הַשִּׁעוּר לְהִפָּטֵר מֵחִבּוּט הַקֶּבֶר הוּא, שֶׁחֵלֶק שִׁשִּׁי מֵהַמֵּעֵת-לְעֵת יֹאמַר אוֹתִיּוֹת הַתּוֹרָה, תְּהִלִּים כו'. לִזְכּוֹת לְזִכּוּךְ הַנֶּפֶשׁ לְהִפָּטֵר מִכַּף הַקֶּלַע הוּא, עַל יְדֵי חֲזָרָה כָּל הַיּוֹם, כַּמָה שֶׁיֵּשׁ בִּיְכוֹלְתּוֹ, מִשְׁנָיוֹת תַּנְיָא תְּהִלִּים בְּעַל-פֶּה.

The appropriate amount [of time needed] to free oneself from [the punishment of] chibut hakever1 is to spend a sixth of one’s day reciting the letters of the Torah, Tehillim and the like. One merits the purification of the soul that exempts him from [the punishment of] kaf hakela by reviewing Mishnayos, Tanya, and Tehillim by heart, as much as possible throughout the day.

To Fill In the Background

Chassidus rarelyspeaksabout the punishments that the soul undergoes after death, for Chassidus is concerned with life — enhancing our own lives and the lives of those around us by using our lives as a medium to manifest G‑d’s will.

As to the two terms used above: Chibut hakever (“purgatory of the grave”) affects both the body in the grave and the soul in the spiritual realms. Kaf hakela (lit., “the hollow of the slingshot”) is a state of ceaseless unrest after death in which the soul is hurled alternately from peaks of awareness, where it is given a glimpse of the highest levels of Divinity, to depths of confrontation with the cosmic repercussions of the misdeeds done on earth.2