In the light of all that has been said above, we can better understand and more fully and clearly elucidate the statement in the Zohar that "The Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one," and the commentary in the Tikunim that "The 248 commandments are the 248 'organs' of the King."

The commandments constitute the innermost Supreme Will and His true desire which are clothed in all the upper and nether worlds, thereby giving them life, inasmuch as their very life and sustenance is dependent upon the performance of the commandments by the [creatures], in the lower world, as is known.

It follows that the performance of the commandments and their fulfillment is the innermost garment of the innermost Supreme Will, since it is due to this performance that the light and life of the Supreme Will issue forth to be clothed in the worlds.

Hence they are called "organs" of the King, as a figure of speech, for just as the organs of the human body are a garment for its soul and are completely and utterly surrendered to it, as evidenced from the fact that as soon as a person desires to stretch out his hand or foot, they obey his will immediately and forthwith, without any command or instruction to them and with no hesitation whatever, but in the very instant that he wills it; so, by way of example, is the life-force animating the performance of the commandments and their fulfillment completely surrendered to the Supreme Will which is clothed therein, becoming in relation to it like a body to a soul.

Likewise the external garment of the divine soul in the person fulfilling and practising the commandment— this being its faculty of action— clothes itself in the vitality of the performance of the commandment, thus also becoming like a body in relation to the soul, the "soul" being the Supreme Will to which it is completely surrendered. In this way, the organs of the human body which perform the commandment— in which the divine soul's faculty of action is clothed at the time of the act and fulfillment of the commandment— truly become a vehicle for the Supreme Will; as, for example, the hand which distributes charity to the poor or performs another commandment; or the feet which carry a person towards the performance of a commandment; similarly with the mouth and tongue engaged in uttering the words of the Torah, or the brain engaged in reflecting on the words of the Torah or on the fear of Heaven, or the greatness of G‑d, blessed be He.

This is what the Sages meant when they said that "The Patriarchs are truly the chariot," for all their organs were completely holy and detached from mundane matters, serving as a vehicle solely for the Supreme Will alone throughout their lives.

As for the thought and meditation— in the words of the Torah— that are in the brain, and the power of speech— engaged in the words of the Torah— that is in the mouth, these being the innermost garments of the divine soul, not to mention the divine soul itself which is clothed in them— all of them are completely merged in perfect unity with the Supreme Will, and are not merely a vehicle. For the Supreme Will is identical with the very subject of the halachah wherein one thinks and speaks, inasmuch as all the laws are particular streams flowing from the inner Supreme Will itself, since His blessed Will willed it that a particular act be permissible, or a food ritually fit for consumption, or this [person] inculpable and that entirely innocent, or the reverse. So also are the letter combinations of the Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographa a promulgation of His will and wisdom which are united with the blessed En Sof in perfect unity, since He is the Knower and the Knowledge, and so forth. This, then, is the meaning of the above mentioned quotation that "The Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are altogether One," and not merely "organs" of the King as are the commandments.

Now, since at such time as a person occupies himself with the words of the Torah, the Supreme Will, united as it is in perfect unity with the blessed En Sof, is completely manifest and in no way obscured in the divine soul and its innermost garments, i.e. its thought and speech — it follows that the soul and its garments are also at such time veritably united with the blessed En Sofia, perfect unity, like the union of the "speech" and "thought" of the Holy One, blessed be He, with His essence and being, as mentioned above. For there is no separate thing except through "concealment of the Countenance" as explained there. Moreover, their union is even of a higher and profounder order than the union of the blessed En Sof with the upper worlds, since the Supreme Will is actually manifest in the soul and its garments when they are engaged in the Torah, because it is identical with the Torah; while all the supernal worlds receive their vitality from the light and life that are derived from the Torah, which is His Will and Wisdom, as it is written, "In wisdom Thou hast made them all." Thus, His Wisdom, i.e. the Torah, is above them all, and it is identical with His blessed Will which is described as "encompassing" all worlds, i.e. that aspect which cannot clothe itself within the worlds, but animates and illuminates in a transcending and encompassing manner. Yet, it [this very light] does clothe itself in the human soul and its garments in a truly manifest form, when the person occupies himself with the words of the Torah, even though he does not perceive it,.. . (— this is what enables him to endure it, because he does not perceive it; it is otherwise, however, in the case of the upper spheres).

With the above in mind, it becomes clear why the study of the Torah excels so much over all other commandments, including even prayer which is the unifying force of the upper spheres. (As for the ruling that one, whose study of the Torah is not his entire occupation, must interrupt his study for prayer, this is only because he pauses and interrupts his studies anyway ).

From this the intelligent man will be able to draw a sense of great awe as he occupies himself with the Torah, considering how his soul, and its "garments" in the brain and mouth, are truly merged in perfect unity with the Supreme Will and light of the blessed En Sof which are manifest in them, compared with which all the worlds, supernal and nether, are truly as nought and as a nonentity and nullity, so much so that the Divine light is not actually clothed in them, but merely surrounds all the worlds in a form of "encirclement," as it were, in order to provide their essential source of life; only some glow which they can bear is clothed in them, in order that they should not revert to nought altogether.

This is the meaning of the verse, "And G‑d commanded us [to do] all these statutes, in order to fear G‑d... ," [Regarding this "great fear" it was said, 'Where there is no wisdom, there is no fear," and in relation to it the Torah is called "A gateway to the dwelling," as is explained elsewhere]. However, not every mind can sustain such fear; yet even he whose mind cannot bear such fear at all, whether in whole or in part, because of the inferiority of his soul's level in its root and source in the lower gradations of the ten sefirot of the World of Asiyah, nevertheless the lack of such fear is no obstacle to performance, as will be explained later."