Separation

Your Daily Dose of Jewish Wisdom:

We all suffer a maddening delusion of being something separate from G‑d. The delusion of “I.”

We cannot heal it, because yes, we exist, for He created us.

We cannot live with it, because this chilling notion of otherness is a denial of the truth.

But we can resolve it in the act of learning Torah. In learning Torah, He speaks with us. If there were no other, with whom would He speak?

We can resolve it in prayer. In prayer, we speak with Him. If there were no other, who would speak with Him?

We can resolve it in every mitzvah. Through every mitzvah, we become one with Him. If there were no other, two would not become one.

Now the reality of our otherness is no longer simply a delusion, but a treasured artifact of a divine desire: that two should become one.

As Adam, the primal human, said, “This ‘I’ was created to serve its Creator.”