The Problem of Space and Time

19 Mar 2026 - Random

“To Rabbi Shimeon eternity was not attained by those who bartered time for space but by those who knew how to fill their time with spirit. To him the great problem was time rather than space; the task was how to convert time into eternity rather than how to fill space with buildings, bridges and roads; and the solution of the problem lay in study and prayer rather than in geometry and engineering.” (p. 41)

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“Rabbi Shimeon’s doctrine was: There is only heaven and nothing else; but heaven contradicted him and said: There is heaven and everything else.” (p. 47)

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“This, then, is the answer to the problem of civilization: not to flee from the realm of space; to work with things of space but to be in love with eternity.” (p. 48)

Quotes from The Sabbath (1951), by Abraham Joshua Heschel. Buy here