אלא מפני שכוונתו לשם שמים)   (5But since his intention is addressed to G‑d,   He is, after all, in a state of prayer, except that alien thoughts interpose.   לכך יש לה תיקון בקל, לחזור ולעלות   it is therefore easily corrected, so that [his prayer] may once again rise to the state from […]

In the beginning, as the Midrash teaches,1 G‑d “created worlds and destroyed them.” The Kabbalah explains that this refers to spiritual worlds, Supernal Sefirot (“emanations”), that first existed in one state of being and then in another. The Sefirot in the former state of being — called the World of Tohu (lit., “Chaos”) — underwent […]

אך להבין איך האתרוג, שהוא מרפ״ח שלא נבררו עדיין   But let us understand how an etrog, which derives from the 288 sparks that have not yet been purified,   Since this physical fruit derives its life-force from kelipat nogah, it contains some element of the 288 sparks of Tohu which have not yet been […]

אבל פרטי ההלכות הן המשכות חכמה עילאה דהמאציל ברוך הוא, המלובשת בגשמיות   However, the detailed laws of the various mitzvot are drawn from the Supreme Wisdom of the Emanator, blessed be He, which is clothed in physicality, within the physical objects to which a particular law applies, such as the law governing the case […]

כמו ביום טוב, שחסד דאצילות, המלובש לגמרי בחסד דבריאה, מחיה עולם הזה הגשמי just as on the festivals, when Chesed of Atzilut, which is completely clothed in Chesed of Beriah, vivifies this physical world על ידי מעבר חסד דיצירה ועשיה by passing through the Chesed of Yetzirah and of Asiyah, הנקרא גם כן התלבשות this […]