There\u2019s an old Chasidic tale about a rabbi and his son. Every day, the rabbi and his son would walk to synagogue together for morning prayers, but one day the son told his father to go ahead without him. The father got to the synagogue, put on his tallit and tefillin, and began to lead the service. When they got to the Shema, the father looked around but didn\u2019t see his son. He thought this was curious but continued with his prayers. When he finished his silent prayers, he looked around and still didn\u2019t see his son. Now he was starting to worry. Finally, at the end of the service as he was putting away his tallit, the father turned around and his son was right there behind him. The same thing happened for a few days and the father\u2019s worry turned into curiosity. The next day the rabbi decided to follow his son to see where he was going instead of the synagogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From behind a neighbour\u2019s tree, the father watched his son walk out of the front door, but instead of walking down the street to the synagogue, the son turned down a path into the woods. Keeping his distance, the father followed his son into the woods until his son stopped in a clearing, put on his tallit and tefillin and began to pray. The father watched in relief and confusion \u2013 he was relieved that his son was praying, but why did he come to the woods to do this? The father waited until his son concluded his prayers before approaching him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just as the son was putting his tallit away, his father came out of hiding. \u201cBeni, my boy, what are you doing out here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am praying, Abba.\u201d \u201cI can see. But why do you come to the woods to pray? Why not pray with us at the synagogue?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI come here to connect with God,\u201d the boy replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut my boy, it doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re in nature or the synagogue \u2013 God is the same everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know, Abba, but I am not.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story rings true for so many of us. How much more likely are we to have a spiritual experience out in nature \u2013 walking on the Heath, visiting the seaside, or enjoying a tea in the garden \u2013 than sitting in synagogue? But there is one pitfall with this parable: it only addresses the profundity of encountering the Divine on one\u2019s own. Empirical evidence shows one is far more likely to feel a connection to something greater than oneself when participating in a group experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019d say it\u2019s not an \u2018either\/or\u2019 situation. We can feel that connection in both environments, but our experience in each space helps to inform and support the other. This summer, as you head out for a walk on the Heath, to swim in the ponds, to visit the coast, or just sit in the garden, take time to reflect on how you feel. Can you sense the warmth of the sun inside your body as well as on the outside? Do the subtle hints of fragrance on the wind bring any memories to mind? Whatever it is that you notice in those moments \u2013 those sensations that lift you up and bring you joy \u2013 try to hold on to them and carry them with you when you\u2019re next in Synagogue. As you sit in your seat and let the beautiful song of the choir spill over you, close your eyes and recall those moments in nature. You might find it will profoundly change your experience of being in Synagogue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Where do you feel most connected to God? asks Rabbi Gabriel Botnick There\u2019s an old Chasidic tale about a rabbi and his son. Every day, the rabbi and his son […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rabbis-message"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7142,"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7141\/revisions\/7142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willing-lavender-dog.synagogue.org.uk\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}