Thread by @rabbisacks

Here is a thread from my Covenant & Conversation essay on #Nitzavim called "Not Beyond the Sea". You can read it at bit.ly/2lDoxzZ, listen to it at bit.ly/2mHceCQ, or download the accompanying Family Edition at bit.ly/2lNnkpI. #shabbatshalom

The beauty of #Jewish #spirituality is precisely that in #Judaism, #God is close. You do not need to climb a mountain or enter an ashram to find the Divine Presence.

It is there around the table at a #Shabbat meal, in the light of the candles and the simple #holiness of the Kiddush wine and the challot, in the praise of the Eishet Chayil and the #blessing of #children, in the #peace of mind that comes when you leave the #world to look after…

…itself for a day while you celebrate the good things that come not from working but resting, not from buying but enjoying the gifts you have had all along but did not have time to appreciate.

In #Judaism, #God is close. He is there in the poetry of the #psalms, the greatest literature of the #soul ever written. He is there listening in to our debates as we study a page of the #Talmud or offer new interpretations of ancient texts.

#God is there in the joy of the festivals, the tears of #TishaBAv, the echoes of the #shofar of #RoshHashanah, and the contrition of #YomKippur.

#God is there in the very air of the land of #Israel and the stones of #Jerusalem, where the oldest of the old and the newest of the new mingle together like close friends.

In #Judaism, #God is near. That is the overwhelming feeling I get from a lifetime of engaging with the #faith of our ancestors. #Judaism needed no cathedrals, no monasteries, no abstruse theologies, no metaphysical ingenuities – beautiful though all these are – because for us…

…#God is the #God of everyone and everywhere, who has time for each of us, and who meets us where we are, if we are willing to open our #soul to Him.