The Holy Ari explains that the purpose of Creation and mankind's role in it is to elevate Holy sparks. These sparks are scattered throughout the Creation from its inception, and it is the mission of mankind to seek them out and elevate them back to their source in holiness. This is done specifically by performing Mitzvot and good deeds, which collect and connect them back to their source.
However, this is not an easy task, as the evil husks and forces found within the Creation nourish off these holy sparks, and are reluctant to let go of them. What is needed is a "power-house" force to remove the holy sparks from the grasp of evil. This, the ARI points out, is the power of the Ketoret.
The Ketoret - made of 11 ingredients - counteracts the 10 spheres of impure energy found in the realm of evil (these parallel the 10 Sefirot of Holiness), plus another 1 which is the holy essence that the other 10 leech off of. The Ketoret detaches the 10 impure spheres from the 11th holy essence leaving them without spiritual life, thus destroying them.
When the Holy Temple stood, this procedure took place with the daily Ketoret mixture dispensed in the Temple. Today, this takes place through the recitation of the Ketoret mixture commandment and relevant Torah portions (found in the Shacharit and Mincha prayer services).
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Rebbe Nachman goes a step further, explaining that the essence of the Ketoret mixture is joy - namely the joy in performing Mitzvot. To explain:
The greatest delight and joy of Hashem is that His name and presence go recognized and gratified throughout the Creation. The evil forces, however, work to obscure and cover up this awareness. Thus, the holy sparks trapped are akin to sadness and melancholy, since their being released would produce immense joy.
For this reason King Solomon proclaimed: ".. and Ketoret brings joy to the heart" (Mishlei). Since the Ketoret works to subduing and destroying the evil husks, the holy sparks are released, bringing more recognition and awareness of Hashem to the world, and ultimately His joy in Creation.
Rebbe Nachman explains that, similar to the Ketoret, performing the mitzvot with joy can also release and elevate the holy sparks back to their source. For since the goal of the Ketoret is "joy" - i.e. the joy of Hashem - if a person is already capable of performing the mitzvot with joy, he can release and elevate the holy sparks. For this reason, too, reciting the Ketoret with proper concentration can bring a person to joy in mitzvah performance. (please listen to: Likutey Moharan lesson 24 for more on these concepts)
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To show Korach and his entourage the validity of appointing Aharon as High Priest and Elitzaphan as chief of the Kehati family of Levites, Moshe used the Ketoret mixture to make this point clear. And later when the plague began to spread, killing tens of thousands of Jews, Moshe sent Aharon with the Ketoret to bring a stop to the plague.
The initiative of Korach to rebel in the first place came out of worry and sadness. The Sages point out that when Korach was inaugurated as a Levite, he came home completely shaved of all hair (including eye-brows and eyelashes!) His wife began to belittle Korach, stating that Moshe did this to mock and degrade Korach. Feeling this guilt and futility, he took this so personally that it led to his doubting everything coming from Moshe, ultimately denying even the Mitzvot taught by Moshe (e.g. Tekhelet in the Tzitzit of a Tallit entirely made of Tekhelet, a Mezuzah on the doorpost of house filled with Torah scrolls etc.), especially the appointment of Aharon as High Priest.
What Korach was actually doing was fueling the evil forces with more fuel of holy sparks due to this strife emanating from his sadness. For this reason Moshe used the Ketoret mixture as the device to reset and realign the damage caused.
And later when the Jews accused Moshe and Aharon as the cause of "killing" Korach and his entourage, the plague that struck was only due to the acceleration of evil forces nursing off of even more holy sparks due the Jews frustration and sadness. With Korach's convincing arguments against the validity of Moshe, the Jews lost faith and trust in Moshe, their loyal leader, leaving them feeling hopeless and sad. So again Moshe used the Ketoret to stop this ascent, cutting off the evil's nourishment from the holy sparks, stopping the continuation of the plague.
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May we value and cherish the recitation of the Ketoret with concentration and happiness, thus leading us to joy in the general performance of mitzvot. And may this speed the ascent of all holy sparks to their source, culminating in the imminent arrival of Mashiach - the truly "happy" one (MaShiaCh has the same letters as SaMeaCh-Joyous)
Shabbat Shalom
Meir Elkabas
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