Friday, August 29, 2008

"When a person engages in Torah he in effect embraces God"


"It is impossible to embrace God Himself.

Nor can we cleave to Him.

He is a consuming fire; no man can see Him and live.

Yet because He has clothed Himself in Torah and Commandments in our world, when a person engages in Torah and Commandments, he, in effect, embraces God.

True, the garments are so numerous and opaque than any sense of intimacy is ruled out.

But one can nevertheless know: at that moment, he is embracing God."

--Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz



From Learning from the Tanya, by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, chapter 16, page 70