Take, for example, the computer you are looking at right now. It could be a tablet or a smartphone, and it doesn't matter in principle. Smart people worked for several years and made components from various natural resources – metal, plastic, and glass. Here it is a great device that can communicate with any corner of the globe.
Is it necessary for the person who invented the machine to be the one to operate it? Of course not. It was manufactured so that any one of us could run the device. Is it necessary for the inventor of the device to do the work of assembling it? Not at all.
Here is what happened. Somebody took some existing materials, processed them according to the laws of physics, and changed their physical form so that they would work according to basic assumptions with which we are all familiar today.
And the device works – it does what it is supposed to do.
However, in essence, the inventor who puts elements together and the object he makes does not have the same identity. Such a statement would not be valid for the Creator of the World. As we discussed in the first series of lectures, the Creator made the world ... after starting with nothing!
This is the understanding that the nation of Israel has been teaching others for thousands of years, from the time of the Patriarch Abraham. Every scientist and philosopher, and all the religions that grew up after the arrival of the nation of Israel, took over this idea from Israel!
What does this mean, that God created the world out of nothing?
It means that He continues to support this Creation every single moment!
There is no other way that the concept of Creation can be understood. The Creator made the object, and since then, He continues to infuse it with what He gave it at the beginning of Creation so that it continues to exist.
If the Creator would "take back" what He "put into" the Creation – it would disappear immediately and return to nothingness! Let us put it another way: there is a constant link between the Creator and Creation.
What does this mean to us?
The same principle applies to people. For us, the matter is even more vital since we encounter a "status" of death. What happens? The body is the same, but the Creator has taken away the part that gives the body life, the soul. [Note as an aside: If He would take everything He put into man, the body, too, would have returned to nothingness...]
The meaning of all we have said is that there is a unique link between the Creator and us human beings. Following the Jewish tradition, we can put it this way: "Man (note that this refers to all mankind, everybody who has descended from Noah) has found special favor in that he was created in the image of God." [The Ethics of the Fathers]. This, for example, is the foundation for the rule that murder is prohibited and for the requirement that every human being be treated with respect.
However, the continuation of the above passage is even more critical. "Man knows about this special favor, in that he was created in the Divine image." [Ibid]. This happens when a man knows he has been favored, accepts this truth, and lives following the understanding that he contains "a Divine Image" within himself.
Now combine the two principles which we have discussed until now:
(1) The Creator is constantly linked to His Creation and gives him life.
(2) Mankind is capable of becoming aware of this fact.
It gives us the empowering significance of prayer!
During prayer, when a man stands in front of his Creator, he connects to his energy source. This can be thought of as renewing the charge in his batteries!
Prayer is not merely a request for many different things a person lacks. Of course, it is that too, but in-depth prayer links you directly to the Creator of the World and creates complete identification and correspondence between your desires and the desire of the Creator.
The closer we are to understanding these foundations, the more alive our prayer will become! We will become filled with various types of energy. We will be exhilarated and empowered by the living link to the One who Created the World. We will feel that our load becomes lighter and our fundamental understanding of the world is enhanced. What a joy it is for us to discover that we can pray!-
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How does this issue grow to encompass the whole world?
How can we include all the parts of Creation?
What is the meaning of the concept that my desires and the Will of God are the same?
