THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF TORAH STUDY AND MITZVOT
IN THE UPPER WORLDS, THE BENEFITS FOR THE JEWISH
NATION AND HOW A PERSON MUST AWAKEN
HIMSELF TO SERVE HASHEM, THEREBY HELPING THE
JEWISH PEOPLE

1. It is clear from the holy Zohar and other Kabbalistic books
   that apart from our world, Hashem created many countless
   multitudes of worlds and higher spiritual energies. Through the
   mitzvot and good deeds of the Jewish nation, these worlds are
   built up and established, resulting in a great pouring of spiritual
   and physical goodness to the entire Jewish nation. On the other
   hand, by not learning Torah and through other transgressions,
   the opposite of this is achieved.
2. The fact that there are higher worlds is a basic principle of
   Torat HaKabbalah. The state of our world and the state of the
   upper worlds are interdependent. As mentioned earlier, the
   state of the upper worlds is determined by our deeds in this
   world. So too the condition of the upper worlds determines the
   state of this world.
3. In the Nefesh Hachaim (shaar 1: chapter 4) we see that the
   destruction of the Holy Temple followed this pattern too.
   Through the bad deeds of the Jewish nation, the Holy Temple of
   the higher spiritual worlds was destroyed, and since the higher
   Holy Temple was destroyed due to our transgressions, the
   gentiles were able to wield their power over the Holy Temple on
   temple mount and destroy it.
4. The same is true of the exile of the nation from their
   homeland, with the land of Israel left in the hands of gentiles. It
   was the sinning of Yisrael which blemished the upper spheres
   corresponding to the holiness of the land of Israel. The land was
   then easily delivered into the hands of the gentiles.
5. The Nefesh Hachaim continues (shaar 1: chapter 4) and says;
   “This is the power of the Torah. A Jewish person should never
   say, ‘What am I? What strength do I have to achieve anything
   with my lowly actions?’ Rather he should know, understand and
   implant in his mind and heart, that every detail of his actions,
   words and thoughts at every moment are never destroyed. As
   much as he multiplies his actions and increases and elevates
   them, so too each one will rise towards it’s roots, fulfilling it’s
   purpose in the upper higher realms, honing the lofty lights.” We
   see that a person must give thought to fully preserving his
   strengths for learning Torah and keeping mitzvot, since every
   mitzvah that he does achieves incredible things for the good of
   all the worlds.
6. On the other hand, “… in truth, when a wise person pays
   attention to his deeds which are not so good, and he
   understands this reality, his heart will quiver inside him with a
   great trembling, when he sees how easily a slight transgression,
   Hashem forbid, can corrupt and destroy.”
7. I once heard a parable for this. A person sitting in a missile
   control room can press a button and shoot a missile injuring
   and killing the enemy, thereby saving his whole country.
   Alternatively, he could mistakenly press an incorrect button and
   kill some of his own countrymen. When people come to either
   praise him for his heroic deeds or to accuse him for his
   unscrupulous actions, he reasons, “What have I done? I simply
   pressed a button!” His mistake is that he doesn’t realize that it is
   no ordinary button; rather it is fully installed and programmed
   in a way that through a tiny action one can produce terrible
   results.
8. Accordingly, when a person is busy with Torah he helps the
   entire Jewish nation; he secures the upper worlds causing an
   increase in the outpouring of blessing and success for all of
   Yisrael. Sometimes a person learns for an hour and when he
   finishes he feels that he didn’t really do enough in this hour. The
   truth is who knows what salvation he succeeded in bringing to
   the Jews with this hour of learning? It is even possible that he
   saved many Jews from death, or perhaps many ill people were
   healed in his merit. This is not necessarily just from studying of
   Torah, it is the same with every mitzvah that a person does.
   However the power of Torah study is especially great, as Chazal
   say in the mishna in massechet Peah, “… and the study of Torah
   is equal to all of them.” Apart from learning Torah and
   performing mitzvot, there is also abstaining from
   transgressions. A person thus helps the entire Jewish nation. [See
   the Nefesh Hachaim, shaar four from chapter eleven until the
   end of the shaar where he explains extensively about this topic
   as he does in the earlier chapters of the book.]
9. It says in massechet Yevamot that compassion and loving
   kindness are special attributes of the Jewish nation. Within every
   Jew lie feelings of great compassion for those who are suffering,
   and also a great desire to help them. Therefore, when a person
   stands uncertain whether to use the next hour for the study of
   Torah or to waste it doing something else, even if he does not
   merit to have the conviction to decide to learn because of the
   obligation to learn Torah, he can still try to decide in favor
   Torah study due to his desire to help his suffering brethren. His
   learning can aid them. Even though he cannot know who he has
   helped and which type of deliverance he brought about, still the
   words of Chazal are absolutely true. He has definitely benefited
   the Jewish nation.