[From a manuscript]
Israel will not return to their land until they are all in one bundle.
Our sages said, “Israel will not be redeemed until they are all in one bundle.”
2) We must understand how Israel’s unity pertains to redemption.
3) First we should consider the matter of “By what will I know,” etc., “for your descendants will be strangers,” etc., “and afterward they will come out with great substance.” It is not clear how it answers Abraham’s question.
4) We should understand the whole matter of this creation, in which man suffers so, what is it for? Could He not delight His creations without all this?
5) It is written in the books that the souls cannot receive the good reward for which He created the world and the souls if they do not have a Kli [vessel] ready to receive. And the only way one can obtain that Kli is through labor and toil to observe the Mitzvot [commandments] through the pressure and the wars that one fights with the evil inclination, and the numerous preventions and troubles. The affliction and labor in Torah and Mitzvot provide a Kli for the soul so it may be fit to receive all the delight and pleasure for which He created all creations.
6) Now we can understand the words of Ben He He in the Mishnah, Avot, which says, “According to the sorrow, so is the reward.” This means that the reward is measured by the amount of sorrow. This is perplexing, for how is one’s sorrow related to one’s reward?
7) With the above said, we can thoroughly understand that all the sorrow and labor that have been prepared in the world are to provide the Kli to receive the good reward through labor in Torah and Mitzvot. Thus, naturally, the greater one’s sorrow in Torah and Mitzvot, the greater is one’s Kli. Naturally, he can receive a greater reward.
8) Now we can understand the Creator’s answer to the question of Abraham the patriarch, “By what will I know,” etc. Abraham’s question was because he saw, in his spirit of holiness, the excessively great reward that Israel is destined to receive by inheriting the land, since observing the Mitzvot depends entirely on the land. This is why Abraham the patriarch wondered, “How will I know that I will inherit it?” That is, How will I know that the children of Israel will be able to receive such a great reward and such a great excessiveness, as from where would they have Kelim so big as to receive this wondrous thing? The Creator told him about this, “Your descendants will be strangers, and they will be enslaved and tormented 400 years,” for then they will have great labor in Torah and Mitzvot. This is when he understood that in this way they will certainly obtain the great vessels of reception, and the reply was completely satisfactory.
9) It follows from our words that inheriting the land requires much preparation, since the Segula [merit/power/cure] of Torah and Mitzvot depend entirely on this, as through it one is rewarded with all the abundance and benefit that the Creator has contemplated with regard to all the souls of Israel before He created them. This is also why Abraham the patriarch was perplexed and did not understand from where would they take such great vessels of reception so as to be rewarded with the holiness of the land. Finally, the Creator told him that laboring in Torah and Mitzvot in the exile in Egypt will provide them with these great vessels and they will be fit for the holy land.
10) This is perplexing: It is one thing with regard to those who engage in Torah, but what about those who engage in worldly matters, who are not at all prepared to engage in Torah? How will they be rewarded these vessels?
11) The answer is that this is why they said in the above-mentioned commentary that Israel are not redeemed before they are all in one bundle. It is so because all of Israel are indeed one body, where each and every organ has its unique role. For example, the head contemplates intellect and reason; the hands work and provide nourishments for the head, while the head itself is exempted from working and does not need to work, since the hands are quite sufficient. Likewise, the hands do not need to calculate how to work because the head is quite enough for him. Likewise, the hands do not need to think or contemplate on how to work since the head is completely enough for him.
12) If Israel become one bundle, like one body, where the workers—who are the hands of the body—provide for the head, the labor and sorrow of those who engage in Torah and work will complement for the workers... and this clarifies the commentary [Israel are not redeemed until they are all] in one bundle, and “a redeemer has come to Zion … will walk.”