Page 9 - Core Beliefs For Intentional Community

distinct from the path of renaissance which we wish to follow. Let each one choose
whichever he will choose, but let him be aware what he has chosen, and let him know

that whoever has chosen the path of renaissance will not follow the path of Exile. Exile
is always Exile, and in the Land of Israel there is no less Exile than anywhere else. The
price for choosing renaissance is giving up the way of life in Exile and in truth, this is
not a heavy price to pay. One must not think that he who desires the life of the future

must deprive himself of life in the here and now.

One who desires life must seek life, but he must seek it in a different manner. He must
seek a different life, that is to say, a life with/for another purpose. The lover is
satisfied with a piece of dry bread and a humble tent together with his beloved more

so than with a life of delights in the palace of a king without her, for only life in
proximity to his beloved is for him real life. He who loves also seeks luxury and
abundance in life, but only while close to his beloved and anything which distances him
from his beloved distances him from his life. And so it is with spiritual love. One who
desires a life impressed with the stamp of the renaissance chooses that life whether it
is a good life or a humble life and spurns life which is not impressed with the stamp of

the renaissance, which is thus neither life eternal nor life of the hour in the here and
now.

*Translator’s Note:

The Hebrew terms, “Chayei Sha-ah” (העש ייח ) and “Chayei Olam” (םלוע ייח ) have been
translated as “life of the hour” and “life eternal” respectively. A rendering of “life in
the here and now” and “life everlasting” or “life forever” is also possible. In the
Hebrew, these terms also imply the contrast and the tension between the finite and
the infinite. The concept of “Chayei Olam” is also cognate with the term “Tikkun Olam”

(םלוע ןוקית ), to mend, to transform, to perfect the world. In Jewish tradition this is the
Divine purpose of human existence.

**emphasis in the original.

***”sacrificial lamb”: A metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed (killed
or discounted in some way) for the common good. The term is derived from the Biblical
tradition where a lamb is brought to the temple to atone for certain sins. (Leviticus 5:
5-6. The concept is also associated with the binding of Isaac – Abraham’s readiness to
sacrifice his son, Isaac, at God’s behest (Genesis 22.}

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