Freedom. It’s one of mankind’s highest ideals. But like everything we strive for it’s only valuable in the correct context. Some limits are crucial. No sane person would allow a child to run into a busy intersection or give a ten-year-old a car to drive. Yet we inherently chafe at limitation.
As we’ve discussed previously the source of our desire to be free is our soul which reflects the unlimited and unencumbered nature of the Ein Sof from which it comes. When Hashem created the world He had to constrict Himself to make room for His creation and the possibility of physical beings to experience Him. Similarly when we embrace the boundaries of the physical world and the limits to our behavior it allows us to experience the Divine soul within ourselves. The body needs boundaries in order for the soul to be free.
The ultimate goal is to have the light of the soul illuminate the body and dictate its actions. This will only be fully accomplished at resurrection yet to the extent that we accept and embrace the boundaries and limitations imposed on us by the Torah and mitzvos and the responsibilities of a Torah lifestyle we bring tikun correction to the body and can come to experience the freedom of the soul.
It’s hard to accept these limits. While we may intellectually understand their value we often relate to the limitations like the young child eager to escape from school. We endure our limits the Torah and mitzvos but our eye is always on the clock waiting for “vacation” to start.
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