Have you ever watched a child learn to walk?
The child begins to crawl then slowly learns to stand holding on. Once standing, often, the parent will stand in front of the child, and as the child takes a step towards him/her, the parent takes a step back.
I heard that the Baal Shem Tov said that this is what G-d does with us. He stands very close to us and as we take a step closer, sometimes, He moves back. Throughout this month of Elul, we have steadily been moving closer to G-d in our spiritual quest for closeness to The Divine. As we got closer, it sometimes felt like G-d has been taking a step back. G-d is smiling. He is helping us take our next step to get comfortable with moving forward in our relationship.
As we take our steps in building this relationship, we need to remind ourselves that even if we fall from time to time; if we miss a mitzvah e.g. shabbat candles, or aren't able to do our mitzvah 100% yet, we are like children starting to walk. We fall, yet we get up and continue to move closer.
If it feels like G-d is taking a step back, it is really just Him helping us along in our learning how to walk properly. Soon enough we will be able to walk, and even run and grab onto Him and not let go.
As Rosh Hashanah comes upon us, let’s continue to take our steps; walking, running, falling, and getting up. Let us keep on connecting and getting ready to dance with Hashem as we are blessed with an amazing year!
Have an amazing last Shabbos of 5780!
With blessings for an amazing Shana Tova; a happy, healthy and sweet 5781,
Rabbi Kushi