The Place to Be & Meet Together

I was reminded, recently, of a Hasidic tale which evokes Deuteronomy 11:18, and seems especially apt for now: ‘The pupil comes to the rabbi and asks, “Why does Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon our hearts’? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?”

‘The rabbi answers, “It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay, until, one day, the heart breaks, and the words fall in.”’ 

It’s often the case that our own break-throughs seem to happen when we, ourselves, break open, isn’t it?

This article is one in a series (Connecting with Culture) from the the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity

Any other year, unexpected freedom from end-of-term lectures and exam timetables would surely be cause for celebration. But this year, many students’ terms have ended with a tremendous anticlimax.

Spare a thought for those who, whether they’re sixth-formers or prospective grads, will have no summer term, no celebration party, no opportunity to hug their friends goodbye. Many had to leave their student houses and head home suddenly, now figuring out how to complete their degrees from a distance. It wasn’t meant to be like this. And there’s nothing they can do about it, except sit in the disappointment.

This article is one in a series (Connecting with Culture) from the the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity