“As long as a person identifies himself with his body and concentrates all his attention on a particular ‘I’ in time and space, he can never really love another person.
He can only love himself because the ‘I’ is the focus of his whole being.
By way of contrast, when the soul is seen as the mainspring of one’s being and as the meaning of life, there is no limit to the possibility of love because no two bodies can ever become one.
At best, they can make good use of each other.
Two souls, however, that strive together toward the primal root of things come closer and closer.
And if they continue on an ever higher plane, they can grow into a genuine unity.”
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From Pebbles of Wisodom from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (forthcoming)