דרשו ה' בהמצאו קראוהו בהיותו קרוב. אלו עשרה ימים שבין ראש השנה ליום הכפורים
The prophet tells us to seek Hashem when he is found, call to him when he is close. Our sages tell us that this is a reference to the ten days from Rosh HaShanah to Yom Kippur.
This verse is a bit puzzling, The root word דרש, to seek is generally used as a reference to seeking that which is lost. Why then is the prophet telling us here to "seek" Hashem when he is found? If he is present, there is no need to seek.
Similarly, the word קרא is generally used to refer to calling someone who is distant to approach. Why then is the prophet using it here to call to Hashem when he is close? If He is close you have no need to call to Him, you can just speak to Him.
It would seem that the way to understand this verse is that there is no need to tell you to seek Hashem if He is distant; that would be obvious. Similarly, if He is distant it is obvious that you should call to Him. The verse is telling you that even when Hashem is found you should still seek Him, even when Hashem is close you should still call to Him.
I was reading this piece to my wife on Rosh HaShanah and she pointed out to me that so often in life we get our pleasure from the pursuit. Something is withheld from us and we desire it. We relish in the desire, we enjoy the pursuit, as it is is currently mysterious to us and unavailable. But we mistakenly think that the point is to acquire whatever is is we are desiring. We think that acquiring is "winning." And once we have acquired we stop seeking, we stop calling. We think we have accomplished.
So often we do this in relationships. Once we "have" someone we think we know them thoroughly and we stop "seeking" them. The excitement is then gone from the relationship as it was in the pursuit that the excitement was found.
The lesson to take from this is that even when we have found, it is necessary to continuously seek, even when someone is close, never stop calling out to them.
The prophet tells us to seek Hashem when he is found, call to him when he is close. Our sages tell us that this is a reference to the ten days from Rosh HaShanah to Yom Kippur.
This verse is a bit puzzling, The root word דרש, to seek is generally used as a reference to seeking that which is lost. Why then is the prophet telling us here to "seek" Hashem when he is found? If he is present, there is no need to seek.
Similarly, the word קרא is generally used to refer to calling someone who is distant to approach. Why then is the prophet using it here to call to Hashem when he is close? If He is close you have no need to call to Him, you can just speak to Him.
It would seem that the way to understand this verse is that there is no need to tell you to seek Hashem if He is distant; that would be obvious. Similarly, if He is distant it is obvious that you should call to Him. The verse is telling you that even when Hashem is found you should still seek Him, even when Hashem is close you should still call to Him.
I was reading this piece to my wife on Rosh HaShanah and she pointed out to me that so often in life we get our pleasure from the pursuit. Something is withheld from us and we desire it. We relish in the desire, we enjoy the pursuit, as it is is currently mysterious to us and unavailable. But we mistakenly think that the point is to acquire whatever is is we are desiring. We think that acquiring is "winning." And once we have acquired we stop seeking, we stop calling. We think we have accomplished.
So often we do this in relationships. Once we "have" someone we think we know them thoroughly and we stop "seeking" them. The excitement is then gone from the relationship as it was in the pursuit that the excitement was found.
The lesson to take from this is that even when we have found, it is necessary to continuously seek, even when someone is close, never stop calling out to them.
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