G‑d saw the fire and the ice, the storm, and the narrow straits that plague our final journey, and He knew that no soul could bear such pain.

So He anesthetized our souls. Our love and fear, our sensitivity to anything divine—all that was put to sleep. Only the very core, our essential connection to Above, was left intact.

There is a positive side to this frozen state: The deepest wonders are open to us. Wonders that souls of an earlier generation would never have been able to approach due to the ferocity of their flames.

At the core of the wisdom of Torah lies an unbearable fire. We can walk through it now, unaware of its fierce intensity.