This picture of Rachel's Tomb compliments
of Avrohom Dovid
http://www.ThirdTemple.com
CHAPTER 31: "Does
too much freedom restrict us?
THE TEMPTATION TO resist freedom is almost irresistible. As I write these words, I find myself facing two blue eyes that fix themselves on mine pleading for release from the confines of her own seven year old consciousness. She has been back from her pre-Pesach playgroup for about ten minutes. In that time, she ate lunch and gave me a brief rundown of Life in Playgroup. Now there is "nothing to do." All eternity looms before her as the eternal cry of "What should I do now?" passes her lips. What she is in need of is structure.
Living with no clear boundaries is complex. The marriage of body and soul is not always an easy one. Since the time of Adam and Chavah, who experienced their bodies and souls as separate and distinct entities, we have lived in a state of disharmony. The soul is compared to a wick that holds the flame, grounding it to the world, offering the soul tangible means of self-expression. However, it simultaneously holds the flight of the soul down with its never-ending needs and desires. The question we all face is, which one do we choose to be - the flame that ascends or the wick that anchors it?
The only possible resolution is using the body to give the soul the possibility of physical self-expression. When we lack structured means of doing so, we find ourselves face to face with this conflict.
Channels of actualization are opened to us continually by Hashem, but it takes imagination and resolution to make use of them. Otherwise, the question of what to do looms as one of the least comfortable and most significant that we will ever ask. It is also a question that we almost never ask consciously.
When the body is silenced by satiation, the restlessness of the soul is felt rather than understood. An all-absorbing discontent can be as genuine as the discontent felt by the body when it is neglected or hungry. This could have been the reality facing the Jews as they left Egypt.
It wasn't. When we focus on the mitzvah of sefiras ha'omer, counting the days of the omer between Pesach and Shavuos, we gain a different perspective on who we are. It throws light onto the nature of our inherent capacity for discontent and the resolution of disharmony by allowing us to walk the path of our forefathers as they left Egypt. We learn the steps that made their journey successful. We learn to engage our bodies and souls simultaneously and thereby make sense of our yearning.
