Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

613 Suggestions and 613 Deposits

We should keep the Torah and Mitzvot so [particularly so that, because] it will bring us into purity [and not so as to receive reward in this or the other world, or because the Creator has instructed us to do so]. Purity means purification of the Kelim [vessels] from the will to receive for oneself, which is called “dirt,” [impurity] for it is in disparity of form from the Creator, who is all about [the property of] bestowal. Hence prior to refining the Kelim, it is impossible to place anything good [exalted] in them [feel eternity and perfection] because anything that is placed in a dirty Kli [vessel] will be spoiled [according to the law of equivalence of form].

Therefore, we must seek good advice [of Kabbalists who have already undergone the path of correction] for things that will purify our Kelim [egoistic desires]. This is called “qualification and preparation to be able to receive the delight and pleasure [prepared for us in the revelation of the Creator].” And because of that, we were given 613 Mitzvot [instructions], which The Zohar calls, “613 counsels.” These are suggestions on how to refine ourselves [our desires since man is namely a vessel of desires] from the filth of our vessels of reception.

It is written in the “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” (p 242), “The Zohar calls the Mitzvot in the Torah, ‘deposits.’ However, they’re also called ‘counsels.’ The difference between them is that there are front and back in everything. The preparation for something is called ‘back,” and the attainment [receiving] of that thing is called ‘front.’ Similarly, in Torah and Mitzvot there is ‘We shall do,’ and ‘We shall hear.’

When keeping the Torah and Mitzvot by way of ‘Who do His words [corrects his egoism],’ before they are rewarded with hearing, the Mitzvot are called ‘613 counsels,’ and they are considered ‘back.’ And when rewarded with hearing the voice of His word [the property of bestowal within], the Mitzvot become deposits, from the word “deposited [felt the Light within].”
– Rabash, The Rungs of the Ladder, “Holiness and Purity in the Work”
[30799]

Related Material:
Kabbalists On The Torah And Commandments, Part 12
Kabbalists On The Torah And Commandments, Part 11
Kabbalists On The Torah And Commandments, Part 10

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