26th day of Tamuz

This higher level of teshuvah, the cleaving of spirit to Spirit through the study of the Torah and the performance of acts of kindness,

comes as a downward thrust from Above,

so that the word of G‑d shall actually be in one’s mouth,

as Scripture states, “I have placed My words in your mouth.”1

“His right hand embraces me,”2 through [man’s] acts of kindness,

for “kindness is the [supernal] right arm….”3

However, mortal man must ascend from stage to stage

toward this higher level of teshuvah and this “cleaving of spirit to Spirit” through the heart’s devoted worship,

particularly during Shema and its blessings,

so that he might in perfect truth say during the recitation of the Shema, “You shall love [the L-rd your G‑d] with all your heart and with all your soul….”4

Likewise: “These words [which I command you today] shall be [upon your heart]…. And you shall speak of them….”5

The word of G‑d must truly be in his mouth, which is the case when one’s mouth serves as a vessel for G‑d’s word,

and7 “there is no truth [but Torah].”8

He must also perform all the mitzvot,

as it is written, “He has sanctified us with His commandments.”9

This [sanctification] has the same sense as in the phrase, “You are sanctified unto me”10—i.e., separate from all others and wholly sanctified unto G‑d through the performance of His commandments.

This is the level of kodesh ha’elyon (“supernal holiness”), which one draws upon himself through the performance of the mitzvot.

“kodesh” (translated “holiness”) connotes something apart, or transcendent,

that cannot be contained within the created worlds, permeating each of them with Divine life-force commensurate with its particular capacity,

since “everything is considered as naught before Him.”11

Rather, this is a level [of holiness] that transcends (lit., “encompasses”) all worlds, and hence affects them all equally from afar, so to speak;

this is [the level of] the supreme will, and so on, which is drawn down into this world through the performance of mitzvot,

as discussed in the first part of the Tanya, Likkutei Amarim, ch. 46.

After prayer as well we say, “To You, O G‑d, I lift my soul,”12 referring to the initiative of the worshipper below in raising his soul upward to its Source,

so that through the performance of mitzvot, spirit will cleave to Spirit throughout the day….

All this is brought about through meditation on the grandeur of the Infinite One,

concentrating the mind deeply during the two blessings preceding Shema and during the preparatory hymns of praise known as Pesukei Dezimrah, as is known.

Since prayer is an expression of teshuvah ilaah, the higher level of return,

it must be preceded by teshuvah tataah, the lower level of return that is reached by the contriteness of a penitent heart.”

This is what the Sages intended in the Mishnah: “One should embark on worship only in an earnest frame of mind.”13

Rashi explains this to mean “humility”.

This is the state of teshuvah tataah,

in which one arouses Divine compassion for oneself, as noted above, in chs. 7 and 8.

This the Talmud14 infers from a phrase which states with regard to Chanah,

“She was bitter of spirit, [and she prayed to G‑d].”15

At the same time, we must note the Baraita there: “Our Sages taught, ‘One should embark on worship only with joy.’”16

In our bereaved generation, however, when not all are capable of turning their hearts instantly from one extreme [to the other], from humility to joy,

it is advised that teshuvah tataah be practiced earlier, at Tikkun Chatzot; this is an especially appropriate time for the spiritual stocktaking that leads to the humility of a “broken and contrite heart,” as noted above.17

Whoever cannot do this nightly18 should maintain an absolute minimum of once every week, before the Shabbat.

It is familiar to the initiates in the mysteries of the Torah that Shabbat is of the order of teshuvah ilaah;

indeed, the very letters of the word Shabbat spell tashev (“You return”),19 as in the phrase, “You cause man to return.”20

For on Shabbat, all the worlds ascend to their Source…, and this, too, is the time of the ascent of the soul to its Source—which constitutes the act of teshuvah.

The prayers of Shabbat in particular—even more than the weekday prayers—[are an act of teshuvah ilaah]. This will suffice for the perceptive.

(21We can now understand the phrase, “Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”22

For since [as in the preceding phrase] “I have erased your sins like a thick cloud,” removing the sitra achara,

and “I have redeemed you” from the evil (lit., “extraneous”) forces through the arousal of supreme compassion following the initiative taken by man below in his teshuvah tataah, as explained above,

therefore, “Return to Me”—with teshuvah ilaah.”)