Because of our sins we were exiled from our land.' When the soul is pure, it sees no blemish in the earthly or physical. On the higher levels of spirituality, heaven and earth are one and the same. For the truly righteous man, a stone is as valuable as a sacred book. There is no distinction between the fruit and the blessing one makes over it. Since God is One,everything is one. Our Father Abraham had no need to climb UP to heaven. For him, heaven was on this earth. He even set food before the angels. For in truth, everything is spirit; the tent, the sun, the ox, the dust on men's feet. 'And the Lord appeared unto Abraham in the plain of Mamre'; in the trees of this earth did the Holy One, Blessed be He, reveal Himself to Abraham But all this can take place only as long as man is whole, as long as the flesh and the spirit are integrated within him. As soon as a man starts to fall from that level of completeness, he begins to imagine that the earth is solely physical. The wicked man sees commonness, sin, wickedness itself In everything, because he sees only his own likeness. Thus, on account of our sins, we were estranged from the earth, `we were distanced from our land,' physical and spiritual were sundered within us, and for that reason ` we are unable to fulfill our obligations,' man cannot do his duty. Even when he desires to do so, he cannot, because everything appears trivial, mundane, obscure. He is filled only with a constant longing to leave this earth and to fly up to heaven. ''But where is the remedy to be found? Only, as it is written 'in the house the Lord hath chosen for thee.' Man must understand that the Holy One, Blessed be He, has chosen the earth for him, that it is the earth which is 'the great and holy house that is called by His Name.' The earth is one room in a great edifice in the palace of the Almighty. What the Master of the Universe can do above, He can surely also do below, 'because of the hand,t as it is written, 'that was stretched out at Thy holy place.' The Almighty can stretch out His hand as far as he chooses; He can reach from the Throne of Glory right down to New York or even into the grave. This is the explanation of the teaching `As much as my soul seeketh for Thee, so also doth my body.' Often it seems as if the soul alone aspires to heaven, but it is not so: 'so also doth my body' - the thirst comes from the flesh, from matter, for the physical and the spiritual are one."

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