… And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to cry for her. (Genesis 23:2)

In the Zohar, Sarah is the body, and Abraham is the soul.

Abraham mourns for the loss of Sarah. The soul, too, mourns for the loss of the body.

True, the soul has gained freedom. With the passing of the body, the soul has broken out of the confines of a physical shell, the constrictions of a flesh heart and of a meat-based brain.

But the gains, nevertheless, can never make up for the loss.

Because only from within a body can a soul give life to another, lend a hand to another, transform the darkness of a confused world into light, the bitterness of human struggle into sweet wisdom.

Only in physical form can a soul place a mezuzah on a door, take challah from dough, rest from work on Shabbat, cradle a small child and sing songs of the story of our people.

The soul mourns the loss of the body, because it is from within that body that the soul reached out and touched G‑d. And then held Him palpably in the fingers of a flesh hand.

For that is the meaning of every mitzvah done on Earth.

And that is why, in a time to come, body and soul will reunite. Forever.

Likutei Sichot vol. 1, pg. 31.