I sat last Sunday night and again on Monday in the Knesset, (synagogue) here in Sderot as we observed Yom Kippur. Keep in mind I still can’t read Hebrew and can only speak minimally to say the least. I stood when everyone stood, I bowed with everyone, I even faced the east towards Jerusalem right on queue and that was when the L-RD gave me my lesson for the day.

I looked like everyone else, Kipa and Tallet, standing, sitting, bowing; doing all the right things but didn’t have a clue what was going on or being said. While there on Monday, I did however manage to plan what I was going to have for dinner once the fast was over. All I was doing was going through the motions.

Just a thought; How many of us just go through the motions in our relationship with G-D? We have a Tanakh or Bible that we may not remember the last time we read it, we go to synagogue or church on the respective day but I can’t tell you after I leave what was said. Is our relationship with G-D like my years in high school…? I went through high school but high school didn’t go through me.

Is your relationship with G-D one of religion, tradition and ritual or is it one of relationship? Do you see G-D as a father with a big baseball bat waiting for you to break one of His commandments or do you see Him as your Father? In Exodus 4:22 He refers to Israel as “My son”. Do you see Him as a loving Father abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression like Moses saw Him? Do we see Him as a Father that supplies our need while we wander in the desert because of our own rebellion and disobedience?

What is your relationship with G-D, do you have a personal relationship with him, a Father son, Father daughter relationship with Him. Do you have a relationship with Him at all or are you just going through the motions? Just a thought.