Based on all the above, we answered the question that was asked at the beginning of the maamar:
If mitzvos are better than all “the World to Come,” then why are they merely “garments” for the soul to enter Gan Eden?
The answer:
There are two aspects of the mitzvos. One is the source of Mitzvos is from Hashem’s Essential Will, will transcends the limitations of all worlds, and is above and beyond the realm of Gan Eden, known as “the World to Come.”
The second is how the mitzvos come down here into this world. When a Jew performs a mitzvah in this world, he not only connects to the source of the Mitzvah, Hashem’s Essential Will, but he also creates a “garment” for his soul to enable it to perceive the Elokus in Gan Eden known as “the radiance of the Shechina.”
The fact that Mitzvos also create a garment for the soul to enter Gan Eden is specifically because their source is so lofty and unlimited that it has the power to combine such opposites as a limited soul of a person and the (relatively) limitless Light of Hashem in Gan Eden.
The Alter Rebbe has described how precious mitzvos are, that they are beyond the whole category of the realm of Gan Eden, seemingly the only thing important in life should be to do mitzvos.
Now we need to understand: If mitzvos are so important, and are greater than mystical revelations of Hashem in Gan Eden, why spend time trying to awaken a love and fear for Hashem through contemplation, wouldn’t it be a better use of the time to just do more mitzvos?
The answer will be: Mitzvos are performed with physical things in this world. For these “garments” of the mitzvos to ascend to Gan Eden and serve as the spiritual interface between the soul and Elokus, they need to be “elevated” by the “wings” of the love and fear of Hashem.
