A man is not near so thirsty when in a populated area as he is when in a dry desert. It is likewise in the time of exile, when G-d’s presence is obscured, and when materiality is at its coarsest, that a man longs most intensely to serve his Creator. As David HaMelech writes, "My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a parched and weary land without water."