- Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (quoted in Meor Einayim)

"...I asked Moshiach: "Sir, when will you come?" and he answered me: "When your teachings will be publicized and revealed in the world and your wellsprings will spread to the outside..."

- Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (In a letter to his brother-in-law, Rabbi Gershon Kitiver)

Our sages have said that "the purpose of the creation of this world is that G-d desired to have an abode in the lower worlds."

Obviously, concerning Him the distinction of "upper" (spiritual) and "lower" (physical) has no meaning or validity, for He pervades all realms of existence equally.

The explanation of the matter, however, is as follows:

Before the world was created He was one alone, one and unique, filling all the "space" of (what was later to be termed) reality. Insofar as He is concerned, it is still the same now. For the "change" brought about by creation relates only to those on the receiving end of the life-force He infuses into creation, which they receive through many "garments" or "filters" which conceal and obscure the divine essence of reality. Without these "garments" they would be unable to exist, as it is written, "For no man can see Me and live." This applies equally to the physical creations and to the loftiest of angels and spiritual existences.

This is the concept of hishtalshelut, the downward gradation of the worlds and their descent, degree by degree, through a multitude of "garments" which screen the light and life that emanate from Him, until there was created this material and gross world, the lowest in degree, of which there is none lower in regard to the concealment of His manifest reality. A world of doubled and redoubled darkness, so much that it even contains "evil" - elements which oppose the reality of G-d, saying: "I am, and there is nothing else besides me."

Clearly, the purpose of the hishtalshelut of the worlds and their descent, degree by degree, is not for the sake of the "higher" spiritual worlds, for they constitute a descent from the light of His manifest presence. The ultimate purpose of creation is this lowest world, precisely because of its "lowliness". For such was G-d's desire: that the negative be subdued and the darkness transformed into light.

For this purpose, G-d gave the Torah to Israel. Torah is the means by which the reality of G-d is integrated into one's physical existence so that he will] retain his existence and not be nullified by the light of G-d which will be revealed in the future era of Moshiach, unobscured by any "garments". As it is written: "No longer shall your Master be cloaked (meaning, no longer shall He conceal Himself by the means of any cloak or garment), your eyes will behold your Master"; "For they shall see eye to eye, when G-d returns to Zion"; and "G-d shall be your everlasting light."

The era of Moshiach is the fulfillment and culmination of the creation of the world, for which purpose it was originally created.

Something of this revelation has been experienced once before on earth -- at the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. As it is written: "To you it has be shown, to know that the Lord is G-d; there is nought else beside Him": it has be shown - G-dliness was then perceived with physical vision. Our sages have also told us: "They looked eastwards and heard the words issuing forth: 'I Am the Lord your G-d...'; and so it was when they turned to all four points of the compass, upwards, and downwards... There was no place from which He did not speak to them." This, because the Ten Commandments encapsulate the entire Torah, which is the innermost expression of His wisdom and will; and before the Torah, there is no concealment whatsoever of the face of G-d, as it is written: "For by the light of Your countenance You have given us the Torah of life."

This is why those who stood at Sinai repeatedly expired out of existence, as our sages have taught: "With each Divine utterance their souls took flight... But G-d restored their souls to them with the dew with which He will revive the dead." - namely, the "dew of Torah" as our sages have referred to the fortitude which Torah gives.

Later, however, sin coarsened both them and the world - until the era of Moshiach, when the physicality of the body and the world will be refined, and we will be able to apprehend the revealed Divine light which will shine forth to Israel by means of the Torah.

The "overflow" of light will illuminate the darkness of all other nations, as well. As it is written: "And thew nation will walk by your light"; "O, house of Jacob, come, let us walk by the light of G-d"; and "The glory of G-d will be revealed. And all flesh will see that the mouth of G-d has spoken"...

Now this culminating fulfillment of the era pf Moshiach -the revelation of the reality of G-d in this material world- depends on our deeds and labor throughout the duration of the galut. For Moshiach is not merely the reward for our fulfillment of the mitzvos, but their result: when a person does a mitzvah, he draws down a flow of divine light into the world, to be suffused and integrated into the material reality...

- Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Tanya, Chapters 36 & 37)

Galut has been compared by the Torah to a state of sleep and dreaming. When a person is awake, his intellect governs his thoughts. But during sleep his imaginings run amok, so that his dreams may contain contradictions and absurdities.

This is the spiritual significance of galut: the divine essence of man's soul is "asleep". His priorities are twisted and distorted, and he is blind to the blatant contradictions in his life. He may arouse his heart with a love towards G-d in prayer, a love which ignites his soul with the yearning to divest itself of all material involvements and cleave only to Him, yet soon afterwards he immerses himself in the petty concerns and follies of life...

- Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Torah Or, p. 56)

The duration of the galut is comparable to the fetus' nine months of incubation in the mother's womb. The redemption of Moshiach represents the moment of birth.

While in the womb, the fetus possesses all of its organs and limbs, but their function is diminished or non-existent. The body and potential which formed and developed throughout the pregnancy is infused with the breath of life only upon its emergence into the light of day.

- Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Torah Or, p. 109)

A mitzvah performed in galut is comparable to a seed placed in the ground. With the redemption of Moshiach, the seed will break the surface, and grow and flourish.

The seed's duration of concealment underground is what unleashes its potential to later grow and increase itself many times over. So it is with the mitzvah: it is the process of galut which develops the tremendous potential that is latent in each positive deed.

- Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Likutei Torah on Song of Songs, p. 99)

Once there was a powerfully fortified city which no army could conquer. Many mighty warrior-kings came and went, but none could breach its walls.

On day, there came a king who was determined to conquer the city. Time and again his armies stormed its walls, only to fall back in defeat. Soon the king had not a single soldier left. But then he examined the fortress' walls and found that they were at the point of collapse. Yet all his brilliant generals and courageous knights were gone. So he raised an army of old men, women and children, and with them, he conquered the city.

- Rabbi Nachman of Breslav

The Talmud states: "The Jewish people were exiled among the nations only for the sake of the converts who will join them."

The "converts" which the Talmud is referring to are the "sparks of holiness" which were scattered throughout the universe at the time of creation and buried within the material existence. Divine providence has brought the Jew to every point on earth, so that by developing his environment and his using its resources to serve G-d, he would extract these sparks of holiness and unite them with their supernal Source.

There are two ways in which these "sparks" are redeemed. The first is through the above-mentioned process of galut, in which the Jew follows them to the ends of earth in order to elevate them. But with the coming of Moshiach, the soul of every creation will gravitate, on its own accord, to the great light which will emanate from Jerusalem, as sparks are drawn towards a flaming torch.

- Chassidic teaching

It is the experience of men and nations that only the good is stable, while evil tends to destroy itself.

- Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan