Wajikra 17:14 Kabbala: Shaarei Kedusha

The character traits are naturally embedded in the lowly, fundamental soul of man. This soul is comprised of four aspects; inanimate, vegetative, animate and articulate. They too are a composite of good and evil. Therefore, the good and bad character traits depend on this soul. They constitute a seat, foundation and root for the upper, intellectual soul, upon which the 613 mitzvoth of the Torah depend, as mentioned above in gate one. Because of this, the character traits are not included as part and parcel of the 613 mitzvoth. Nonetheless, they are essential prerequisites to their fulfillment or negation, for the simple reason that the intellectual soul is powerless to fulfill the mitzvoth with the 613 organs of the body except through the agency of the fundamental soul which is connected to the body. This is the secret meaning of the verse²⁰Leviticus 17:14, “For the soul of every flesh; its blood is its life.” This being the case, the bad character traits are actually much worse than the transgressions themselves.