One day, we will see the world not with our egos but with our souls.
Not a world as it serves us, as it threatens us, as it gives to us, as it takes from us, as it offers pleasure, as it inflicts pain, as we like it, as we don’t like it…
But the world as it truly is, magnificent and beautiful in its endless diversity and mystery.
Only then will we fathom to what extent our own egos have blinded us. How we were fooled and robbed of the pleasure of true life.
As though our eyes have opened for the very first time and discovered that what we thought was life was but a dream.
So that our hearts will once and for all throb as human hearts, every bone in our bodies will resonate, every cell will glow, even down to the calloused skin of our heels, as we burst out:
“Oh my G‑d! There’s no end to the magnificence of Your creations! And every single one You’ve crafted with infinite, divine wisdom!”
And we will be free.
It is necessary to differentiate between being free from personal constraints and the expression of freedom in a society where the expression of freedom can cause others a degree of offense. This second kind of freedom comes with license, a criterion that Hillel the Elder introduced when he answered the taunting Roman, who asked for a short summary of the Torah whilst standing on one leg. Hillel replied: "That which is offensive to oneself, do not do it to others. That is the whole Torah, now go and study it!"
By implication that answer included the self-same question, because previously Shammi, Hillel's partner in explaining Jewish law, had this Roman thrown out of the Sanhedrin court.