The pleasure experienced by the man who is perfect in his study of the Torah and in his prayer consists in this, that he joins himself (medabek et atsmo) to the sacred letters, which are living spiritual creatures, holy souls-for Uob 19: 36] ‘in my flesh I shall see my [sic] God’. As in the case of a live male member in coition, which is the greatest of all pleasures, so it is that the perfect man who has pleasure in his Torah study is described as being live, which is not the case where he has no such pleasure, for then he wields a dead, completely lifeless member; even if he has fear of Heaven, he must also have within him love and pleasure.'

If a person does not feel sweet pleasure in his worship, his acts are worthless; nevertheless, since the Lord does not deprive anyone of his recompense, He compensates him for his trouble and effort, but the act itself finds no favour at all with Him.

Nor should it be said that a person ought to savour and enjoy his worship; on the contrary, if his desire is to enjoy his worship, his service [of Heaven] has an attachment to this world, which is a world of falsehood, and everything he lays hold of is likewise false.

If, in the arbitrary exercise of his own judgement, he follows a good path … and applies his intellect to distinguish between evil and good … his thought is a contradiction of all the intentions of the Torah, for the essence of the Torah is that it imposes on man a command which he is compelled to obey … for it is impossible for a man, by his own efforts, to withstand the evil inclination, since the life of the flesh demands the satisfaction of its desire … it is only by wholly submitting to the Torah and the commandments, and fulfilling it all for the very reason that he is commanded to do so, that he can withstand the evil inclinations.