„"In all your ways know Him"”

- one must seek the Holy One within the very ways in which He conducts Himself:

When he is engaged in prayer, then let him seek the Holy One through the understanding of the matters of his prayer and proper intention with faith of the heart in those matters of his prayer, and let him not seek at that time knowledge in other matters; for since he is engaged in this service, the Holy One, as it were, dwells on His part specifically in this service, and there he will find Him and not elsewhere.

And when he is engaged in Torah, let him know that he will find the Holy One when he is delving deeply and studying to understand a matter thoroughly, and to remember and review it well, and thereby he knows Him, may He be blessed, in His Torah and not in another manner, for at that time He is revealed in this service.

And likewise, when he is engaged in acts of kindness to benefit his fellow, then let him seek the Holy One only in the depth of counsel as to how to benefit him with a great, worthy, and lasting good.

And so with all the things he does, for in truth there is nothing in the world that is not for His honor, may He be blessed; therefore let all that he does be words of His commandment and His will, and let him seek in them His name, may He be blessed, when he strives with all his intellect and his powers to do what he does in the utmost perfection in all aspects of perfection, and it turns out that he knows the name, may He be blessed, in all his ways." (Musar Avicha)

When I do something, very often I feel that I am somewhere else, thinking about the next thing I need to do and not living that place. For example - when I am with my child I think about work, when I am at work I think about the child, when I am studying something thoughts jump to what needs to be cooked for Shabbat, and when I am cooking for Shabbat I think about... I think you understand?!

The Rav says that we must be in the place where we are; when we are doing something we must be in it completely. When one prays, then one prays; when one studies, then one studies; and so on.

The Rav's innovation is the fact that we must relate seriously to other things as well; for example, when a person eats he must eat - not read a newspaper at that time; when speaking with a friend on the phone one does not glance at Facebook; and when praying one does not think about the bank account balance...

Life in the Western world is built entirely differently. We drive to work with the radio on, a cellphone, and some go further and place a portable DVD player in the car so as not, God forbid, to travel four cubits without a good film.

The repair, says the Rav, is to be in what we are doing. To give our soul and our attention to what we are engaged in at this very moment. Onward to work!

A good week!