As Jews we want to have a relationship with G-d, but at the end of the day, how can we? If G-d is an infinite G-d and we are finite human beings, then we are a different species. Worlds apart from each other, how can we connect?
What is interesting is that when the Torah tells us that G-d wants us to “know Him,” “knowing” does not refer to having faith. It refers to gaining knowledge, which makes the question even more intriguing! I can have faith in things that I don’t understand. There are things that I cannot relate to, yet I see in action, and therefore somehow I can trust them. The weather forecasts are a good example. I am not a meteorologist, nor do I fully understand how the science works, but I do have faith in meteorologists’ forecasts because they have proven reliable – at least most of the time – but I cannot say that I “know” how it all works. At best, I have “faith” in them. So how can the infinite G-d want us to “know” Him?
The answer lies in a verse found in this week’s Torah portion, Va’etchanan. Loosely translated, the verse reads, “I have shown Myself to you so that you should know Me, in the heavens above, in the earth below, endlessly.” If our knowledge of G-d is without end, then why the need to specify the heavens and earth?
We must say that these are not just locations, but steps on our journey to know Him.
Step #1: We have to think about what goes in our “heaven,” i.e., our morning. How did my day start out? Well, I woke up. True, but that in and of itself should cause us to reflect: Why did G-d give me another day? Shouldn’t I be thankful for this new opportunity? If we answer yes, and we recite the Mode Ani prayer in which we come to this recognition and thank G-d for this new day, then we took the first step.
Step #2: We have to bring this feeling into our lives. We start the day with some prayer and some study so that we can know more about the world that G-d created, and thereby “know G-d.” We feed and nourish the “earth” within us.
Step #3: We take this into our place of work, into our day-to-day dealings. When even our mundane lives are infused with spirituality and G-dliness, then we “know” G-d through our behavior. At that point, we are behaving as Jews should behave—the knowledge is one with who we are as a people.
This kind of knowing is limitless; there are no boundaries for us to know ourselves. This kind of knowledge is beyond “information” or even any “faith” that we may have. This is who we are.
If we take these three steps, then we can leap from the finite world into the infinite. It is when we can look within ourselves and find our essence, we can find the infinite.