A story is told of a Chabad hasid who reached an inn late at night.
The innkeeper asked him if he wanted to eat, but the hasid refused, saying that he was too tired and wanted to go straight to bed.
In his room, the hasid washed his hands and began to recite the bedtime Shema.
Since he was a hasid, he began to deeply meditate on the concept that God is one while standing with one foot on the floor and the other on the bed.
The innkeeper found him in that same position the following morning, still pondering this phrase.
That hasid’s meditation was not the same that he had had on previous occasions, but a new insight into God’s oneness.
Although he had genuinely intended to go to sleep, his meditation revealed a new reality that gave him enough material to think about until the morning.
Not everyone is capable of such a deep meditation, but this story teaches how deep and broad the topic of God’s unity is, and how far one can go in meditating upon it.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
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