"I know... But Where?"

A man once met the Lubavitcher Rebbe in the street and asked:

"Where's God?"

The Rebbe stopped and said:

"Everywhere."

The man replied:

"I know… but where is He?"

The Rebbe answered again:

"Everywhere. And in everything."

The man insisted:

"I know… but where?"

And the Rebbe continued:

"In every tree and in every rock—it’s all Him."

But still, the man said:

"I know… but where?"

And the Rebbe finally looked at him and said:

"If you're looking like that—then He's in your heart."

The man, a non-religious person, said it didn’t happen overnight.

But eventually, he came to accept Torah and mitzvos as a way of life.

I heard the story and felt so validated.

Because I too have been looking for God—forever.

I too know all the places He is said to be.

I’ve had rabbis tell me the same things.

But I too kept asking:

"I know… but where?"

They thought I was being stubborn.

They believed I was being difficult.

But the truth is—they never really told me where to look.

In my heart.

The God that is everywhere, but always felt so elusive…

was hiding in plain sight.

Right inside my own heart.

The heart I was told was filled with too much desire.

The heart I was taught leads one astray.

The heart I was warned not to trust.

That heart?

I had long forgotten.

I shelved it away.

I hid it deep inside, so it wouldn’t be ashamed again—for being too… hearty.

The Rebbe understood what others missed—and also what they misinterpreted.

Some people carry God in their hearts.

And anything else you show them might be nice… even awesome…

but it won’t come close to what they experience when they touch the God inside.

In fact, anything else diminishes the God they know is real—and gives them no rest.

Where others see splendid beauty,

they see imperfections.

Where others see awe,

they see typical.

Where others see miracles,

they see the everyday.

Not because it isn’t miraculous or beautiful—but because when stacked against the God in their own hearts,nothing else stands a chance.

The Rebbe saw that.

He trusted it in his own heart.

And he taught another how to trust it, too.

That’s leadership at heart.

—איש