House of Love and Prayer
San Francisco, 5733.
Transcription by Donna Anderson Maimes 

GIVING EXISTENCE

(Reb Shlomo speaking)

You are born in the world. but until someone comes to you and
tells you "I love you", you are still a stranger in the world. You
feel like a stranger -- you're not really here yet.

The Zohar Kodesh says to take a stranger and invite him into
my house means I am giving this person even more existence
than G-d gave him. G-d sent him into this world and he is here,
but this is not real existence yet. The real, real, existence of a
person has to be given by another person.

The whole thing about the Baal Shem Tov is that we have to give
the world existence. G-d created the world. but we have to give
it existence. What happens if I drink Coca-Cola and make a
brocha over it ... "blessed be the L-rd who created the world
with His word". What am I doing to the Coca-Cola? I am giving
it existence. Because so far the Coca-Cola was like nothing.
Or imagine I say hello to a little dog. What am I doing to the dog?
I'm giving him existence. He was like a little stranger walking
around In the world.

The old chassidim were sitting together and were talking to
each other. Then one of them said, "What did the Baal Shem Tov
really teach us? We all know that G-d is there, that there is one
G-d. But the Baal Shem Tov taught us that He really is there." You
know what that means? Even G-d needs us to give Him existence,
G-d is there, but until I really say He's there. He's not really there.