6th February – 2026
- From Morocco
At first, everything was included in His blessed Will, to bestow good upon His creations. And the soul, before its descent into this world, was part of the Divine above, a soul hewn from beneath the Throne of Glory. And its entire essence was cleaving to its Creator, delighting in God. And this is the meaning of what the holy Zohar says: that the soul did not want to descend into this lowly world, until the Holy One, blessed be He, showed it the exalted and immense reward that awaited it.
And behold, it is necessary to understand that the purpose of the soul’s descent into this world is for the sake of its ascent. Through Torah and Mitzvot, it rectifies and elevates not only itself but the entire world. And this is its primary purpose. For the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world with sublime supernal lights, and all the holy creations that were created by Him—inanimate, vegetable, animal, and speaking—are all vessels to receive the light of the Supreme Crown (Keter Elyon). And when the first man, who was the epitome of creation, was in the Garden of Eden, the entire world was sustained and received its vitality through him, and the Divine Presence (Shechinah) rested upon him.
And behold, furthermore, we must understand that the matter of the holy Torah which we have is one—Torah, commandments (mitzvot), and good deeds. And its root is from the highest of all levels, and the garments of the holy Torah emanate from there, descending level by level to this world. And man’s soul, too, was not known before it descended into this world and garbed itself in a body, which receives its vitality from desires and earthly matters. And when the soul descends and clothes itself in a body, it is given the power of choice to choose life. And thus it was in the Garden of Eden: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and man’s entire purpose was to cleave to the Tree of Life.
And now, when our teacher, “Acer,” entered “the Pardes” [the Orchard/Mystical Realms] and “cut the shoots,” his sin was that he separated the “planting” of the holy Shechinah from its Source. In a sense, he created two domains, and the entire purpose of man in this world is to unify the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah. And this is why the Torah was given, to teach man the path he should follow. And the entire Torah consists of commandments to do and commandments not to do. This is the positive and the prohibitive, which are essentially good and its opposite. And through man cleaving to the good, he merits life.
And as we have learned in the writings of our Sages, when man stands before the supernal court, he is asked, “Did you conduct your business dealings faithfully?” From this, we learn the great importance of honest work and labor. And all of man’s actions in this world are to be done for the sake of Heaven. And through this, he merits to cleave to the Tree of Life, which is the supernal Torah. And this is what is written, “Man was born to toil.” And our Sages explained, what toil? One might think it is the toil of labor; therefore, it says, “This mouth speaks for Him.” The primary purpose is the toil of Torah. And even the toil of labor, when it is done faithfully, is also the toil of Torah.
The world thinks there are two separate domains: Torah and prayer, and the domain of worldliness and livelihood. But this is a grave error. The entire world and all that is in it is nothing but the revelation of His blessed Godliness, which is concealed and hidden in garments, which are the nature of the world. And from this great concealment that is in the world, one could come to err and think that there are two domains, God forbid.
On the contrary, the ultimate purpose is to serve God with all of one’s might, and to know and to believe that there is no reality other than Him, and the entire world is filled with His glory. The light of the Creator is found in every thing and in every creation. And through Torah and prayer, one draws down new light upon all of creation, and all the worlds are elevated. And there are garments for the soul, and there are garments for the garments.
And behold, the holy Evil Inclination stands against man to make him stumble. And through the Mitzvot, man sweetens the judgments and draws down great compassion and loving-kindness (chessed) upon all the worlds. And all the worlds are elevated through his actions. And the angels who are appointed over this world rejoice in his service. And there is a great battle that wages within man’s soul his entire life, and the primary battle is against the garments, which are the desires of this world. And when man merits, his soul is garbed in the radiance of the Mitzvah, and he becomes a chariot for the Shechinah.
And behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, has no pleasure in this world except for when Israel does His will. And through every Mitzvah, a holy angel is created to advocate for him. And through every transgression, God forbid, an accuser is created. And the main test of man is during prayer, for then all the impure shells (klipot) rise up against him. And all of his extraneous thoughts come from there. A person must know that this is the main battle.
And when man overcomes his inclination and brings his heart and mind into prayer, he has the power to shatter all the accusers. And for this, man was created. And this is the meaning of “a righteous man lives by his faith.” A man must have faith that he has the power to do this. And the main thing is joy. For through joy, one breaks all the barriers that separate him from his Creator. And every single person has a unique path in the service of God, and he must know what his soul’s mission is in this world. And there is no man who is exempt from this. And the holy Torah is given to every single person, according to his level and his understanding, to connect him to the Creator.
And the man who is wise will not slacken in his holy work for even a moment. And he must know that for this he was created. And all of his actions should be for the sake of Heaven, to give satisfaction to his Creator. And the primary purpose of creation is to reveal His blessed Godliness in this world below. For the main dwelling place of the Shechinah was in the lower realms. And through the sin of the first man, the Shechinah departed. And through the seven shepherds, the Shechinah was brought back down. And through the Giving of the Torah, the Shechinah came to rest in this world. And this is the purpose of man: to draw down the light of the Creator into this world.
And therefore, it was concluded that the purpose of all the descents is for the sake of the ascent. And through man’s service in this world, which is the world of action, he merits the World to Come, which is the world of reward, where the righteous sit with crowns on their heads and delight in the radiance of the Shechinah. And we, who are in this generation, the generation of the footsteps of the Messiah, must strengthen ourselves with great and mighty faith in the coming of our righteous Messiah. And every act and utterance a person does, he should direct it to bringing the true and complete redemption. May it be His will that we merit it, speedily in our days. Amen.
The creature, having been created by His holy name, is exceedingly exalted. Its greatness was manifest from infancy to old age, and it remains exceedingly sublime and precious. And the Holy One, blessed be He, placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it. And the Divine Presence (Shechinah) rested upon him. And his radiance shone from one end of the world to the other. And he was meant to bring rectification to the entire world, which stands upon three pillars: Torah, divine service (avodah), and acts of loving-kindness.
And the holy Torah is the force that sustains the entire world. And divine service is prayer, which is in place of the sacrifices. And acts of loving-kindness are what sustain the world, as it is written, “The world was built on loving-kindness.”
And you will find this with the sin of the spies. When the spies went out to scout the land, their entire intention was not for the sake of Heaven, for they did not want to enter the Land. And this is because in the desert, they were sustained by the manna, and they did not need to engage in work at all. And their entire occupation was Torah and prayer and good deeds. But in the Land of Israel, they would need to engage in the work of the land and in commerce.
And thus it was also with the sin of the first man. His sin was that he listened to the serpent, who slandered his Creator. And for this sin, he was expelled from the Garden of Eden. And this is what our Sages of blessed memory said: Whoever speaks slander (lashon hara) denies the fundamental principle [of faith] and it is as if he committed the three cardinal sins of idol worship, forbidden relations, and bloodshed.
And so we see with Cain and Abel. When Abel brought his offering from the best of his flock, and Cain brought from the inferior produce of the land, Abel’s offering was accepted and Cain’s was not. And Cain became very angry. And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Why are you angry? If you improve your ways, you will be uplifted. But if not, sin crouches at the door, and its desire is for you, but you can rule over it.” And this is the Evil Inclination (Yetzer Hara), which is man’s constant enemy.
And the Evil Inclination is very cunning. It comes to a person with great piety and righteousness, and shows him reasons and justifications for his actions. But a person who is wise will understand that this is the counsel of the Evil Inclination.
And such was the matter of the angels who descended to earth. Their entire intention was to show that they could withstand the test. But in the end, they stumbled. This is what our Sages said: “The air of the Land of Israel makes one wise.” There is the air of the Land of Israel, and there is the air of the outside lands. A person who is in the Land of Israel has a good and pure inclination. But a person who is outside the Land is drawn after the desires of this world. And this is what happened to the angels: they were drawn after the desires of this world, and they fell from their holy level.
And this is the meaning of what our Sages said: “Jealousy, lust, and the pursuit of honor remove a person from the world.” These are the three primary traits through which the Evil Inclination makes a person stumble. And a person must be very careful with them, for from them come all the sins a person commits in the world. And from them, the angels fell from their holy level. And from them, the first man was expelled from the Garden of Eden, which is the Supernal Garden of Eden.
And so it is with a person who brings a sacrifice. When he brings his sacrifice, his entire intention must be for the sake of Heaven. And if he has any extraneous thought, his sacrifice is invalid. And not only that, but he gives strength to the external, impure forces. And this is because when a person brings a sacrifice, he elevates the sparks of holiness that have fallen among the impure shells (klipot). And when he has an extraneous thought, he gives strength to those very shells.
And so it is also with prayer. When a person prays, his entire intention must be to connect with his Creator. And if he has any extraneous thought, his prayer is not accepted. And not only that, but he gives strength to the external forces. For the holy letters of prayer have great power to elevate all the worlds. And through an extraneous thought, God forbid, he blemishes these holy letters.
Therefore, the verse says, “Guard your mouth and your tongue; guard your soul from troubles.” A person must guard his mouth from speaking idle words, and certainly from speaking forbidden words, such as slander and gossip. And he must guard his tongue from speaking falsehood. For all these things give strength to the external forces. It is possible for a person to rectify all these things through the power of Torah and prayer, and through the power of repentance.
And the main thing is to guard the mind. For from the mind come all a person’s thoughts, and from thoughts come speech and action. Therefore, a person must guard his mind from thinking extraneous thoughts, and certainly from thinking thoughts of sin. And he should always think thoughts of Torah and of the service of God, and of acts of loving-kindness. And through this, he will merit a long and good life.
With great love, Shabbat Shalom,
Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto
