Soul Clothes

From "Azamra!", reprinted with permission from the Breslov Research Institute

" One should always endeavor to strengthen the right side...."

The first thing we do in the morning is to get dressed. One should begin by holding his garment on the right hand side (see  Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 2:4), for it is a principle that one should always endeavor to strengthen the right side and give it priority as opposed to the left side.

To understand the significance of these teachings, we must recall that the right side is the side of loving kindness - the quality through which we find the good points in ourselves.

Through doing this, not only do we rouse ourselves from our sleep (as we already discussed above) but we also make garments to clothe the soul. For the soul was naked until now all the time that the good was not yet revealed - namely during the time of "sleep".

" It is through the revelation of good points that garments are made, i.e. the garments of the soul...."

Among the Morning Blessings recited at the very beginning of the service immediately after rising, we include the blessing "Who clothes the naked". It is through the revelation of good points that garments are made, i.e. the garments of the soul. It is with the good points of the Jewish people that
G-d adorns Himself, as it were, as it is written, "Israel, in whom I will take pride [in Hebrew, 'etpa'er']" (Isaiah 49:3), and through these good points, garments of beauty [in Hebrew, "pa'er"] and honor are made. These are the tzitzit and tefillin, the clothing of the soul. The  Zohar ( Bereishit 23) explains that the verse "For that is his only covering, it is the robe for his skin" (Ex. 22:26) refers to the tzitzit and tefillin.

" The good points encompass all the colors...."

The tzitzit and tefillin are made for the good points which are separated out at night. It follows that man's "garments" - his clothes of beauty, encompassing all the colors - are made of the good points, for the good points encompass all the colors, as we saw earlier. This explains why, when dressing, it is necessary to "strengthen the right side" (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 2:4). The "clothes" are made up of the good points, and these we find by inclining to the right side, to the quality of loving kindness.

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