Most people assume our souls are nearer to G-d in heaven than on Earth. Not so, writes Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch. Commenting on the words “G-d of the spirits of all flesh” (Numbers 27:16), Rav Hirsch quotes R’ Eliezer ben R’ Yosi Haglili:

“Hold fast to this idea: As long as a person is granted life, his soul is kept in the hand of his Creator and Owner, for it says: ‘in Whose hand is the soul of every person’ . When he dies, however, his soul is stored up in the treasury of eternal life” (Sifre).

The amazing implication of R’ Eliezer’s statement, writes Rav Hirsch, is that “every soul in an earthly body is, for the duration of that life, personally nearer to G-d in a much higher degree than when, after its pilgrimage on earth, it is stored away in the ‘bond of life’ with all the other souls that have been gathered and kept for a new future.” For it “is [G-d] through whom the spirit comes into every body, and it is [G-d] through whom the spirit remains in every body. He sends the spirit into the earthly body, and He keeps it there, and protects it, and strengthens it, and feeds it with gifts and progress.”

These comments by Rav Hirsch reflect his general characterization of Judaism. Heaven may be divine, but Judaism focuses primarily on this world, not the next one. Thus, we shouldn’t bemoan what others might characterize as our souls’ “imprisonment” in our bodies. On the contrary. A soul in a physical body is actually closer to G-d than a soul in heaven after its sojourn on Earth. Amazing!

Indeed, this fact “seems to [R’ Eliezer ben R’ Yosi Haglili] of such importance for us to keep in mind throughout our path through this life that he admonishes us to hold it fast always in our hands as a directing sign: siman zeh yiyeh b’yadecha!”