I just wanted to share a brief idea, that might illuminate how the Torah – and Jews – see G-d in our lives.
There are many different facets to our relationship – G-d as father, creator, king, spouse, partner, etc. But there is more elemental concept as well: G-d watchfully hovering over us.
When the Torah describes Creation, it says:
The earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God hovering over the water. God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (G. 1:2-3)
G-d protectively hovers over the world as He creates. His next step is to create light, in all of its meanings: illumination, understanding, and order out of chaos.
In the Torah there are only two places where the root word for “hovering” (rachef) is found. The second is almost at the end of the Torah:
Like an eagle who rouses its nestlings / Gliding down to its young, So did [God] spread wings and take them / Bear them along on pinions. G-d alone did guide them. (D. 32:11)
The imagery is one of being suspended in air, overlooking and looking out for fragile and needy young ones.
See the parallels! G-d hovers only in two places: at the very beginning, and as G-d shepherded the Jewish people (probably starting with Avram and Sarai and continuing through the wilderness). In both cases, the hovering precedes divine guidance – light for Creation, and divine guidance for the Jewish people (starting with conversations and culminating in the Torah itself).
In both cases the hovering is at the beginning of the story: the creation of the world, and the creation of the Jewish people.
And in both cases, the protected subject is meant to grow, and eventually even be able to gain a degree of independence, much as baby birds grow to leave the nest. Which tells us that the hovering of a divine presence, like a parent over a newborn, provides a bookend within the Torah.
Though not the only facet of our relationship with G-d, this idea nevertheless describes the feeling many of us have, living out our lives with the confidence and comfort that comes from knowing G-d is watching over us.