The King Awaits

The Alter Rebbe offers a parable illustrating G-d’s closeness to every Jew during the month of Elul:

A wise and powerful king returns to his capital city, but does not enter the gates. He waits for his subjects to empty out of the capital and greet him in the field. There, in the field, each person can encounter the king. And he receives them all with a smiling countenance.

In translating the analogy, it seems strange: If the Jews are already in “G-d’s city” why would He want them to leave when the month of Elul comes around?

G-d desires that a soul go down into this world — which is a “field” compared to G-d's “city” in Heaven above — and turn this world into a Divine dwelling place. And so, from the beginning of Elul, both aspects are underscored: Every Jew, the Alter Rebbe tells us, is “a resident of the King’s city.” At the same time, G-d Himself is in the field, waiting to be with every Jew.