Where Were You?

“There I will meet with you, and I will impart to you . . .” Exodus 25:22

וְנוֹעַדְתִּ֣י לְךָ֮ שָׁם֒ וְדִבַּרְתִּ֨י אִתְּךָ֜ מֵעַ֣ל הַכַּפֹּ֗רֶת מִבֵּין֙ שְׁנֵ֣י הַכְּרֻבִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־אֲר֣וֹן הָעֵדֻ֑ת אֵ֣ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֧ר אֲצַוֶּ֛ה אוֹתְךָ֖ אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

There is a Hasidic story of a boy who wanders into the woods one morning. When he finally returns home, his worried parents ask, “Where were you?”

“I went to the woods to pray,” he answers.

His father, puzzled, responds, “But don’t you know that God is the same everywhere?”

“I know,” the boy replies, “but I’m not.”

This story reminds us that while God’s presence is constant, our ability to connect with the Divine changes depending on where we are—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

A more refined lesson comes from the Torah, where God commands the Israelites to construct the Mishkan, the sacred Tabernacle, with two cherubim atop the Ark. These angelic figures face one another with outstretched wings, forming a space through which God’s voice will be heard. The Divine presence is not contained within them but emerges from the space between them. The cherubs form a transcendent telephone.

This image offers a profound lesson: God is everywhere, yet our ability to hear and engage with the Divine requires a focal point. Perhaps, as adults, our ability to connect is diminished unless we have a specific place and apparatus to help us engage, like a synagogue and a prayer book. Or perhaps our ability to perceive Divine communication, depends on our relationships with one another. When we face each other, our bandwidth engaged and cellular band attuned, God is imminent. Like a cell phone that relies on signal towers to connect with distant satellites, we need the right conditions—both internal and external—to establish a meaningful connection with God and hear God’s message.

But what happens when we atune ourselves, perhaps with prayer and ritual, we call out, and there is no answer?

God, I called upon You to save the hostages in Gaza. Where were You?
God, I called upon You to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, Sudan, and Congo. Where were You?
Did I dial the wrong number? Use the wrong device? Or are the lines simply down? Are we asking the wrong questions?

Perhaps the Hasidic boy’s wisdom holds the answer. It is not just about where God is—it is about where we are. If we struggle to hear God’s voice, it may be because we are not in the right spiritual or moral place to receive it. Just as the cherubim atop the Ark faced each other, only in relationship, in true human connection, does Divine communication emerge.

When we open our hearts to one another, when we extend our arms in love and justice, we become vessels of holiness. The question is not, “God, where were You?” but rather, “Where were we?”

In the detritus of this troubled world, our children and grandchildren will one day ask us, Where were you? May our answer be: We were there—standing together, building bridges, seeking justice, and repairing the world—just as God commanded from that sacred space between two faces, between two outstretched arms.

Rabbi Evan J. Krame