Przysłów 6:23 Kabała: Sha'arei Kedusha, Ohr Ne'erav, Derech Etz Chayim (Ramchal) & Reshit Chokhmah

The 613 limbs and organs of man are thus all ordered according to the order of the whole of creation, and it is for this reason that man is called a “microcosm of the world” (Olam Katan).³²⁶Tikkunei Zohar 100a, 130b; Also see Sefer HaMashalim of Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla (translated as The Book of Allegories 1-4), and elsewhere. With every mitzvah that a person fulfills, he causes the coronation of the Holy One, blessed is He, over that limb or organ of his soul, according to what that particular mitzvah is. The same applies to each particular limb and organ of his soul, each of which are called flames (Neirot-נרות), as it states,³²⁷Proverbs 20:27 “The soul of man is the flame of HaShem-נר יהו״ה,” and it is with that limb that he performs that particular commandment, which likewise is called a flame (Ner-נר), as it states,³²⁸Proverbs 6:23 “The commandment (mitzvah) is a flame (Ner-נר).”

It is necessary for a person to eradicate all impure and vile thoughts and impurities from each of these limbs and organs. For, they stem from the extraneous husks (Kelipot) which dwell in man. He therefore must repair and prepare the place, to refine and cleanse it, thus making it is a fitting receptacle within which the flame of HaShem-יהו״ה can dwell. For, when any limb or organ becomes blemished through the iniquities and transgressions that a person does, the Holy One blessed is He does not dwell in that limb. This is as stated,³²⁹Leviticus 21:18 “For any man in whom there is a blemish shall not approach.” Any person who causes blemish to a particular commandment, it is as if he has transgressed against the form and body of the King. A person must therefore burn those external husks (Kelipot) that dwell there in each of those limbs, and must eradicate them from within him. For, those extraneous husks are called sourdough (Se’or), leaven (Chametz), chaff (Motz), and straw (Teven), and he must eradicate them from those flames about which it states,³³⁰Proverbs 6:23 “The commandment (mitzvah) is a flame (Ner-נר),” and,³³¹Proverbs 20:27 “The soul of man is the flame of HaShem-נר יהו״ה, Who searches all the chambers of one’s innards.” By doing so, the Holy One, blessed is He, dwells there, meaning, the Name HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He, and His titles, which are called His limbs, along with His myriads of camps and troops, which are the angels that are tied to that particular limb, and which guard that particular limb from all evil forces and extraneous husks of Kelipah that were residing there.

“Why is it written, The way to life is the rebuke that disciplines (Prov. 6:23)?