found!”
These are the lyrics to a children’s songIf G‑d can be found everywhere, what makes a synagogue holy? describing where G‑d is. But if G‑d can be found everywhere, what makes a synagogue holy? Was G‑d “more” in the Temple or found “more” in my synagogue than in my bedroom?
“From my flesh I shall perceive G‑d.” This verse in Job (19:26) alludes to the fact that many phenomena that take place in the human body are actually a reflection and can be used as an analogy to understand abstract concepts about G‑d.
Such as the answer to the above question:
Where is the soul found in a person? On an essential level, the soul is found equally throughout a person’s body. The essence of the soul is found just as much in the foot as in the brain. However, on a revealed level, the brain functions as the “control center” of the body, and there is a greater expression of the soul in the brain than in any other part of the body. The soul’s energy is expressed primarily in the brain, and from the brain, the eye gets energy to see and the ear to hear, etc.
Similarly, on an essential level, G‑d’s light is found equally in every part of the world, both physical and spiritual. However, on a revealed level, G‑d’s light is found primarily in His “brain,” the Torah, which is G‑d’s wisdom. G‑d’s light can be more expressed in certain locations, such as in the Temple, or today, “even if one person sits and studies Torah, the Shechina (the term used to describe that G‑d is “resting” or “revealed”) is with him.” G‑d is giving energy and life to everything on this planet, but when a Jew learns Torah, he or she draws down a more overt and powerful revelation of G‑dly light.
So the song got it right: G‑d is everywhere.
Still, it could probably use more lyrics about how the Torah is where all that energy is most manifest.
Tanya Bit: Just as the brain is the greatest expression of the soul in a person’s body, “distributing” its energy to all the other limbs, the Torah is G‑d’s greatest expression on earth and is our source of life.
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