אין ישראל נגאלין אלא בצדקה, שנאמר: ושביה בצדקה “Israel shall be redeemed only by virtue of tzedakah,”1 as it is written,2 “And her repatriates [shall be redeemed] through tzedakah.” Tzedakah, whose root connotes both “righteousness” and “charity”, thus brings about the redemption of the Jewish people from exile and their ultimate return to Zion. The […]

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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 […]

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והנה על מילת הערלה ממש, כתיב: ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם, אתם בעצמכם Now, concerning the excision of the foreskin itself it is written: “And you — yourselves — shall excise the foreskin of your heart.” Each and every Jew is able to remove this himself, for repentance tears down the veil with which his desires […]

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וכן כל ניצוץ פרטי מהשכינה שבנפש כל אחד מישראל Similarly, every particular spark of the Shechinah, inherent in the soul of every individual Jew, יוצאת מהגלות והשביה לפי שעה emerges for the moment from exile and captivity בחיי שעה, זו תפלה during that23 “momentary life which is prayer” — ועבודה שבלב מעומקא דלבא during the […]

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אך מודעת זאת כי אתערותא דלעילא היא באתערותא דלתתא דוקא But it is well known that an arousal from above comes only in response to an arousal from below, A man’s soul is stimulated from above only in response to the spiritual service that he initiates here below. Even an effusion of Divine benevolence that […]