Balancing the spiritual and the physical

There are two opposite ways of serving Hashem, expressed in the verse “and the angels rose (‘ratzo’) and returned (‘shov’).”

The soul, which is entirely spiritual, and is “truly a part of G–d” (Tanya beg. ch. 2) naturally regards the body and the Bestial Soul as restrictive and burdensome, and naturally desires to transcend the limitations of the physical and revert to a state of self-nullification in unadulterated G–dliness. This yearning is called ratzo, which literally means “rising up.”

However, the Jew is not meant to sever himself altogether from the physical. Hashem sent the Neshama down into the body for a purpose: to reveal G–dliness in the body, the Bestial Soul, and the physical world (ibid. ch. 37), and this necessitates coming into close and regular contact with the physical. In order to accomplish this, the person must disregard his ratzo desire to transcend the physical, and force himself to engage with the physical for the purpose of refining and elevating it. In so doing he implements the task of shov, which literally means “returning.”

Serving Hashem is about maintaining a constant, careful balance between ratzo and shov. Although they are opposites, each form of divine service complements the other:

One who engages in shov alone runs the risk that the physical will pull him down into decadence and sin. He is then not only unable to elevate the physical, but he becomes a slave to it. Ratzo enables one to transcend the body and the Bestial Soul’s natural desire for the physical, such that the shov is carried out with the pure intention of fulfilling Hashem’s will, and not because one wishes to indulge the body and the Bestial Soul, or even satisfy their needs.

Conversely, one who engages in ratzo alone neglects to fulfill his purpose in the world. He deprives the world of the G–dliness that he is able to reveal within it, and he also runs the risk of falling from the peak of spirituality to very far from Hashem.