ומה שאין כל אדם זוכה למדרגה זו, לעבודה שבלב מעומקא דליבא בבחינת פנימיות

The reason that not every person merits this rank in the service of the heart — service from the depth of the heart in a state of pnimiyut —

היינו לפי שבחינה זו היא אצלו בבחינת גלות ושביה

is that within him this faculty is in a state of exile and captivity.

והיא בחינת גלות השכינה ממש

And this is actually the state of the exile of the Shechinah,

כי היא היא בחינת ניצוץ האלקות שבנפשו האלקית

for it is precisely the [Shechinah] which is the spark of Divinity that is in one’s Divine soul.

Thus, when the “spark” is in exile, the Shechinah is in exile as well. Moreover, being in exile, the spark cannot rouse the soul to serve G‑d with the loftier manner of love that stems from the innermost depths of the heart.

וסבת הגלות הוא מאמר רז״ל: גלו לבבל, שכינה עמהם

The cause of the exile of the Divine spark of the soul is,15 as in the words of our Sages, of blessed memory:16 “When [the Jewish people] were exiled to Babylon, the Shechinah went with them.”

In terms of the individual sparks of the soul this means that when a spark is in a state of “Babylon” — i.e., when an individual acts in a “Babylonian” manner — then the Shechinah is in exile together with him.

דהיינו, מפני שהלביש בחינת פנימית נקודת לבבו בזה לעומת זה

This is so because he has vested the innermost point of his heart in [that aspect of the universe which is] the opposing counterpart [to holiness],

דהיינו, בלבושים צואים דמילי דעלמא ותאות עולם הזה, הנקרא בשם בבל

namely, in the soiled garments — mundane matters and worldly desires — which are known as “Babylon”.

He has thereby banished the Divine spark within his soul — the personal Shechinah within himself, so to speak — to this all-pervasive “Babylon”.

והיא בחינת ערלה המכסה על הברית ונקודה הפנימית שבלב

This [exile] corresponds to the “foreskin” that covers the covenant and the innermost point of the heart.

ועל זה נאמר: ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם

Of this it is written,17 “And you shall excise the foreskin of your heart.”

In principle, the spiritual service of circumcision is that of repentance.18 With regard to exile our Sages teach that19 “if Israel repent they will be immediately redeemed.” Repentance thus leads to the redemption (on a personal scale) of the Divine spark within each individual soul, and (on a cosmic scale) of the Shechinah, from their respective exiles. In spiritual terms, the act of circumcision likewise removes a veil of concealment, and allows the innermost point of the heart to be revealed.

והנה במילה יש שני בחינות: מילה ופריעה

Now, in circumcision there are two stages: milah (“excision”) and periah (“uncovering”),

שהן ערלה גסה וקליפה דקה

[which remove respectively] the coarse foreskin and the thin membrane.

וכן בערלת הלב יש גם כן תאות גסות ודקות

With respect to the “foreskin” of the heart, which the Torah commands us similarly to circumcise, there are likewise coarse and subtle desires, corresponding to the two grades of skin.

מילה ופריעה

[These two grades of worldly desire respectively require] milah and periah,

ומל ולא פרע כאלו לא מל

and20 “if one performed milah (‘circumcision’) without periah (‘uncovering’), it is as if he had not circumcised,”

Just as this is the law with regard to actual circumcision, so too is it true when it comes to circumcising the desires of the heart: if a person removes only his coarse desires and does not proceed to remove the subtler ones as well, it is as if he had not circumcised his heart at all,

מפני שסוף סוף עדיין נקודת פנימית הלב היא מכוסה בלבוש שק דק

because, after all is said and done, the innermost point of the heart is still covered by a garment of thin sackcloth [of kelipah];

בבחינת גלות ושביה

it is in a state of exile and captivity.

And there it will remain — until the individual redeems it by performing a spiritual periah, and removing his subtler desires as well.