Question: Do we have power over our intention before crossing the Machsom?

Answer: Although before the Machsom we do not have power over our intention, to the extent that there is a certain impulse in our intention to enter the spiritual world, this is connected with the material action and remains forever. Therefore, there is no doubt that one must perform the commandments with intention. It is precisely for this that our world is needed; otherwise, it is unclear to us why we were brought down here.

We constantly ask ourselves: What is the meaning of the fact that we were given the commandments? Perhaps it is some kind of mistake, and they need to be performed only in the spiritual, while by performing them materially, we are merely imitating them, like animals?

No. The mistake occurred during the time of the destruction of the Temple, when the intention for the sake of the Creator was lost, and people continued to perform the same actions without any intention, for reception for their own sake.

However, this fall concerns not the action, but only the intention. About the action itself, the Kabbalists say: “Do not add and do not subtract.” That is, one must not turn these actions into a cult. This must not be.

But as for the intention, each time it requires improvement. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the article “For the Completion of The Zohar.” The inner intention must be very important and great in comparison with the performance of the commandments on the physical level.

Along with the physical performance of the commandments, one must develop the intention as much as possible, the purpose for which we do this and the yearning for what we want to attain. Otherwise, it is impossible to understand the order of existence of the world, why we must exist in a special external form in comparison with other nations and perform the commandments in the material world, from circumcision (Brit Mila) to the commandments concerning the Temple, from our being in Egypt to the dispersion among other nations.

So why not make it all take place in the spiritual, on the inner level, and that is all? Why must we also go through all this in the material world? This is needed in order to connect the inner and the outer, for the inner rests upon the outer.

We do not know the difference between the simple observance of the commandments and their performance with intention. By performing them with intention, you bring into this a certain spiritual weight; you connect all of creation from beginning to end, from edge to edge.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/20/26, Rabash, “A Prayer of Many”

Related Material:
Understand the Inner Meaning of the Commandment
Commandment Without Intention
What Are the Commandments Intended For?

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