Chapters 1-3 also address the question of fasts as they do or don’t relate to Teshuva.

Chapters 1-2. Constancy of creation. There are divine words that are manifest in each creation (individually and) constantly, to perpetuate their continued existence from nonexistence (G-Dliness). This requires a constant involvement of the Creator in His world.

Chapter 2,3,4. The soul’s structure: Essence (Wants what’s beyond, altruistic), Kochos (attributes), Garments (tools for expression).

1) More on Neshama Klali (Rebbe, Tzadik) and Chassidus. 2) What parents contribute to their children: The Neshama comes from Hashem, but 1) the expression of the Neshama in the body, and the light drawn to the Neshama from above depends on the Levush that the parents give their children.

The Mitzvah of ולדבקבה בו… בתלמידי חכמים is enlightened and clarified based on this notion of relatedness of souls and their hierarchy. Only Chassidus allows understanding this Mitzvah correctly and literally.

One becoming many: It starts with the One Soul of אדם הראשון, which then becomes 7, then 600,000, then each of those (general Souls) has 600,000 sparks. But even after they descend and change they’re still essentially the same: one with their source until חכמה עילאה.

The answer; we all start out the same but change as we develop. The real issue is the divine כונה which affects this diversification. The example of the fetus.

1) A thought on Tisha BiAv, Teshuva and Moshiach. 2) Neshamos are G-dly, but independent, as they come from the Keilim. The פסוק נר הוי’ נשמת אדם that compares Neshamos to a Candle and the two ways of understanding this. 3) Though all Neshamos are one with Hashem and come from His Chochma, as the…

Linking ישראל עלו במחשבה to the רמב”ם. What the RaMbaM understands about Hashem: that He is one with his wisdom and all of His faculties, allows us to understand how He can know what is happening in a changing world without changing Himself. הוא היודע הוא הידוע והוא המדע עצמה or הוא וחכמתו אחד. This…

The second proof of the נשמה’s lofty origin is from the מאמר חז”ל: ישראל עלו במחשבה. This is a Kabbalistic “Proof” linking Neshamos to Chochma and through Chochma to the very Essence of G-dliness. The use of Kabbalah within Chassidus gives it “form” and a framework for understanding it intellectually.