Charging Station

14 Cheshvan 5782

“And when I pondered to understand this, it was unjust in my eyes; until I came to the sanctuaries of God, and perceived their end.” (Tehillim 73:16-17)

Sometimes a physical place can have a very profound impact on our spiritual lives. Every person has at least one “spiritual charging station,” which he can always go to and reconnect to Hashem from. From there he can understand that all of Hashem’s ways are just and that it is our mission to go along with them.

“As is known, the life of a tzaddik is not a fleshly life but a spiritual life, consisting of faith, awe, and love.” (Lessons in Tanya, Iggeret HaKodesh, middle of Epistle 27)

The very physical experience of being there has a profound spiritual impact on him. In this way, this place is similar to a tzaddik, whose existence is physical but whose effect is primarily spiritual.

“And Abraham traveled from there to the land of the south” (Bereishis 20:1)

Abraham understood very well that the physical location we are in has a tremendous impact on our spiritual mission. “When he saw that the cities had been destroyed and that travelers had ceased to pass by, he migrated from there.” (Rashi) Abraham understood that his environment was no longer conducive to his spiritual mission and his way of connecting with Hashem. He chose to move for his own sake, and also for the sake of the souls yet to be “acquired” into monotheism.

Abraham’s house provided the first “spiritual charging station” to so many.