Science Found It in Geneva. Can You Find It in Yourself?
- Rabbi Yosef Vogel
- 23 hours ago
- 2 min read
A few years ago, I visited CERN—the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva—one of the world’s foremost centers of scientific discovery.
CERN is best known for identifying the so-called “G-d particle,” or Higgs boson: an invisible energy field that permeates the universe, giving other particles their mass.
On the wall at the museum’s exit, a message is engraved:
Where do we come from?
What are we?
Where are we going?
The sequence, read in reverse, offers a profound truth. To know where we are going, we must first know what we are. And to know what we are, we must first understand where we come from.
Put differently: to grasp the vastness of the stars and galaxies, we must begin with the tiniest subatomic particles.
I share this reflection as we enter the final month of the Jewish calendar year—a season of introspection, preparation, and renewal before the High Holidays.
The first Lubavitcher Rebbe offers a striking metaphor for this time. Normally, G-d as King is envisioned in His palace, majestic and exalted. But during this month, He leaves the palace and walks into the “field,” dressed in simple garb, approachable and smiling—making Himself easily accessible to all His children.
Where is this “field”? The Rebbe explains: it lies within each of us. Deep inside, every soul carries an invisible “spark of light”—a spiritual energy that, like the Higgs boson, pervades our inner universe.
This spark is untainted, pure as the smile of an infant—free of anger, hate, envy, or greed. It is unconditional, unjudging. It is our personal “G-d particle,” the point where human and Divine connect.
Our task in this month of Elul is to clear away the negative energies—destructive habits and toxic traits—that clog our spiritual arteries and dim the radiance of that inner spark.
By doing so, we allow the innocent, unclouded energy of the Divine smile—G-d’s warmth as He greets His children in the field—to shine unobstructed, illuminating our lives and our world as we approach the New Year.