Let My People Know

"The power to move is also the power to destroy order"

 

"Free will is an element of disorder.

 

It is also the only element of advancement.

 

Any kind of movement is a way of destroy­ing a system of order.

 

Walking, for example, is becoming unstable.

 

Run­ning is becoming even more unstable.

 

Flying in a plane creates a dif­ferent kind of instability; the plane becomes less and less stable until it takes off, and then it restabilizes and gains equilibrium.

 

Movement destroys equilibrium all the time.

 

The power to move is also the power to destroy order.

 

The imperfection is inherent, because we are the only creature that has independent volition, and the only creature in the universe that can distort.

 

These distortions are part of our common human work for coming to a higher point, because other creatures, seemingly, can­not move of their own volition, and we can.

 

And being able to move means that we can move in different directions.

 

We don't have the same biological point of view as other creatures.

 

We are free of instinct—not entirely, but to a very great degree.

 

That is our power, and that is our downfall."

  

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz


 

From The Strife of the Spirit by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz