הלכה על משלי 4:2

And not only has He given us His special treasure, but He has also commanded us not to forsake it, as it is written (Mishlei 4:2): "For a goodly acquisition have I given you; do not forsake My Torah" — unlike the way of flesh and blood, who, if he gives his friend a fine gift, and the other does not deport himself with it correctly, and it is not beloved in his eyes, he pines for the day that his friend will abandon it altogether, so that he can take it back for himself. Not so is the way of our G–d. For He established for us prophets in all the generations of the first Temple to return us to the good. And even in the days of the second Temple, when (in our many sins) Israel descended from its pristine holiness, and when they lacked five things which obtained in the first Temple [ark, ark-cover, and cherubim; the Heavenly fire; the Shechinah; prophecy; and the urim vetumim (viz. Yoma 21b)] — notwithstanding this, when we were on our land and had a Temple, we could fulfill all the mitzvoth of the Torah, and thereby bring to perfection all of the spiritual components within us (the soul [like the body] possessing 248 "organs" and 365 "sinews" [see Sha'arei Kedushah of R. Chaim Vital, Chapter One]).