전도서 1:15의 Kabbalah

If a person wishes to purify and sanctify himself and truly accept the yoke of the heavenly kingdom upon himself, let him prepare himself with all his might to perform all 613 mitzvoth with alacrity. Through their fulfillment the 613 organs and veins of his soul will become perfected, as mentioned. This is because if he lacks even one of the 248 positive mitzvoth, he still lacks an organ of his soul. About such a person scripture states²⁹Ecclesiastes 1:15, “A lacking which is incalculable”, which is worse than the matter of, “Anyone who has a blemish may not approach”³⁰This is because, as explained above, a blemish in a mitzvah is not the complete absence of the mitzvah. Therefore, one who lacks a positive mitzvah altogether is worse off than one who performs it, but in a blemished and imperfect manner. Nonetheless, though his positive mitzvoth blemished, nonetheless, since he does not transgress the negative mitzvoth, he does not fall into the category of an actual “Baal Moom” i.e. a truly blemished person.. However, one who fulfills the positive mitzvoth, but has transgressed even one of the 365 negative mitzvoth, is within the category of an actual “Baal Moom” – a truly blemished person. This is because the pipe (or vein) that draws sustenance to the organs has become bent [thereby obstructing the flow]. About such as person the verse states³¹Ecclesiastes 1:15, “irreparably crooked”. However, the meaning of the verse is that it is only irreparable once the soul has departed from this world, because one cannot perform the mitzvoth which he lacks or repent and thereby rectify the transgressions that he committed, except while he still is in this world. This is as scripture states³²Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever you can accomplish while you are able, do it, for there is neither deed nor accounting nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave to which you are going.” “Deed” here, refers to performing the positive mitzvoth, “Accounting” refers to repenting over the negative ones and “knowledge” refers to the knowledge gained through Torah study. None of these are possible “in the grave to which you are going”. From here we see that as long as a person has not fulfilled the 613 mitzvoth he is in the category of an “Imperfect Tzaddik”. It is not without warrant, that our teacher, Moses, peace be upon him, prayed for permission to enter the land 515 times, corresponding to the numerical value of the word, “VaEtchanan” – “and I pleaded for grace” (ואתחנן). He sought to perfect his soul by keeping the 613 mitzvoth [many of which only apply in the land of Israel]. If one fulfills all the mitzvoth, but has not also fully acquired all the good character traits, in that he must constantly conquer his Yetzer HaRa by struggling with it; such a person is in the category of the “Perfect Tzaddik who conquers his Yetzer”. However, once all the good character traits become so totally imbedded in a person that they become his nature, so that he performs the 613 mitzvoth with joy that comes from love, without any resistance from the Yetzer HaRa because his physicality has become totally refined, he is called a “Perfect Chassid”. Similarly, King David said³³Psalms 109, “My heart is empty within me”³⁴This means that he rid himself totally of the Yetzer HaRa by starving it to death.. Furthermore, he said³⁵Psalms 131, “HaShem, my heart was not proud nor were my eyes haughty. Neither did I pursue matters that were too great or wondrous for me. Have I not calmed and stilled my soul like an infant nursing from his mother? My soul is like a nursing infant.” This is to say that he appears as if all his good character traits were already naturally embedded in him when he first came out of his mother’s womb. Therefore, because good character traits and the performance of the mitzvoth had become so embedded in King David’s nature, he called himself a Chassid, as in the verse³⁶Psalms 86, “Guard my soul, for I am a Chassid.”