Rabbi Judah ben Bezalel Lowe, known as the Maharal of Prague was famous among Jews and non-Jews alike. He was a mystic who was revered for his holiness and Torah scholarship, as well as his proficiency in mathematics, astronomy, and other sciences. Eventually, word of his greatness reached the ears of Emperor Rudolph II.
The Emperor invited the Maharal to his castle on February 23, 1592. There they conversed for one and a half hours, and developed a mutual respect for each other.
Rabbi Judah Lowe made use of his excellent connections with the Emperor, often intervening on behalf of his community when it was threatened by anti-Semitic attacks or oppression.
In the non-physical world of emotions, ideas, and the soul, many things can overlap in time and space.
But a physical world is a place where each thing says, “In my space, nothing else can be.”
When a human being doesn’t allow the spiritual light of his soul to shine, he too becomes a physical object. So he says, “You are taking up my space.”
How large is the space of a human being? As much as he can grab and more. We’re all reproductions of Adam, and there was only one of him occupying the entire world.
But when a human being rises a little higher, a little more spiritual, a little more sensitive to a world beyond him, then he says, “Let’s share this space. There’s room here for all of us.”