594. The Commandment of Repentance

The Zohar (Nasso, Item 28): The Mitzva [commandment] and anyone who repents, it is as though he returned the letter Hey, which is Malchut, to the letter Vav, etc. Teshuva [repentance] has the letters of Tashuv Hey [the Hey will return] to the Vav, since when a person sins, he causes the Hey to depart from the Vav, and this is why the Temple was ruined.

A king whose decrees are harder than Pharaoh’s, and they will repent against their will, “unto the Lord your God,” to complete the Hey.

Repentance, which is Malchut, is called “life,” without work and without labor.

Interpretation: The work and labor is to go against nature, meaning for the sake of the Creator. By this one comes to equivalence of form, and the abundance is poured out without effort because the labor was not in order to receive reward. It follows that afterward, he receives life through the equivalence of form, which is called “without work.” “The image of the Lord does he behold,” as a reward for “And Moses hid his face from looking.”