. . . The anatomy of the soul mirrors the anatomy of the body. According to our masters of Kabbalah, the body contains 248 limbs and 365 vessels which makes a total of 613 organs. Through the mitzvot, the Cosmic Mind reveals a most potent system of holistic healing. Every fiber of both the body and the soul gets touched and exercised in exactly the right way to bring about its maximal growth and expression. Through the system of mitzvot, which directs each moment of a person's life, he is brought into alignment with the underlying spiritual pattern of the universe.

. . . At the moment of performing a mitzvah, every level of the person from highest to lowest, as well as the physical accessories, become completely submitted to G-d's will, and are permanently altered by that experience. Before the giving of Torah, such total surrender was not possible, for the self had designed its own devotion. Even though "self" here refers to the highest, most sublime and spiritual identity of a person, nevertheless, it is still "self" and as such remains an entity intrinsically apart from its Creator. For this reason the giving of the Torah is called the marriage ceremony between the Jewish people and G-d. It enabled the soul to have a physical relationship with its Creator that was formally sanctified and thereby transformed into holiness.

. . . In the physical world, light enables the perception of a thing that was already present, but hidden in darkness. For example, the objects in a room are there, but you can't see them until you turn on the light. Similarly, in the spiritual world, "light" refers to the process of revealing G-dliness and illuminating HaShem's Presence in an event or thing. True it is that "the whole world is filled with His Glory", that He permeates all creation, and that nothing exists except for His constant nurturing, but His Presence is hidden to the senses. When mystical writings speak of drawing down light, they refer to the act of revealing G-d's omnipresence, of making His participation in the world conscious and perceptible.

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