This matter will now be explained further.
In This World, in whatever a person is involved with, there are two ways of how he may relate to it and connect to it. He may either have a love towards it, or he relates to it with awe. In the spiritual realm, there are also these two ways of connecting. There is both a love and awe towards the Creator, and there is also love and awe towards the Torah. From a superficial standpoint, the nation of Yisrael is outside of Hashem and His Torah, and they [we] have a task to connect to that reality.
That, however, is but an external, superficial level of bonding with Hashem and the Torah – and, if only people could merit even this level. According to this understanding, there is Hashem, there is Torah, there is the nation of Yisrael whom I am a part of, and my task is to connect myself to that reality.
But there is a deeper view. In whatever we are involved with, we can really find its root, or its raishis (beginning point). We can look into what came before it, and then we are led to its source.
Example: Parents
Here is an example of this concept. What is the depth behind the mitzvah of honoring parents? It is so that we should realize that our beginning did not begin with us, but with something that came before us.
The avodah of a person is to build his soul, in order to become an adam hashelaim (perfected individual) as the Mesillas Yesharim states. At first one must know his outer “garments”, and then his more inner “garments”, and then he can get deeper into his soul.
First, [he should get used to this idea of “garments” by] he should see his physical clothing. Then he should realize that his body and its forces are also “garments” atop his soul, and he should recognize the bodily forces. Getting further in, he needs to recognize the aspects of a more inner garment, his nefesh habehaimis (the “animal soul”, or the base, undeveloped emotions of the human soul). From there, he can slowly get further into his soul.
One should then contemplate and recognize that his parents are a levush (garment) to his neshamah (Divine soul). In order for one to get to his actual essence, he needs to get to his own beginning point. His physical beginning began with his parents. That is the depth of honoring parents – to get to the beginning of something.
When one views Creation, if he looks superficially, he just sees a world in front of him. But if he looks deeper into Creation, he will see the source of everything. “Hashem looked [saw] into the Torah and created the world” – and so, too, does man have the avodah to “look and see” that there is a Creator of the world; and from this contemplation, he can be led to the root of creation, which is the Torah.
This is a deep way to prepare to receive the Torah. “Hashem looked into the Torah to create the world”, and our avodah, from our human perspective, is to get to “see” the Torah from this world.
How do we get to the Torah from seeing the world? If we just look at the world and see niflaos haborei (wonders of the Creator), that is wonderful, and we will receive much wisdom. and it is all true. But there is a deeper part to life: One can try to discover the source of each thing he comes across.
He can start with himself, and see that his beginning started with his parents, through the mitzvah of honoring parents. When he views the world in such a way, he can get to the Torah. And when one takes a look into himself - his soul - he can get to the beginning of his soul, his nefesh chayah (living soul) which is called the “breath of Hashem”, of which the Sages state, “The One Who blew, from His own did He breathe it”, so to speak. In this way, man can get to Hashem, from himself.
