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The Zohar teaches, “Just as the angels praise God in the upper realm, humanity unifies God in the lower realm.” This, it says, is the very purpose of creation.
Indeed, this is the essence—and the challenge—of human existence. Our task in this world is to unify God by seeing the spiritual in the physical, the Divine in the mundane, and the transcendent in the trivial. The angels declare God’s holiness from on high, but we, through our actions, reveal that holiness down below. When we bring together heaven and earth—when we live as if every moment, every relationship, every task has sacred potential—we make this world a dwelling place for the Divine Presence.
The Zohar’s insight reframes the human calling: we are not here to escape the material, but to sanctify it. Each time we act with integrity in business, speak kindly to a stranger, or offer gratitude for something simple and small, we turn the ordinary into the holy. In doing so, we draw God a little closer to the world, and we draw ourselves a little closer to God.
This Shabbat, the Shabbat of Creation, invites us to begin again. It calls us to see the world through the eyes of Adam HaRishon, to look upon existence as though for the very first time, and to marvel at its wonder, as the Psalmist says: “This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:23)
If we can see God’s hand in the world—in the radiance of morning light, in the rhythm of our days, in the quiet kindness that sustains life—then every act becomes a prayer, every deed an offering. And then we begin to live our lives L’shem Yichud Kudsha Brichu—for the sake of unifying the Holy One, blessed be He.
To live that way is to make the whole world a sanctuary, and to fulfill the purpose of creation itself: to bring heaven down to earth, until the two are one.
Shabbat Shalom!
-Rabbi Dan
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