"It is a basic Kabbalistic concept that the human soul is, in a manner of speaking, a spark of Divine revelation within the world and that each human being is a microcosm of the entire universe.
Hasidism shows how the rarified teachings of Kabbalah, which speak to the macro-universe, can be adapted into a structure with ethical and practical meaning for our individual lives.
In this way, Hasidism is a form of applied Kabbalah.
Just as the Revealed Law frames the behavior of our bodies, the internalization of Kabbalistic notions of the Hidden Law can attune us to our soul, educating it to connect with the Divine.
In this model, the power of Kabbalah is harnessed not to serve our own desires but to align them with the wishes of the Almighty.
One of the most important Hasidic books is called Zohar Chai, "the living Zohar."
That is what Hasidism does: It gives the Kabbalah life by translating it into something meaningful in one’s relationships with others and, most important, something that can quell the strife within one’s own soul and calm the struggle of one’s inner being."
From "Kabbalah for Today?" by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, Kosher Spirit Magazine March 1, 2004
