Rabbi Weinberg's Elul Thought for the Day

Thursday Sept 17
Today is the twenty-eighth day of Elul!
The Gemara in Yevamot (49b) asks about the apparent contradiction between a verse in Devraim and in Yishayahu:
משה רבך אמר מי כה' אלקינו בכל קראנו אליו, ואת אמרת דרשו ה' בהמצאו... 
Moshe your teacher said “Who is like Hashem our God [available] whenever we call to him” and you [Yishayahu] said “Seek out Hashem where He is found”
The Gemara wonders... which one is it?  Is Hashem close to us and available when we call upon Him or do we have to work to seek Him out and find Him in his distant abode?? 
The Gemara answers by saying:
 הא ביחיד הא בצבור, this one is for individuals, this one is for the community.  
When we come to Hashem as individuals we must work hard and travel far to find Him.  When we come to Hashem as a community, He comes to us before we ever need to search or even try.  He is there and He is present and He is available to us whenever we call out to Him as a community.  It is crucial that we come together as a one unit during these important days.  We rely on each other to feel that closeness of Hashem and we rely on the power of our special community to bind all of our tefilot together so that they may reach Hashem in the most efficacious manner.