What is it about a person that truly is attractive? Kabbalah says it‘s God. A beautiful man or woman is a channel for God‘s beauty in the world, just as a kind man or woman is a channel for God‘s kindness in the world. The only thing about a painting that gives it its value and attracts us is the presence of God pouring through it. Our soul is not attracted to the painting but to God’s beauty in the painting. The artist didn‘t create beauty; beauty already existed; but he created a conduit for its expression. The artist knows the right combination of lines, colors and contrasts that allows the beauty of God’s presence to flow into this world.
Every human being is a unique vehicle for God’s presence. We are attracted to the special quality of God in the person that we love. That‘s really what‘s going on. When we’re standing in front of the Grand Canyon, are we in awe of that big pit in the ground, or are we encountering the grandeur of God through the Grand Canyon? Are we in awe of the stormy sea, water surging up and down, or is it the quality of power that is manifesting through the sea? According to Kabbalah all love and awe is in actuality only directed to God.
Particularly with human beings, we become confused about the real source of the qualities we love and admire. I hear an eloquent, brilliant speaker, and I am in awe of her wisdom, but her wisdom is really not hers at all, it’s actually a ray of God‘s endless wisdom.
When I see an athlete accomplish an incredible feat, I am in awe of his strength. But that strength is really a manifestation of God’s power. That‘s why it says in the Book of Jeremiah: “Let not the wise man take pride in his wisdom. Let not the rich man brag of his riches. Let not the strong man brag of his strength. Only the one who knows me.” That‘s the greatest accomplishment we can achieve in this world—to know and feel God in everyone and everything.