Morning Blessings: Ramchal: A Process of Elevation

The Highest Wisdom repaired a procedure for man, whereby each morning he can strive to elevate himself from his lonely nighttime state, and illuminate his spiritual darkness. All of this is included in the regulations that were ordained both in word and in deed when man wakes up in the morning.

The first act is the washing of one’s hands. It is the hands that are defiled and upon which the noxious spirit rests, and it is therefore necessary to purify them and drive away this evil.

God ordained that this noxious spirit should be driven away through proper washing, as our sages taught us, namely, by once pouring water over his hands three times alternately. Through this, man’s entire audio is also purified, just as it was all defiled as a result of the noxious spirit that pervaded his hands.

Man is a microcosm, and therefore this concept also includes rectification of creation as a whole. Through the ritual of washing one’s hands, the world is also purified of its nighttime corruption, and brought out of that spiritual darkness.

Related to this is the cleansing of one’s body by attending the laboratory. Through all these things, man is purified and prepared to approaches Creator.

This is then followed by two observances, each of which is included among the 613 commandments of the Torah. These two observances are the Tzitzit and tefillin, which together with prayer complete the daily service. (Ramchal; The Way of God 4.6.2.3-5)