Breaking Through Barriers: Section 5

The connection between teshuvah and the essence of the soul is reflected by the literal meaning of the term. Although teshuvah is generally translated as “repentance,” its literal meaning is “return,” i.e., returning to the essential core of the soul. See Likkutei Sichos, Vol. II, p. 409.

As explained in Tanya, chs. 4-5, G‑d invests His Essence in the Torah and its mitzvos. Thus when a person studies the Torah or fulfills a mitzvah, he is bonding with G‑d’s Essence. Therefore, the essential connection to G‑d established through teshuvah must find its expression in the study of the Torah and the observance of its mitzvos (see Tanya, Iggeres HaTeshuvah, chs. 8-9).

Without the preface of teshuvah, however, there will be a lack in one’s study of the Torah and observance of the mitzvos. For a person may study the Torah or perform mitzvos for a variety of subjective reasons, or even do so simply as a matter of habit, without any feeling at all. In such instances, although he has established a bond with G‑d’s Essence, that bond is not revealed in his conscious mind or feelings.Instead, it remains an untapped, latent potential. Similarly, the spiritual power his study and his observance can infuse into the world at large remains dormant. It is only through teshuvah and the essential connection to G‑d that it brings to the surface that the fundamental G‑dly power of the Torah can be unleashed.

I.e., as explained in Tanya, ch. 5, Torah study possesses an advantage over all the other mitzvos. Through the other mitzvos, one bonds with G‑d. Nevertheless, the person fulfilling the mitzvah, G‑d, and the mitzvah remain three distinct entities — connected through the mitzvah, but distinct nonetheless. When, by contrast, a person studies and understands a Torah concept, his thought becomes one with G‑d’s thought, for the idea that he has grasped and understood is in fact G‑d’s idea. He and G‑d are “of one mind.”

See Zohar, Vol. III, p. 73a.