The ultimate purpose of the soul's descent within the body is the study of Torah and the performance of mitzvos. As the verse states,[21] "In the beginning [Heb.: bereishis] G-d created...." Concerning this word [which is a composite of the words beis reishis - "there are two that are first"], our Sages have stated[22] that "[the world was created] for the sake of Torah that is called 'first' and for the sake of the Jewish people who are called 'first.'" For[23] "G-d intensely desired a dwelling place in this lowly world," and it was for this purpose that the world was created.

As our Sages say (Avodah Zarah 3a): "What is meant by the verse,[24] 'There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day'? This teaches us that G-d stipulated the following condition with the works of creation: 'If Israel accepts the Torah, then all is well; if not, I shall return you all to [your original state of being] unformed and void.'" And [furthermore,] it is written (Yirmeyahu 33:25): "Were it not for My covenant [of Torah, that is to be studied] day and night, I would not have established the laws of heaven and earth."

This, then, is the mission of the soul below: to illuminate the world with the light of Torah and the lamp of the mitzvos, as Scripture states:[25] "For the soul of man is G-d's lamp." Just as a lamp illuminates the darkness, so are souls called lamps in that they illuminate the darkness of this corporeal world, and transform it into a dwelling place for G-d. It is this service, then, that is "essential."

Nonetheless, when the soul descends below in order to be clothed in a physical body it requires the things that the body must have [for the sake of its existence. However, all] these needs are incidental [to its essential task. Especially so, since] they apply only to the set and limited period of time that the soul is clothed within the body. As the verse says (Iyov 7:1): "For a man has hard service upon the earth; his days are [limited] like the days of a hireling." In the condition in which the soul exists above [prior to its descent within the body] as well as after having fulfilled its mission [within the body,] and ascending from the body, it does not require any of these physical things at all; it is only while clothed within the body that it needs them. [Thus, all these physical things are wholly incidental.] How, then, is it possible for the incidental to set aside the essential?

In truth, however, all those material things necessary [for the fulfillment of the soul's mission] are incorporated within the mission. As the saying goes, "He who provides life also provides sustenance," and as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, have said (Taanis 8b): "When G-d provides plenty, He does so for the living." It is only that when an individual corrupts his actions he thereby deprives himself of his livelihood.

Thus, he who converts the incidental into the essential, allowing it even to displace the essential, [doing so] with the self-justification that he has no time [for the study of Torah, etc.], is defying all reason. It is as if one acquired a servant, paid his wages, and gave him a mission to fulfill, but the servant refuses to fulfill it - because "he does not have the time."

If only a person would consider that the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He, provides him with life, sustains and nourishes him, and entrusts him with a mission, while he betrays His trust and makes light of it, to the extent that he does not even give it a second thought! Indeed, even when he does have time he devotes it to idle talk.

Moreover, even if from time to time he does study Torah, his study is such that it has no bearing on his actual deeds. This is so both with regard to his study of the revealed levels of Torah, in that he is not careful to translate his studies into actual deeds, as well as with regard to his study of the inner dimensions of Torah: his study does not change him for the better, neither in refining his character traits, dislodging his evil attributes of anger, arrogance and the like, nor in acquiring desirable attributes such as the love of a fellow Jew, benevolence and humility. Intellectually as well, [his manner of Torah study is such that] he does not immerse his [mental faculties of] wisdom, knowledge and understanding within his studies, endeavoring to plumb the depths of the concept at hand.

Therefore, even if he has not actually sinned - although, the truth be told, without Torah study and without concern for G-d-fearing conduct it is almost impossible not to sin - he should attribute [his woes] to the offense of "neglect of Torah," his making light of Torah study, and relegating it to secondary status. [Specifically, his offense is] in that he feels that worldly things are crucial and it is with them that he is absorbed and preoccupied throughout the day, while his established times for Torah study - even if he is one who does have such times - come at the end of the day when he is fatigued and exhausted.

Such timing is completely contrary to the proper allocation of time for Torah study - specifically in the morning. There are three reasons for this: (a) The study of Torah is [, after all,] one's mission in this world, and[26] "it may be confidently assumed that an emissary fulfills his mission" [as soon as he can, i.e., in the morning]; (b) one's spiritual faculties and senses are stronger and more lucid and luminous in the morning; (c) when one studies in the morning and those words of Torah are embedded in his memory and he continues to think of them while engaged in earning a livelihood, he then makes this world into a dwelling place for G-d.

When a person earnestly searches and inquires into his actual spiritual status, he will not be distressed by his afflictions (heaven forfend); rather, he will accept them with love, [knowing that] they rectify his soul. Furthermore, joy tempers [the attribute of] strict justice, so that everything becomes transformed into [visible] good and blessing.

[This reckoning applies only to oneself.] With regard to another, however, one cannot and may not make such calculations, for our Sages, of blessed memory, say that one must[27] "judge every person favorably." One therefore ought to be extremely pained by another's afflictions and suffering (heaven forfend), and beseech Divine mercy so that he be blessed with health, sustenance and longevity. If he is not pained [by the other's plight], and moreover if he delights in it, this results from his causeless hatred of him.

Summary: The main purpose of the soul's descent is Torah and mitzvos; all other matters are incidental. The merit of Torah study in the morning. When one contemplates how he has made the incidental into the essential he will accept his suffering with joy. It is another's suffering that should pain one.

   

Notes:

21. (Back to text) [Bereishis 1:1.]

22. (Back to text) Midrash, quoted in Rashi and Ramban on Bereishis 1:1. Cf. Bereishis Rabbah 1:4; Vayikra Rabbah 36:4.

23. (Back to text) [Midrash Tanchuma, ch. 16; Tanya, ch. 36.]

24. (Back to text) [Bereishis 1:31.]

25. (Back to text) [Mishlei 20:27.]

26. (Back to text) [Eruvin 31b.]

27. (Back to text) [Avos 1:6.]