ערך בגדים

It is thus found: when he has bitochon in G-d and does not worry at all about what he will eat tomorrow — this is the essential wealth, in the aspect of: "Who is wealthy? He who is happy with his portion" [Avos 4:1]. For he has no worry or fear at all — for he trusts in G-d, that certainly He will never abandon him. Because garments are in the aspect of the lowest and outermost level of holiness — as above — therefore it is the way of the outer [impure] forces to seize upon them, as our Sages of blessed memory said. And within the garments are inscribed all sins — and likewise the reverse: all commandments. For through the commandments, garments and coverings are made for the soul — the aspect of the chaluka d'rabbanan [the robe of the sages in the World to Come]. And when the garments are clean, they are a great protection. Therefore one must guard the garments very much, as above.

One must be especially precise that the garments be clean at the time of prayer. For clean garments are the aspect of the general repair [tikun hakelali] — through which one can speak words that are accepted, and his prayer is heard all the more. And therefore one who is wearing sha'atnez [a forbidden mixture of wool and linen in garments] — which is the aspect of the blemish of the garments, as explained in the inner teachings — his prayer does not ascend and is not accepted.

We must be separated from the gentiles even in garments — even in the wearing of shoes. And as our Sages of blessed memory said: in a time of religious persecution, even for the strap of a sandal [ar'kesa d'mesoni] one should be killed rather than transgress. For their shoes are in the aspect of the blemish of the garments of skin [kasnosin ohr] upon which they [the forces of impurity] seized in consequence of the serpent — the aspect of the blemish of the bris, etc. And our shoes of holiness are in the aspect of the repair and purification of the garments of skin, in the aspect of: "How beautiful are your footsteps in sandals" [Song of Songs 7:2]. And therefore we have many laws regarding the wearing of shoes — for we must wear shoes according to the holy Torah, in order to repair and purify the aspect of the garments of skin. And it is not for nothing that our Sages of blessed memory said: "As with tefillin, so with shoes" — see the inner teachings.

Through the commandment of clothing the naked [halvoshas arumim] — in the aspect of: "When you see a naked person, and you cover him" [Isaiah 58:7] — one merits to be saved from the blemish of the bris and from the blemish of the desire for money, which is the aspect of a darkened countenance [anpin chashuchin]. And one merits to draw down the 370 [ש"ע] lights of the radiance of the [Divine] countenance [ohr haponim].

The primary grip of falsehood [sheker] is most of all within the garments — as is visibly apparent. For the word בֶּגֶד [beged] in Atbash [letter-substitution cipher] spells שֶׁקֶר [sheker] — and tzitzis is the repair for this. (The following is from the translator, not from the original text.) These five sections complete the Bais portion of the alphabetically-arranged Aitzoas Yesharoas — with the inclusion of Achilah [Eating], which appears under the Alef section. Together they form a web of interconnected themes:

(The following is from the translator, not from the original text.)