Walking With God

In this week’s parsha, Bechukotai, God informs us that if we follow His laws

וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי֙ בְּת֣וֹכְכֶ֔ם וְהָיִ֥יתִי לָכֶ֖ם לֵֽאלֹהִ֑ים וְאַתֶּ֖ם תִּֽהְיוּ־לִ֥י לְעָֽם:

I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

-Leviticus 26:12

Unsurprisingly, I love this image. But what does it actually mean for God to walk among us?

There are several ideas that immediately come to mind. The first is the famous ‘the king is in the field’ concept that refers to God’s closeness to us during the month of Elul, and additionally during the Yamim Noraim, the High Holidays. As Chabad.org explains

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi explains the paradox of Elul with the following metaphor: The king's usual place is in the capital city, in the royal palace. Anyone wishing to approach the king must go through the appropriate channels in the palace bureaucracy and gain the approval of a succession of secretaries and ministers. He must journey to the capital and pass through the many gates, corridors and antechambers that lead to the throne room. His presentation must be meticulously prepared, and he must adhere to an exacting code of dress, speech and mannerism upon entering into the royal presence.

However, there are times when the king comes out to the fields outside the city. At such times, anyone can approach him; the king receives them all with a smiling face and a radiant countenance. The peasant behind his plow has access to the king in a manner unavailable to the highest ranking minister in the royal court when the king is in the palace.

The month of Elul, says Rabbi Schneur Zalman, is when the king is in the field.

So perhaps the idea that God walks among us refers to God’s closeness to us. He will be with us, walking the very paths we tread, accessible and reachable.

This reminded me of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s idea that prophecy is when God calls upon man, but prayer is when man calls upon God. A man who prays is one who summons God to listen; consider the audacity of that- that I can make God hear me if only I wish it. But if God walks amongst us, of course He hears me. He is beside me, close to me. He is with me in my darkest moments, as the Rav expressed in ‘Majesty and Humility,’ page 33,

However, with the arrival of the dark night of the soul, in moments of agony and black despair, when living becomes ugly and absurd, plainly nauseating, when man loses his sense of beauty and majesty, God addresses him, not from infinity but from the infinitesimal, not from the vast stretches of the universe but from a single spot in the darkness which surrounds suffering man, from within the black despair itself. Eleven years ago my wife lay on her deathbed and I watched her dying, day by day, hour by hour; medically, I could do very little for her, all I could do was to pray. However, I could not pray in the hospital; somehow I could not find God in the whitewashed, long corridors among the interns and the nurses. However, the need for prayer was great; I could not live without gratifying this need. The moment I returned home I would rush to my room, fall on my knees and pray fervently. God, in those moments, appeared not as an exalted, majestic King, but rather as a humble, close friend, brother, father: in such moments of black despair. He was not far from me; He was right there in the dark room; I felt His warm hand, kaviyachol, on my shoulder, I hugged His knees, kaviyachol. He was with me in the narrow confines of a small room, taking up no space at all. God's abiding in a fenced-in finite locus manifests His humility and love for man. In such moments humilitas Dei, which resides in the humblest and tiniest of places, addresses itself to man.

Then I figured it might make sense to look at precedent. This is not the first place in the Tanakh where we see God walking with man; the phrase appears in multiple other places.

There’s the mysterious reference in Genesis 5:22-24.

וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֨ךְ חֲנ֜וֹךְ אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים אַֽחֲרֵי֙ הוֹלִיד֣וֹ אֶת־מְתוּשֶׁ֔לַח שְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֥וֹלֶד בָּנִ֖ים וּבָנֽוֹת׃

After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years; and he begot sons and daughters.

וַיְהִ֖י כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י חֲנ֑וֹךְ חָמֵ֤שׁ וְשִׁשִּׁים֙ שָׁנָ֔ה וּשְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָֽה׃

All the days of Enoch came to 365 years.

וַיִּתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ חֲנ֖וֹךְ אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְאֵינֶ֕נּוּ כִּֽי־לָקַ֥ח אֹת֖וֹ אֱלֹהִֽים׃ {ס}        

Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God took him.

(As an aside, as a child, and even now, this is how I aspire to die; I want God to walk with me and then take me with a kiss.)

There’s also Genesis 6:9.

אֵ֚לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֣ת נֹ֔חַ נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים הִֽתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹֽחַ׃ This is the line of Noah.—Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God.—

Micah 6:8 (which appears much later than this week’s parsha) urges us

הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ {ס}        

“He has told you, O man, what is good,
And what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do justice
And to love goodness,
And to walk modestly with your God;

There are additional references in Tanakh to walking in obedience to God (Deuteronomy 10:12) or before God (multiple places in Kings, for example, I Kings 2:4) but to me this differs from simply walking with God, so I have chosen not to include those references.

Let’s go back and explore what is going on in the story of Enoch.

The Netziv explains

ויתהלך חנוך את האלהים. כך היה רגיל להיות דבוק ושקוע באהבת ה׳:

And Enoch walked with God. This is how he used to be- steeped and immersed in the love of God.

He then continues

ויתהלך חנוך וגו׳. פעם א׳ היה מתבודד ומשקיע עצמו באהבת ה׳ עד שהגיע לעלות לרקיע:

And Enoch walked with God. The first time this was mentioned he would spend time alone and steep himself in the love of God until [seemingly now that the phrase is repeated] he came to ascend to Heaven.

The Netziv on Noah’s walking with God is less flattering.

את האלהים התהלך נח. ולא שהיה טוב המזג בטבעו וא״כ אע״ג שמכ״מ ראוי היה לקבל שכרו בעוה״ז. מכ״מ אינו אלא להגן עליו בדרך הטבע. אבל לא במקום סכנה ושיש ריתחא בעולם כמו בשעת המבול. אבל נח הי׳ טוב לבריות בהתגברות על טבעו ורק לשם ה׳ שידע כי כך הוא רצונו ית׳ ומש״ה כדאי היה להיות ניצול בהשגחה פרטית אפי׳ בעת השטף כאשר יבואר עוד זה הכלל להלן פ׳ כ״ו כ״ז בברכת שם ויפת:

I’m not sure enough of what every word here means to translate it accurately (if someone wants to help me with a translation in the comments, that would be great, and I can update this post). But the general gist appears to be that Noah walked with God, but not because Noah was so superior. Rather, it had to do with the time in which Noah found himself [the period of the flood], and thus the need. That said, Noah was good to God’s creations based on God’s will, which is why he deserved to be saved and have hashgacha pratis [Divine providence] rest upon him.

In this week’s section, the Netziv explains

והתהלכתי בתוככם. שאע״ג שהשכינה במקדש בקרב ישראל בכלל מכ״מ השגחה בפרטות אין אחד דומה לחבירו אלא כל אחד לפי מעשיו נמצא דהשגחת ה׳ מתהלכת ממקום למקום:

And I will walk among you: That even though the Shechina [God’s feminine presence] is in the Mikdash [Tabernacle] in the midst of Israel, there is an idea of hashgacha pratis [divine providence.] No person is the same as his fellow- rather, each one receives Divine Providence from God according to his [the person’s] actions and behaviors; Hashem walks from place to place.

Of course, Netziv is far from the only commentary on this topic. Rashi explains the verse in this week’s parsha

והתהלכתי בתוככם. אֲטַיֵּל עִמָּכֶם בְּגַן עֵדֶן כְּאֶחָד מִכֶּם, וְלֹא תִהְיוּ מִזְדַּעְזְעִים מִמֶּנִּי, יָכוֹל לֹא תִירְאוּ מִמֶּנִּי, תַּ"לֹ "וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים" (ספרא):

AND I WILL WALK AMONG YOU — I will, as it were, walk with you in the Garden of Eden as though I were one of yourselves and you will not be frightened of Me. One might think that this implies: you will not fear (reverence) Me! Scripture however states, “but I will be your God” (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 3 3-4).

This seems to reference a pre-sin state. When Adam and Eve were originally in the garden, and had not sinned, they walked beside God and had no fear. Post the sin, Adam and Eve hide, and Adam explains in Genesis 3:10

וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אֶת־קֹלְךָ֥ שָׁמַ֖עְתִּי בַּגָּ֑ן וָאִירָ֛א כִּֽי־עֵירֹ֥ם אָנֹ֖כִי וָאֵחָבֵֽא׃

He replied, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

He was literally naked, but this could also be read ‘naked before You’ in the sense that he is exposed as a sinner, and it was due to the shame of the sin he had committed that he hid. In contrast, if God will walk with us in the Garden of Eden and we will not be frightened, that seems to suggest we have not done something that would cause us to feel fear or shame.

The Ramban understands the pasuk [verse] in this week’s parsha as a reference to Olam HaBa, the World to Come.

Seforno understands it as a reference to a future time. In the time of the Tanakh, there were centralized holy places of worship- the Tabernacle and the Temple. But in the future, God will walk among us- wherever the righteous are is where God will be.

והתהלכתי בתוככם ענין המתהלך הוא ההולך אנה ואנה לא אל מקום אחד בלבד. אמר אם כן אתהלך בתוככם כי לא אל מקום אחד בלבד ירד שפע הכבוד כמו שהיה במשכן ובמקדש כאמרו ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם כלומר בזה האופן ובאותו המקום בלבד אשכון בתוכם ובאר זה באמרו אשר אועד לך שמה ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל אבל אתהלך בתוככם ויראה כבודי בכל מקום שתהיו שם כי אמנם בכל מקום שיהיו שם צדיקי הדור הוא קדוש משכני עליון שבו תשלם כונתו כאמרו השמים כסאי והארץ הדום רגלי ואל זה אביט אל עני ונכה רוח וחרד על דברי:

והתהלכתי בתוככם. The meaning of this reflexive conjugation is as if the Torah had written: “I will walk with you in whatever direction you are going, back and forth and sideways.” In other words, G’d says that He will not limit His benevolent presence to a single location or route of His choosing as it was as long as the Temple or Tabernacle stood, and only these locations were holy domains, the people having to come there if they wanted to experience sanctity and holiness. While it is true that this had been the primary objective in Exodus chapter 25 when the command to build the Tabernacle had first been issued, this was only an initial step in regaining the closeness between G’d and Israel which had been shattered due to the sin of the golden calf. During the immediate period being ushered in at that time, the operating clause for such manifestation of holiness would the words אשר אועד לך שמה, “where I choose to manifest Myself” (Exodus 30,6) Or Exodus 29,43 ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל, “I will manifest Myself there to the Children of Israel.”
In the future, wherever the righteous would be found holiness would be present. This is the meaning of והתהלכתי בתוככם. At that time My glory will be manifest universally, not only within the confines of the Temple. This is the time of which Isaiah 66, 1-2 said “The heaven is My throne, and the earth My footstool.”

All of these interpretations remind me of the song ‘He Lives in You,’ part of the opening sequence of The Lion King 2. Though the song is about Mufasa and his presence within Simba and thus Simba’s children, you can reinterpret the lyrics to be about God, and it becomes very powerful.

The English lyrics are:

Night
And the spirit of life
Calling

And a voice
With the fear of a child
Answers

Wait (Wait, wait, wait...)
There’s no mountain too great
Hear the words and have faith, oh
Oh, oh, iyo
Have faith

He lives in you
He lives in me
He watches over
Everything we see

Into the water
Into the truth
In your reflection
He lives in you

When God walks with you, that’s exactly what it’s like. He’s there. You can turn to Him, talk to Him, and He is beside you, just as He is within you, His spirit animating your life. Like calls to like- your soul yearning for His light- and you recognize yourself in Him, and He, of course, in you. Twined together, bound together, inseparable, you walk. Sometimes the path is idyllic and sometimes it is painful. But He is there. He is always there. In darkness, in light, whether I, garbed as I am in this limited human form, am spinning in a maelstrom of pain or laughing in delight, there He is, by my side, forever.