Or is the main job just getting the deed done?

On the one hand ✋🏻: you haven't performed a mitzvah until an actual deed was done.

Speech, as mentioned in a previous chapter, is the "action" part of learning and praying. We discharge our obligation to learn Torah and pray by moving our lips when saying the words.

Thought or intention alone isn't considered speech and therefore isn't counted as a prayer.

The same applies to all mitzvot.

The best intention without accompanying action means nothing.

On the other hand 🤚🏻: Intention is paramount. _*Prayer with no intention is like a body🧍 with no soul☀️…*_.

If you say the words with your lips 👄but don't even realize what you are saying….

Post facto, you have fulfilled the minimum of your obligation and you don't have to go back and repeat the prayers.

Exception: The *first verse of the Shema prayer*, and the first blessing in the Amidah prayer. These two sections require intention in addition to the act of reciting the prayer.

If mindlessly recited, you need to repeat them.

The reason that the deed is ultimately what counts is something we already touched upon - that the divine soul itself does not need to be repaired or fixed up in any way. She is perfect as is!

The mitzvot accomplish drawing down G-dly light 🌈 which elevates the animal soul 🐮 and the body. In order to do this, you need to engage them, i.e. use your energy to do the deed with your body.

When it comes to mitzvot that are done with words, the lips must move and the words must actually be *verbalized* in order for it count as a *deed*.

But then what is the value and significance of intention and concentration when praying?

Why do we say that without proper intention, a good deed is like a body 🧍with no soul☀️??

What does that even mean?

What is a *body* 🤷🏻‍♀️

and what is a *soul* 🤔❔

*The body* is something we easily identify and understand. It is the physical matter that each and every creature is composed of.

*The soul* - is the G-dly energythat brings the object into existence

This means that _even stones and soil_ - completely inanimate objects - have a G-dly light and life force that brings them into being.

This energy prevents the object from reverting into nothingness, the way it was before creation.

The existence of G-d's spirit within lifeless objects is one of the Kabbalistic secrets revealed💥 by the Arizal. There isn't a single thing that doesn't have its own specific energy force keeping it in existence.

*In plants*the life force also provides the ability to grow.

*In animals* the life force enables growth, movement 🐾, and instincts.

The energizing source within the *Human being*🤵‍♂is most powerful of all. In addition to the abilities mentioned above, it also provides the capacity for free choice 🙄, intellectual capabilities, and the power of speech 🗣️.

We mention all this in order to understand 👍 the connection between our deeds and the intentions we have while performing them.

Every commandment is composed of two parts:

*The body of the deed*

*And the soul of the mitzvah*

The intention we have while doing the deed, which injects it with G-dly light ☀️ and energy .

The body is physical and is limited in how much light it can tolerate.

The soul, being a spiritual being, is completely overcome and consumed by G-d' s light.

This is why the soul is eternal, like G-d. It never dies, because its entire existence is really just G-d's light and energy.

When fulfilling any mitzvah, even just by rote, a divine light illuminates the "body" of it - the deed that was done.

However, if you introduce a *"soul"* into the mitzvah, it becomes illuminated with a much more intense and lofty divine light. By having the proper, positive intentions while performing the deed, you instill within it an eternal divine light.