Like an invisible wall is standing between you and... well, anything? According to Kabbalah, that feeling might be more real than you think.
The great Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam, in his "Introduction to Zohar," explores this very idea. He uses a potent image: a physical axe severing a stone from a mountain. But he's not talking about geology; he's talking about spirituality.
What exactly does he mean? He argues that differences in form – think of it as spiritual DNA, the inherent nature of something – act like that axe. The bigger the difference, the greater the distance. So, what's the core difference between us, the created, and the Creator?
Here's where it gets interesting. Baal HaSulam points to the soul's innate desire to receive pleasure. This, he says, is something that simply doesn't exist within God. Can you imagine a state of being with absolutely no lack, no need, no craving for anything? That's the essence of the Divine, according to this line of thinking. "Heaven forfend!" he exclaims, "From whom could God receive?!"
That desire to receive, that drive within us, creates a separation. It's the wedge, the axe that detaches us from God's essence, making us into individual creatures. This isn't a punishment; it's simply the consequence of different forms.
Now, before you despair, thinking we're forever cut off, there's an important nuance. Everything we do receive, all the light and goodness that fills our souls, still flows from God's essence, from a "pre-existing reality," as Baal HaSulam puts it. We're not entirely cut off. There's still a connection, a lifeline to the source.
Think of it like this: the stone, though separated from the mountain, is still made of the same stuff. It still carries the mountain's essence within it. Our challenge, perhaps, is to remember that connection, to strive to bridge that gap created by our inherent desire, and to move closer to that original source of all being. Because even with that axe between us, the mountain is still calling.