Musar do Rodzaju 7:17

It is written, “And let your camp be holy” (Devarim 23:15). Just as there is a border surrounding the various hosts and camps of the Shechinah, all of whom are called “holy,” so too the body and limbs of a human being comprise a “camp,” which if sanctified is also called the “camp of the Shechinah.” Thus it is written, “And I will be sanctified in the midst of (or “within”) the children of Israel” (Vayikra 22:32), and “I will dwell among (or “within”) them” (Shemos 25:8). But if a person heads in a bad direction he brings into himself the camp of the Sitra Achara. Therefore one should develop the habit of reciting this brief prayer: “Master of the Universe! Cause me to merit becoming a throne for the Shechinah!” For when the body is sanctified it becomes the throne of the Shechinah, which has a tremendous longing to settle upon the bodies of the righteous, whereas if a person perverts his ways the opposite occurs, Heaven forbid. This is concept is mentioned in the Zohar (Parashas Noach 68b) in connection with the verse, “And the [water] bore up the ark and it was raised from upon the earth” (Bereishis 7:17): “That is, when there are sinners in the world the Shechinah abandons the earth.” The Shechinah is called an “ark” — teivah — because if one changes the order of the letters of the word teivah (תיבה) it spells out the words Beis H[ashem] (בית ה') — the “House of Hashem.” The same passage elaborates on some of the ways in one can sanctify the body, the primary one being through studying Torah as much as possible. It is especially important to study at night, just before going to sleep. Thus it is related in Midrash HaNe’elam (Zohar Chadash 30b) in the name of Rabbi Yehudah: “Every night Metat, the Prince of the Countenance, takes the souls of all who study Torah and displays them before the Holy One Blessed is He. The ministering angels delay singing their song of praise until the souls of the righteous join with them and then they all sing together to God On High.”

When Israel sins, the Shechinah abandons them and it is said, “And the Ark went up from upon the earth” (Bereishis 7:17). The Shechinah is referred to in the Zohar (1:68b) as the “Ark” [teivah] because letters of the word teivah [תיבה] also spell out the words Beis H’ [בית ה']. For this reason there are exactly 248 words in the Shema corresponding to the 248 limbs of the body so that when a person recites the Shema with concentration each word imparts sanctity to one of his limbs (Zohar Chadash 59a). This might cause someone to wonder why it is, then, that numerous individuals recite the Shema with great care and intention yet their limbs remain frail nevertheless. You must know, my son, that this matter is discussed in the Zohar in Parashas Shelach (168a). There it is explained that the human soul resembles a lamp. When a lamp does not burn properly the usual remedy is to shake it a bit, which causes the flame to burn more brightly and to shed light as it should. But this is only true if the lamp is of good quality, for if it is of poor quality, then on the contrary, shaking it will extinguish it!