welcoming the Divine presence

"And how do you know that even if one man (or woman) sits and studies the Torah the Divine Presence is with him? For it is said: In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come unto thee and bless thee. Now, since [the
Divine presence is] even with one man, why is it necessary to mention two? — The words of two are written down in the book of remembrance, the words of one are not written down in the book of remembrance. Since this is the case with two, why mention three? — I might think [the dispensing of] justice is only for making peace, and the Divine Presence does not come [to participate]. Therefore he teaches us that justice also is Torah. Since it is the case with three, why mention ten? — To [a gathering of] ten the Divine Presence comes first, to three, it comes only after they sit down."

We come to the presence of God even on our own, the Gemara reminds us, but we come best to the presence of God when we interact with another, and share the words of Torah. Truly, God is in the space between us, in the moments that we interact with others, when we say, as the Buddhists do, "Namaste -- The image of God in me sees the image of God in you." -- When our Godly sparks come together to create the study of Torah, the presence of God dwells there.

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R. Chelbo said in the name of Rav Huna: One who is leaving the synagogue should not take long strides....and Abaye said, with regard to going into the synagogue, it is a mitzvah to run! and R. Zeira said that the main reward from attending a Torah lecture is for running to hear it.

This is what I love about Judaism. Seriously -- that we are not only instructed to do good things, but to be excited about them, to do them with joy....to make the mitzvah a part of us and love it and enjoy it and make it ours....and I must say that I love the way the Gemara works, because immediately after R. Zeira's statement about the main reward for attending a Torah lecture comes a listing of all the "main rewards" from things like having a halachic discussion, visiting the house of a mourner, fasting, delivering a eulogy, and attending a wedding....a little bit of a reminder of why all these things are important and what is the "best" thing to get from them. Going to a wedding, Rav Ashi teaches, isn't about the food (although I'm a sucker for good wedding cake) but the reward comes in the words that one says to the couple that bring them joy. Truly, that is the purpose and joy of attending a wedding.

It's a good thing.