What does it help my soul that it can be withdrawn anew from this world here into unity, when this world itself has of necessity no part in the unity – what does all ‘enjoyment of God’ profit a life that is rent in two? If that abundantly rich heavenly moment has nothing to do with my poor earthly moment – what has it then to do with me, who have still to live, in all seriousness still to live, on earth?
Martin Buber, I and Thou, translated by Ronald Gregor Smith, Scribner Classics, 2000 (1958), 86.
Image: “Synagogue,” Wacław Koniuszko, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Matters of Interpretation 