The Fallen Sparks

The source of disharmony and evil may be ascribed to the two main ways in which the primordial light became concealed: the original constriction (tzimtzum), and the Shattering of the Vessels. This constriction is the necessary precondition for creation; but, at the same time, it inevitably causes the concealment of the Divine Essence. At the level of consciousness, this gives rise to the sense of self as an autonomous entity. The Vacant Space and the problem of ego will not be rectified completely until the Messianic Age. Then, to paraphrase the words of King David, "night will shine like the day" (Psalms 139:12). This alludes to the tikkun of all the spiritual darkness that proceeds from Vacant Space. The Divine Oneness will be apparent even in those realms of the human experience in which Godliness had seemed to be absent.

However, the world of dissonance and strife we experience is also a consequence of the Shattering of the Vessels. As a result of this metaphysical cataclysm, a more integrated network of relationships was forged among the Ten Sefiros of Tikkun, creating the potential for improvement (as well as the potential for damage). After the Shattering of the Vessels, "sparks" or refractions of the original light were displaced from their proper locus in the cosmic hierarchy, falling to lower and lower levels, and ultimately giving power to the realm farthest from the Source, the realm of impurity and death. As the sparks fell from one level to the next, they divided and subdivided, until on this lowest plane of creation, the World of Asiyah (Action), their number is beyond calculation. In a sense, they are like snowflakes continually falling in a vast, mysterious space: just as each crystal forms around a speck of dust, so each speck of creation forms around a fallen holy spark.
The Shattering of the Vessels created the possibility of free will. This was manifested on the first day of the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They could have accomplished the tikkun of the Shattering of the Vessels had they not transgressed the divine word and prematurely eaten of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. As a result of their failure and exile, even more holy sparks descended into the widening darkness, and the dissonance in creation increased. With every generation a degree of healing has been effected by the deeds of the righteous and further damage has been done through human wrongdoing.

Thus, we now face an almost unimaginably difficult spiritual task: nothing less than the elevation of the holy sparks and the spiritual repair of all creation. However, at the same time we must remember God’s affirmation of all His works as “good,” and recognize the Shattering of the Vessels to be “very good” in that it made possible our very ability to serve God. Because the fallen sparks give life to the realm of evil and the profane, it is possible to serve God amidst all the confusions of this world, through the exercise of free will. As it is written in Tanna D'vei Eliyahu Zuta (12:1): "Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, create the Evil Inclination? Does He not possess nine hundred, ninetynine myriads of angels who sanctify His great Name every day? Only for the sake of mortal man, who eats and drinks like an animal, excretes like an animal, and nevertheless brings himself to serve God." That is, by negating evil and choosing the good, we can come closer to God from the very ground upon which we stand, with a closeness exceeding even that of the angels.

Tikkun Olam: Spiritual Repair

All commandments, if properly performed, bring about an elevation of holy sparks. The sages of the Talmud state that the 365 negative commandments parallel the 365 blood vessels and tendons, and the 248 positive commandments parallel the 248 limbs. What similarity exists between the corpus of the commandments and the human form? The Kabbalists explain that through the collective performance of the Torah's laws by the Jewish people, the human form below becomes spiritually aligned with its source in the “human form” above, i.e., the Ten Sefiros of Tikkun. The meaning of this alignment is that the Sefiros now become conduits for the revelation of God’s Oneness. Thus, the “miniature world” of the individual becomes suffused with Godliness; and since everything depends upon man, all creation is transmuted from substance to Essence - to Godliness. That is, all aspects of reality are facets of the “cosmic diamond” through which the Infinite Light now can shine forth.
This spiritual transformation not only depends upon our words and deeds, but our thoughts; thus, Kabbalistic works are replete with mystical meditations related to the performance of religious precepts.

The Baal Shem Tov taught that even mundane acts could be invested with holiness if performed "for the sake of heaven." (Chassidic legend therefore depicts the movement's founder meditating upon Divine Names as he sat in silence, smoking his long-stemmed pipe.) However, the situation that presents the greatest single opportunity for the elevation of holy sparks is the act of eating.

Perhaps this is why so much of Jewish law is directly or indirectly concerned with food. The Sabbath and Festivals, highlights of the Jewish calendar, are celebrated through festive meals. Indeed, most of the rites of the Holy Temple centered on eating. Even today, nearly two thousand years since the Korban Pesach (Paschal Lamb) was offered in Jerusalem, the Passover Haggadah that recounts the ancient exodus from Egypt is still recited over a ritual meal. This is because eating is uniquely an act of transformation. If approached as a spiritual task, this mundane necessity may be elevated from a simple means of physical survival to one of the most sublime ways of serving God.

This form of divine service also has an experiential component. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that while eating, a spiritually refined person experiences what he calls he'aras ha-ratzon: an illumination of the deepest desire of the soul for God. When one eats in such a state, this effects a spiritual unification of an extremely high order - even if one does not know the right Kabbalistic meditations.