Mayim Rabim: Class 3—Purpose of the Soul's Descent

The soul descends from a place of spiritual perfection and is plunged into the harrowing conditions of embodiment. All of this is actually a descent for the sake of a subsequent ascent. The soul in heaven is a "tzadik" but the embobied soul can become a "baal teshuvah," an incomparably greater level in closeness with Hashem.