Group None

And we shall explain all of this. It is known that the root of the entire [nation of] Israel consists of six hundred thousand root souls, even though there are many more than this number. Nonetheless, this is due to the branching out of the roots into sparks. But the primary roots are six hundred thousand, corresponding to the number of letters in the Torah. And each root has a connection to a letter of the Torah. And the Torah contains 248 positive commandments and 365 prohibitions, which together make up the stature of the supernal spiritual Man (Adam HaElyon). Similarly, in the soul there are 248 spiritual limbs and 365 spiritual sinews. And so too, in the physical garment—that is, the material body—there are also 248 physical limbs and 365 physical sinews. All of this is because of the root, which is the Torah. Therefore it is said (Numbers 19:14), "This is the Torah: a man", for the entirety of the Torah is the spiritual human being. And thus, if a single letter is missing from the Torah, it is deemed invalid, for in each and every letter, which is a part of the Torah, everything is included. For example: in the stature of the physical human being, if one injures a finger, the pain is felt throughout the entire body. And this is due to the interconnection and inclusion [of all parts within each other]. It follows that every human being—and the root of his soul that is connected to a letter of the Torah—contains within him all the letters of the Torah, along with all the roots that branch out from them. If so, every person who is attached to the Torah is a complete form—a full stature and a complete world, as has been explained. And therefore they said (Mishnah, Sanhedrin), "Whoever destroys a single soul of Israel, it is as if he destroyed an entire world; and conversely, whoever sustains [a single soul], it is as if he sustained an entire world," for the reason explained above. It follows, then, that a person, whose root is in the Torah, must conduct all his ways and actions in accordance with the Torah and in fulfillment of all its commandments—lest, Heaven forbid, something be missing from the spiritual stature. For if, Heaven forbid, any limb is missing from the spiritual stature, a blemish reaches also to the root of his soul. And likewise, the blemish reaches down to his physical form as well. All of the sufferings, judgments, and withholding of blessing from above—everything results from the blemish made in the spiritual stature, which then descends and manifests in the physical stature as well, where the pain is felt due to that deficiency. Therefore, a person must immediately return in teshuvah (repentance)—to return again to his root, and repair what he has damaged. This is done by contemplating and regretting in his heart, with complete regret. For that thought is spiritual, and it repairs what he damaged in the spiritual stature.Afterward, he must also return through action, to repair his physical form through his deeds. And the primary matter is the regret from a whole heart, for that is the repair of the spiritual stature.Through this, he returns the letter of the root of his soul to the entirety of the Torah. This is why repentance is called “Teshuvah”, which can be understood as "Teshuv Hei"—the returning of the letter hei (ה), which represents the totality of the 22 letters of the Torah, the five articulations of the mouth. Through thought and regret, they [the letters] return to being one unity and a complete Torah, without deficiency in any of the 22 letters of the Torah, which are the entirety of the Torah—as explained by us elsewhere at greater length.