Recently during a time of intense prayer and meditation I had a revelation that I was the daughter of the King. Every time I go back to that place I get the same feeling of awe and humility. To what do I owe this great honor, and how can I possibly live up to the obligations that this status brings? It is only through the love and mercy of HaShem beloved.
During the month of Elul HaShem comes to meet us, He says return to who you truly are, to the pure soul that I created you to be. For most of us that is the hardest part, stripping away all the layers that we have surrounded ourselves with. These layers can take many forms but the end result is the same, they all take us farther and farther away from G*D. Repentance can only come from the realization that the spiritual separation one feels when removed from G*D's presence is a reality to painful to bear.
The Midrash Shocher Tov explains the verse in Tehilim, "Lamnatzeach al shoshanim livnei Korach,"The sons of Korach said,"We are the roses" with a parable. A king once came to visit his people. They desired to give him a crown of gold adorned with stones. The king's entourage said to the townspeople, "The king does not want a golden crown. Are there roses?" The townspeople happily gave him roses. Similarly, HaShem says He does not want gifts of gold or silver. All He desires are roses.
The Sifsei Tzadik writes that roses represent softness. Gold and silver are rough and hard. HaShem does not want a hard heart. He desires a crown of roses signifying a heart filled with love, gentleness, and beauty. HaShem says, when you have this quality of the rose, then I can be "The shepherd among the roses," I can lead you to repentance. Beloved all we need to do is strip everything away and simply come, come before the King with a broken and open heart, it is HaShem who does the work all we need to do is Shema and follow.
Two of the many ways that HaShem leads us is through His creation and His Torah. Through the wonders of His creation He shows us everyday how much we are loved, in the song of a bird, the sweet smell of a rose, in the new moon as it hangs close enough to touch, large and low on the horizon as if to say yes you too can start again. In our service to HaShem we must never lose that freshness, that newness, that sense of awe and wonder. If one can just open one's heart and perceive it the whole universe and all that is in it declare His majesty.
HaShem also leads us through His Torah, it reveals His very character. It is a love letter, it is our guidebook to life from Him to us. Rabbi Schneur of Zalman says, "Elul's unique power is that the Thirteen Attributes of Divine Compassion radiate through it, even when we are immersed in the mundane activities of the week". May we all take advantage of the fact that the King is in the field. Shed the chains that bind and run to Him, He is waiting beloved.
THE ONLY ONE
Everything is split in two
every place leads back to you
the only one
the only one
love and live and searching for
what's behind every door
the only one
the only one
and I see the wide silver moon and the slow setting sun
I can see the flower in bloom and the finger on the trigger of the gun
everything is split in two
every place leads back to you
the only one
the only one
love and live and searching for
what's behind every door
the only one
the only one
and I see the roads I can choose and a million different views
I can see the forest with all t he trees and the changing of all the seasons
Echad, Echad, U'Shmo Echad, The Only One, The Only One
Echad, Echad, U'Shmo Echad, The Only One, The Only One
Echad, Echad, U'Shmo Echad, The Only One, The Only One
Echad, Echad, U'Shmo Echad, The Only One, The Only One
And I feel two hands upon the face of the whole human race
where I dream that all thoughts they blend where I stop and where You begin.
Through prayer and meditation as we draw ever closer to HaShem that dream, that blending, that new beginnning can become a reality. Enjoy the journey.
Elizabeth
www.moshavband.com
Click on the link above to listen to The Only One by Moshav Band
Click on select tracks
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