Yom Kippur Message: How To Enter ‘The Zone?’

A secular friend once consulted a wise man for advice on getting closer to G-d. He responded: Don’t ask the scholars, they have no idea. Instead, listen carefully to children.  

We are all in constant search for tranquility in our lives. Some believe this could be achieved through greater financial security or emotional serenity. Others feel the need for a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in life. Yet despite all our genuine efforts this state of being remains elusive. The question is: Is the search for tranquility in our lives futile? A few years back I climbed one of the tallest mountains in Europe. The experience had a profound impact on me. It taught me a powerful lesson on life. The climactic moment of the experience was not upon reaching the summit. It was the intense and complete focus on every step of the journey that was truly exhilarating. I realised that life is not about a destination or an outcome. It is about living in the moment. Focusing completely on the current experience to the exclusion of all else. Not to be worried about success or failure. Not to even consider any ulterior motives. In psychology this is called “being in the zone”. The good news is that this state is also our natural condition. It is the way we behaved as children. It is why our happiest moments in life were experienced when we were young, innocent and pure. Our challenge is to listen carefully to the child within. To recapture that innocence by being true to ourselves. To be completely present in the moment. To believe in the inherent goodness of mankind. The climax of the Yom Kippur service is the moment of the “closing of the gates”. The mystics explain that at this point in time it is you and G-d alone together. It is the moment when the innocence of our child becomes one with the purity of G-d. It is the moment when we enter “the zone.”