“We cannot live in the past, and we cannot live through others.
Life is not a vicarious activity.
Just as I cannot eat for someone else or sleep for someone else, I cannot study for someone else.
Life is something each of us must do on our own.
And if this is true of the mundane actions that keep my body alive, it is even more true of the exalted activities that nourish my spirit.”
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From an essay, “Galut Bavli – Then and Now” by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz