The systems of the east have ways for discussing this, but ultimately their basic view is that Finite existence is an illusion.
The Torah presents a different view. In the Beginning God created Heaven and Earth… In other words, the world has a reality and a purpose. At the same time, the Torah also teaches that “in the heaven above and the earth below, there is nothing else but God.
The Torah teaches that God is the place of the world. Creation occurs as God restricts the manifestation of His presence to allow for the existence of individual creatures.
Thus there is a real relationship between the Infinite Creator and the creatures of the Finite world. The Torah’s spiritual system is the means for understanding the relationship.
This relationship is a dynamic one. The flow of blessings and sustenance that come to the world do not come automatically. They depend on the work of man called prayer and good deeds. Without prayer and good deeds there would be no existence.
The actions of man therefore create the condition for this movement of blessing and sustenance into the physical world.
On the one extreme we have the Infinite Source, on the other we have physical existence. In order to physical existence to flourish, God’s presence must come into the world. This Presence is drawn into the world through prayer and good deeds.
This drawing of God’s presence occurs when individuals act in Godly and righteous ways. The middle term between the infinite and the finite is the world of soul. Man is both a soul and a body in harmony. His soul has the ability to be a vessel to bring God’s presence into the world and this enlivens physical reality.
This process happens in two basic stages. The first is the recognition of God’s Kingship in the world, that He is the Creator and Master of the world, and commanded us to live a life according to His Law, called the Torah. This recognition is the opening that makes our souls open to being a receptive vessel to God’s presence.
There is a second more active stage in which a person actively seeks to come closer to God’s laws and to draw down greater presence and blessing into the world through his or her prayer and good deeds. The condition for this activity is to prepare one’s life and soul properly.
God gave the Torah to the children of Israel to prepare them to take on this primary responsibility in the world. The children of Israel are commanded to live strictly according to God’s Law in order that they should have the greatest ability to draw down God’s presence in the world for the benefit of all.