Life, like energy, is a constant pull between running and returning. The soul yearns to connect to G-d, yet it must “return” to this world, bringing the light of Hashem down to this earth, through the Torah and Mitzvot.
Then the cycle starts again, after it returned the soul starts “running” and yearning again.
This idea appears continuously in Chasidic philosophy; yet only this Shabbos did I realize an important detail of the process. In Lekutey Torah the Alter Rebbe explains that the cause for the “running” after the “return” is the “return”. The fact that the Jew drew g-d into his life, return, now makes him appreciate G-dlyness that much more, thus causing another “running” yearning to Hashem.
(Leku"t Naso)
