understand why Hashem Gives us Life Seek and Reflect His Light
Understanding the purpose of living from the Arizal on the Weekly Parsha Behar
Our task is to harness the material aspects of this word (including mental and emotional energies, etc, allied with the material world) for Divine purposes, i.e, to infuse Divine consciousness into this world. This we accomplish primarily through prayer, the ascengt of consciousness ito Divine consciousness, and “good deeds,” whether the performance of actual, formal mitzvoth, or of general deeds, that serve to increase Divine consciousness in the world The effect of these activities is that the sparks, or potentials, of holiness inherent but trapped within material reality are “liberated” and enabled to “ascend” to the level of malchut of Atzilut. Malchut of Atzilut is the source of consciousness for the lower worlds This released spiritual energy serve to develop or empower malchut, rendering it fit to couple with Z'eir Anpin. The ascent of these released spars is our act of initiative that catalyzes this coupling, In Lurianic terms this is called “arousal from below”, in Zoharic terms, it is called “the ascent of feminine waters.”
The coupling of Z’eir Anpin and nukva isgthe unification of emotion and expression. This…is necessary in order that the female drive for expressing Divinity in the world be properly inspired by Divine emotion and not sidetracked into the enhacement of the existential reality it is intended to elevate. The accomplishments of our feminine consciousness, i.e., our prayers and good deeds, “inspire” our male consciousness i.e. our abstract orientation towards Divinity, to “couple” with our feminine consciousness.
This causes the fallen kings [of Tohu] to be renewed and revived. This process will continue until, with G-d’s help, our righteous Messiah arrives. When all the sparks of these kings will be able to be elevated, and the good and holiness within them will be rectified and purified from the dross attached to them, the shells will be left by itself, as dross. At that time it is written, “death will be swallowed up forever.”
Presently the negative {evil} energies and contexts in which the sparks of Tohu are embedded derive their energy to exist from the sparks they host. Once these sparks are all liberated and re-ascend, however, the encasing shell of evil has no life force, and therefore disintegrates. Our task in the life may therefore be seen as de-contextualizing the energies of this world from evil and reorienting them toward holiness.
Thus all our prayers and good deeds in this world are only in order to purify and elevate the sparks of these seven fallen Kings.
Apples from the Orchard Behar pp 662-663 Gleanings from th eArizal on the Weekly Torah Portion