This week's Torah portion, Chayei Sara,

This week's Torah portion, Chayei Sara, contains an account of the first marriage mentioned in the Torah. This marriage, between Isaac and Rivka, affected and is a lesson for the Jewish people as a whole, and indeed the future of the entire nation which was to follow.

In a spiritual sense, this union between the two progenitors of the Jewish nation, symbolizes the relationship between the two components of each individual - the body and the soul. Rivka was from Charan, a place which was primarily materialistic. Isaac, on the other hand, symbolizes the spiritual dimension, as he had already been consecrated as a "perfect offering" by his willingness to be sacrificed upon the altar.
Their marriage epitomized the unity between these two contradictory concepts.

A Jew's soul, even when enclothed in a physical body, is totally at one with G-d, for it is "an actual part of G-d." The mission for which it is sent down into this corporeal world is to bring about a change in the material realm, elevating physical objects by performing mitzvot (commandments). This unity of the spiritual and the physical is achieved when the light of the soul is reflected within the body, and the body becomes nullified to the demands of the soul.

Ultimately, the unity achieved between body and soul should extend to the point that it is obvious that all of a person's activities are performed by both in tandem. Afterwards, this unity should be extended into the world at large, so as to encompass every dimension of existence in the entire world.

In this manner, the Jew acts as G-d's emissary, transforming the world into a dwelling place for G-dliness. Thus, the Jew becomes an extension of G-dliness, in the same way that an emissary shares a single purpose and a single identity with the one who sent him on his mission.

The ultimate goal of this unity between the spiritual and the physical is the Era of Redemption, when this unity will be open and apparent. Our task as Jews is to hasten this process by doing mitzvot and studying Torah, for it was the giving of the Torah which allowed for the possibility of such unity. Prior to the Torah's revelation on Mount Sinai, spirituality and physicality, body and soul, were two distinct entities which could not merge. When Moshiach comes, speedily in our day, the unity achieved through our Torah service will be revealed in the world at large and the union between body and soul will be consummated.

As the children of Isaac and Rivka, every dimension of our existence should therefore be permeated by the awareness of this Divine mission, to make this world a proper dwelling place for G-d.